YALE UNIVERSITY
BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
GENERAL COLLECTION OF RARE BOOKS AND
MANUSCRIPTS
MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE MANUSCRIPTS
Marston MS 144 Crete, s. XIII-XV
Legal documents, in Lat. and It.
Collection of original documents, copies, translations (from Greek and
Turkish) of other documents of the Venetian doges of Candia, dated between
1299 and 1472, mostly in Latin with some later documents in Venetian
dialect. For a discussion of specific documents in the manuscript see E.
Zachariadou, "Sept traites inedits entre Venise et les emirats d'Aydin et
de Mentese (1331-1407)," in Studi preottomani e ottomani: Atti del
Convegno di Napoli (24-26 settembre 1974) pp. 229-40. Zachariadou
indicates (op. cit., p. 229) that Venice, Museo Civico Correr MS P. D.
675 is a 16th-century copy of Marston MS 144. Many of the leaves are
illegible due to severe water damage and damp rot throughout; the codex emits
a foul odor.
Parchment (thick, repaired), ff. ii (paper) + 148 + ii (paper). Leaves
of varying sizes and formats. Codex measures 340 x 250 mm. Written
throughout by multiple scribes in mercantesca scripts.
Binding: Italy, s. xviii/xix. Brown goatskin, blind-tooled with a
gold-tooled red label on spine: "Monum. di Cand. Sotto il Dom. Ven.
Cod. Memb."
From the archive of the Cretan noble family Callerghi (see Zachariadou,
op. cit.); most of the documents date to the 14th and 15th centuries.
Belonged to Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford (1766-1827; no. 227 in
his sale catalogue; number recorded on f. ii verso); sold to Bohn.
Acquired by Sir Thomas Phillipps (no. 11868, tag on spine and note with
stamp on f. i recto). Purchased from H. P. Kraus in 1959 by Thomas E.
Marston (bookplate).
Bibliography: Faye and Bond, p. 80, no. 144.
Barbara A. Shailor