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Harley MS 4797

Record Id:

040-002050640

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002050640

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000859.0x00013b

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 4797

Title:

Lactantius, Divinarum Institutionum; Eiusdem poema quod inscribitur Phoenix; De Ira Dei; De Opificio Dei

Scope & Content:

Contents: Written in Pisa by Michael de Ghuardavillis of Volterra: colophon, 'Michael Deghuardavillis de Vulterrus scripsit. Pisi' (f. 196v).

f. 1: Contents list, begins 'Capitulum libri primi.'

f. 2: a ruled parchment leaf with a small pastedown inscribed: 'Laurentius valle magnificus pretor immagistratus conmesarius de Valdelsa de Florentia de Pisis de Pistoria de Monte d'Albano de civitate Castelli' affixed to the verso.

ff. 3r-164r: Lactantius, Divinarum Institutionum.

f. 6v: A pastedown ff. 164v-166v: Eiusdem poema quod inscribitur Phoenix.

ff. 167r-182r: De Ira Dei.

ff. 182r-196v: De Opificio Dei.

Decoration:

A partial white vine border in colours and gold, with a large white vine historiated initial of the author pointing to a book, and a coat of arms in the lower margin (f. 7r). The arms of three white stripes on a red shield with three blue fleur- de-lis on a gold ground in the upper part; the whole encircled by a green wreath supported by putti (f. 3r). 8 large white vine initials (ff. 27r, 48v, 73r, 97v, 118r, 144r, 167r, 182r). 10 smaller initials in gold on pink, blue, and green grounds (ff. 1r (x 3), 3v, 26r, 47v, 71v, 96v, 142v, 164v). Numerous plain initials in blue.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002050640", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 4797: Lactantius, Divinarum Institutionum; Eiusdem poema quod inscribitur Phoenix; De Ira Dei; De Opificio Dei" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002050640

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 4797 : Lactantius, Divinarum Institutionum; Eiusdem poema quod inscribitur Phoenix; De Ira Dei; De Opificio Dei

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[4796]/040-002050640

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:

1425

End Date:

1474

Date Range:

Middle of the 15th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript

Physical Characteristics:

Material: Parchment.

Dimensions: 290 x 190 (200 x 125) mm.

Foliation: ff. 196 (+ 1 unfoliated paper and 1 parchment leaf at the beginning + 2 unfoliated parchment and 1 paper flyleaves at the end).

Script: Humanistic cursive.

Binding: BM/BL in-house; rebound in 1964; gilt edges.

Vertical catchwords.

Custodial History:

Origin: Pisa, Italy.

Provenance:

Written in Pisa by Michael de Ghuardavillis of Volterra: colophon, 'Michael Deghuardavillis de Vulterrus scripsit. Pisi' (f. 196v).Unidentified arms of three white stripes on a red shield with three blue fleur- de-lis on a gold ground in the upper part; the whole encircled by a green wreath supported by putti (f. 3r).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. 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.

Information About Copies:

Select digital coverage: Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/.

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), III (1808), no. 4797.

Albinia de la Mare, 'New Research on Humanistic Scribes in Florence', in Miniatura fiorentina del Rinascimento, 1440-1525: un primo censimento, ed. by Annarosa Garzelli, 2 vols, ([Florence]: Giunta regionale toscana, 1985), I, pp. 395-574 (p. 514).

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. 180.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)