Beinecke MS 328               Italy, s. XV^^2
Dati, La Sfera

ff. 1r-24v Al padre al figliuolo allo spirito santo/  per ognj
secholo sic [changed from sia] gloria et honore/...doue si naujcha
e finjsce quiuj/ lasia magiore al fume tanaj.

     Gregorio (or Leonardo?) Dati, La Sfera; GKW v. 7, nos. 8015-31.
This rhyming treatise (ottava rima) is divided into two parts:
1. a treatise on astronomy; 2. rules for navigation and the determination
of the position of the sea.

     Paper (watermarks buried in gutter), ff. ii (paper, i = front pastedown)
+ 24 + vi (paper, vi = back pastedown), 274 x 198 (ca. 130 x 90) mm.
Three stanzas of 8 verses each per page. Frame-ruled in lead or hard point;
prickings mark corners of a rectangle in center of page measuring ca. 190 x
110 mm. The text occupies the upper left portion of this rectangle.
     I-II^^12. Quire and leaf signatures (e.g., a2, a3, etc.) in lower
right corner, recto.
     Written by one person in neat mercantile script.
     One 4-line initial, f. lr., gold capital with white-vine foliage
against a blue, pink and green ground, connected to a 3/4 white-vine
border with brown penwork and gold dots; a coat of arms (see Provenance)
in wreath at center of lower margin. Two 3-line initials, ff. 7r and 14v,
gold, against pink and green grounds with yellow and white filigree. Folios
1r-14v illustrated in margins with astronomical and geographical diagrams, all
of them circular, tinted drawings in brown pen with red, yellow, blue and
green washes (e.g., eclipses, f. 5r-v). Folios 15r-24v decorated with unframed
maps and illustrations drawn in brown pen, and tinted green, brown and red
(e.g., Noah's Ark, f. 15v; Red Sea, f. 16r; Pharos at Alexandria, f. 17r;
Mt. Sion, f. 21v). Most illustrations unlabeled.
     Some leaves repaired; the manuscript shows signs of heavy use.
     Binding: s. xvi-xvii [?].  Resewn on three vegetable fiber supports.
Rounded spine.  Covered in black/brown sheepskin over wooden boards with
corner tongues.  Blind-tooled with five line fillets forming diamonds.
There are traces of four bosses on each board and two clasp-and-catch
fastenings, the catches on the lower board.  Fastenings and bosses are
wanting.  Concentric circles are scratched in the center of the lower
board.  Rebacked.

Written in Florence in the third quarter of the 15th century probably for an
unidentified member of the Cambio family whose arms appear on f. 1r (argent, 3
chevrons sable). Pencil notations inside back cover include "737/ S/ Auct
HLS" and "5004/ L2L0". Purchased from the William Schab Gallery in 1948 by
H.P. Kraus. Acquired from Kraus (list 168 [1954], item 73)
in 1955 by Thomas E. Marston (bookplate),
who presented it to the Beinecke Library in 1965.

Bibliography: Faye and Bond, p. 71, no. 57 (while in T.E. Marston's
collection).
     H.W. Liebert, "Manuscripts before 1700," Gazette 41 (1967) p. 106.

Barbara A. Shailor