Harley MS 2773

Origin: Germany.

Provenance:

Nicholas of Cusa [Nicholaus von Kues, or Nicholas Cusanus] (b. 1401, d. 1464), theologian, bishop of Brixen in Tyrol in 1450 and cardinal in 1449, founder of the hospital of St Nicholas at Cues on the Mosel: probably donated by him with his entire library to the hospital in his last will dated 6 August 1464.

The hospital of St Nicholas at Cues on the Mosel: 'Iste e[st] liber hospital[is] s[anc]ti Nicholaji p[ro]pe Cusa[m], 15th century (f. 1r).

Added quire signatures 'a-k' numbering all existing quires of the manuscript, late 15th century. According to Clark and Hallauer only items 1 and 2 belonged to the library of the hospital of St Nicholas at Cues; items 3 and 4 were acquired separately by Graevius and bound together by Humfrey Wanley when the manuscript was acquired for the Harley collection. The presence of the quire signatures suggests, however, that the manuscript was in the present state by the end of the 15th century.

Johann Georg Graevius (b. 1632, d. 1703), German classical scholar and critic: his catalogue no. 17, according to Clark (1891), 'Cicero' (items 3 and 4?) acquired by Graevius in Cologne in 1669 perhaps from the Cologne cathedral; sold to Johann Wilhelm together with the rest of his library in 1703 (Wright 1972).

Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (b. 1658, d. 1716), owner of a library in Düsseldorf: bought the entire Graevius library in 1703 (Wright 1972).

Giovanni Giacomo Zamboni (d. 1753), resident in London for the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (c. 1723-1753), friend of Michael Mattaire, the classical scholar and historian of printing: bought the Wilhelm library sometime before 1724 through Johann Büchels (b. 1659, d. 1738) (Wright 1972).

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, acquired by Edward Harley from Zamboni; the acquisition date inscribed by the Harleian librarian, Humfrey Wanley ‘20 die mensis octobris, A.D. 1725’ (f. 1r).

Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), Duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library