Yates Thompson MS 38

This manuscript contains a copy of De Secundo Bello Punico (On the Second Punic War) by the Roman historian Titus Livius (b. 59 BC, d. 17), commonly known as Livy.

The manuscript's scribe has been identified as the 'Scribe of the Ottoboni Livy' (see Reeve, 'The Third Decade of Livy in Italy' (1987), 129-64 (p. 155); de la Mare, 'New research on humanistic scribes in Florence' (1985), I, pp. 393-600 (p. 550)). Other manuscripts written by the same scribe include British Library, Harley MSS 3547 and 5761, Holkham MS 350, and Victoria & Albert Museum, Reid 78.

Contents:

ff. 1r-230v: Livy, De Secundo Bello Punico, written in Latin and arranged in ten books, beginning, 'In parte operis mei licet mihi...'

Decoration:

The decoration of the manuscript is attributable to the Italian manuscript illuminator Francesco di Antonio del Chierico (b. 1433, d. 1484), who also decorated a copy of Petrarch's Trioni (now Harley MS 5761), written by the same scribe.

1 small miniature depicting an armoured knight on horseback with a city in the background, accompanied by a full foliate border with putti, animals (including a peacock, a lion, a bear, a goat, and a roe deer), birds, and grotesques, and an unidentified heraldic arms in the lower margin, in colours and gold (f. 1r).

Large initials with white vine ornament, in colours and gold, at the beginning of each book (ff. 25r, 51v, 74v, 96r, 118r, 144r, 169v, 193r, 210v).

Display script in colours and/or gold (ff. 1r, 24v, 51v, 74r, 74v, 96r, 118r, 144r, 169v, 192v, 193r, 210v). Headings in red.