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Harley MS 3269

Record Id:

040-002049100

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002049100

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000761.0x000289

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 3269

Title:

Aristotle, Ethica

Scope & Content:

Aristotle, Ethica (Nichomachean Ethics), in the Latin translation by Leonardo Bruni of Arezzo (Leonardo Aretino), with a preface (ff. 1r-4r), incipit: 'Aristoteles ethicorum libros facere latinos', and dedicatory letter addressed to Pope Martin V (ff. 4r-4v), incipit: 'Non novum esse constat beatissime pater sed iam inde ab antiquis frequentissime usitatum', incipit (text): 'Omnis ars omnisque doctrina.'

Decoration:

Partial white vine border with a large white vine initial in colours and gold and, in the lower margin, a blank shield designed for a coat of arms, framed by white vine decoration in colours and gold, at the beginning of the preface (f. 1r). 11 gold initials on coloured grounds at the beginning of the letter to Martin V and each book (ff. 4r, 4v, 14v, 21v, 33v, 44v, 56r, 63v, 76r, 88v, 101r).

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002049100", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 3269: Aristotle, Ethica" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002049100

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 3269 : Aristotle, Ethica

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[3270]/040-002049100

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1445

End Date:

1465

Date Range:

c 1450-1460

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Parchment.

Dimensions: 265 x 165 mm (text space: 160 x 90 mm).

Foliation: ff. 112 (+ 4 unfoliated paper flyleaves: 2 at the beginning and 2 at the end; + 1 unfoliated ruled parchment leaf after f. 112). catchwords and leaf signatures.

Script: Humanistic cursive.

Binding: Post-1600. Brown leather binding with gold-tooling.

Custodial History:

Origin:

Italy (Florence).

Provenance:

John Gibson (fl. 1720-1726), dealer; sold to Edward Harley on 22 June 1726 (see Diary 1966).

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, inscribed as usual by their librarian, Humfrey Wanley 22 die Junij A.D. 1726' (f. 1r).

Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née 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.

Administrative Context:

Italy (Florence).

Information About Copies:

Select digital coverage available for this manuscript, see Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/welcome.htm.

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-1812), III (1808), no. 3269.

The Diary of Humfrey Wanley 1715-1726, ed. by Cyril Ernest Wright and Ruth C. Wright, 2 vols (London: Bibliographical Society, 1966), II: 1723-1726, p. 338 n. 9.

Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), p. 162.

Paul Oskar Kristeller, Iter Italicum: Accedunt Alia Itinera: A Finding List of Uncatalogued or Incompletely Catalogued Humanistic Manuscripts of the Renaissance in Italian and other Libraries, 7 vols (London: Warburg Institute; Leiden: Brill, 1963-1997), IV (1989), p. 167.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Names:

Aristotle, philosopher, 384 BC-322 BC
Bentinck, Margaret Cavendish, duchess of Portland, née Harley, collector of art and natural history specimens and patron of arts and sciences, 11 Feb 1715-17 Jul 1785,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000115857160,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/2356861
Bruni, Leonardo, Italian humanist, 1370-1444,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000121442279
Gibson, John, book-dealer, fl 1720-1726
Harley, Edward, second earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, 2 Jun 1689-16 Jun 1741,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000108078249,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/160524259
Harley, Henrietta Cavendish, Countess of Oxford and Mortimer, née Holles, patron of architecture, 4 Feb 1694-9 Dec 1755,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000030125833,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/6045563
Harley, Robert, first Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, 5 Dec 1661-21 May 1724,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000083423906