Beinecke MS 438               Italy, s. XV^^3/4
Petrarch, Trionfi

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1.  ff. 1r-2r ruled, but blank; f. 2v  [Title, in gold rustic capitals:]
Francisci petrarce celeberimi vatis florentini meritoque inter alios poete
laureati triumphorum primus incipit de amore et prima pars primi triumphi
feliciter summit initium.

2.  ff. 3r-57v  (Tr. cup. I) Nel tempo che rinuoua i miei sospiri...
Vien chatenato Ioue inanci al charro; (f. 7r, Tr. cup. III) Secunda
pars primi triumphi de amore.  Era si pieno il chor di marauiglie...Et quale
e ilmele temp[with dot below:  e]rato chon lassentio; (f. 11v, Tr.
cup. IV) Tertia pars primi triumphi de amore.  Poscia che mia fortuna in
forca altrui...Chel pie ua inanci et locchio torna adietro; (f. 15v, Tr.
cup. II) Quarta pars et ultima primi triumphi de amore.  Stancho gia di
mirare non sacio anchora...Et dun pome beffata alfin cidippe; (f. 20r, Tr.
pud.) Eiusdem francisci petrarce poete clarissimi secundus triumphus de
pudicitia incipit. pudicitia vincit amorem.  Quando ad un giogho et in un
tempo quiui...Fra quali i uidi Ipolito et Ioseppe; (f. 25r, Tr. mort. I)
Eiusdem francisci petrarce poete tertius triumphus de morte incipit et pars
prima tertii triumphi de morte.  mors vincit pudicitiam.  Questa leggiadra et
gloriosa donna...Morte bella parea nel suo bel uiso; (f. 29v, fragment of Tr.
mort.) Secunda pars ut multi volunt tertii triumphi de morte.  Quanti gia
nella eta matura et Acra...quella per chui ben far prima mi piacque; (f. 30v,
Tr. mort. II) Tertia pars tertii triumphi de morte sed aliqui secundam
volunt.  La nocte che seghui lorribil caso...Tu starai in terra sanca me
gran tempo; (f. 35r, fragment of Tr. fam. I) Quarta pars et ultima tertii
triumphi de morte ast alii tertiam.  Nel cor pieno damarissima
dolciecca...Poi alla fine uidi Artu et Carlo; (f. 39r, Tr. fam. I;
heading in lower margin:) Eiusdem francisci petrarce poete clarissimi quartus
Triumphus incipit de fama et prima pars eius. fama vincit mortem.  Da poi che
morte triunfo il bel uolto...Si come aduiene a chi uirtu relinque; (f. 42v,
Tr. fam. II) Secunda pars quarti triumphi de fama.  Pien dinfinita et
nobil marauiglia...Magnanimo gentile constante et largho; (f. 46v, Tr. fam.
III) Tertia et ultima pars quinti triumphi de fama.  Io non sapea da tal
uista levarme...Qui lascio et piu di loro non dicho auante; (f. 49r, Tr.
temp.) Eiusdem Francisci Petrarce poete clarissimi quintus triumphus de
senectute uel de tempore incipit.  tempus vincit famam.  Nel lauro albergho
chon la Aurora inanci...Chosi il Tempo triunfa e nomi el mondo; (f. 53r, Tr.
et.) Eiusdem francisci petrarce poete florentini clarissimi triumphorum
sextus et ultimus de eternitate triumphus incipit.  eternitas vincit famam et
omnia.  Da poi che sotto il cielo cosa non uidi...Ora che fia dunche a
riuederla in  cielo.  Francisci Petrarce uatis eterni florentini triumphorum
sextus et ultimus de eternitate triumphus explicit felicissime.

3.  f. 57v  Religious [?] text, severely rubbed and illegible.  f. 58r-v
ruled, but blank.

     Parchment, ff. ii (paper) + 58 + i (paper), 197 x 133 (122 x 79) mm.  Written
in 21 lines of verse; ruled in ink, double vertical bounding lines full length.
     I^^10 (+ 2 folios, conjugate leaves, tipped in before f. 1), II-V^^10, VI^^6.
Catchwords in inner margin along lower edge.
     Written by one scribe in humanistic bookhand.
     Six fine miniatures:  f. 3r, Triumph of Love; f. 20v, Triumph of Chastity;
f. 25v, Triumph of Death; f. 39r, Triumph of Fame; f. 49v, Triumph of Time;
f. 53v, Triumph of Eternity.  Other manuscripts in a similar style include
Florence, Bibl. Laur., MS Plut. XLVIII. 8 (Cicero, Orationes); Bibl.
Laur. MS Plut. LXVI. 8 (Flavius Josephus, De bello Judaico), and a copy of
Lactantius, Opera formerly in the hands of H. P. Kraus of New York (Cat. 88, p. 95,
no. 44), and now in Malibu, California, J. Paul Getty Museum, MS Ludwig
XI.1. According to A. von Euw, Die Handschriften der Sammlung Ludwig
(Cologne, 1982) v. 3, pp. 47-51 (with pl. of f. 2r), the artist of Getty
MS Ludwig XI.1 is identified as the Fiesole illuminator.  According to A. C. de la
Mare the same artist may have decorated Beinecke Marston MSS 55 and 184.
The iconography of the miniatures is conventional except for the
representation of the Triumph of Eternity on f. 53v; see Exhibition
Catalogue, pp. 321-32, no. 56; A. Carandente, I Triunfi nel Primo
Rinascimento (Turin, 1963); and E. Muentz and Prince d'Essling, Petrarque:
L'Illustration de ses ecrits (Paris, 1902).  Each miniature, 12- to 9-line, is
rectangular, framed with a thin band of burnished gold (except on f. 39r, a
square 14-line miniature in a purple frame edged on both sides with gold).  On
f. 3v, a full border:  putti with swags in upper margin [trimmed], white-vine
ornament in side and lower margins, the ground predominantly blue, with some
green and pink and with white dots; in outer and lower margin, a gold trellis,
with polygonal medallions at corners and midpoints, containing a capital I,
and the busts of a child, youth, and young woman; finely drawn animals (stag,
goat, panther, rabbit, and fox) superimposed over border; these are related to
animals in contemporary Florentine manuscripts (see Exhibition Catalogue, p.
232), and perhaps reflect the use of a model book.  In the lower margin of f. 1r
is a coat-of-arms (effaced), supported by four putti and with birds in
surrounding vine ornament. For the other miniatures, partial borders with dark
blue, green, pink and gold flowers and gold dots and hair-spray.  Small
medallions containing the letters I, A, C, O, P, O incorporated into successive
borders form the name Iacopo. 3-line initials of gold, infilled green and pink,
with delicate white filigree, against blue grounds.  Headings and initial of
each tercet in gold.
     Binding:  s. xviii.  Gilt, gauffered edges.  Red calf, gold-tooled
with a ribbon border, acorns in the corners and a diced central ornament.

Written and decorated in Florence in the third quarter of the 15th century.  The
name "Iacopo" (see above) is probably that of the man who commissioned the
volume.  Arms of the owner on f. 1r have been effaced.  Early modern provenance
unknown.  From the collection of Henry Huth (1815-78; bookplate; see The Huth
Library [London, 1880], v. 4, p. 1133); belonged to his son Alfred H. Huth
(1850-1910); sold by Sotheby's, 16 July 1917, no. 5734.  The name "Baccio
Baldini" is written in modern pencil on the first flyleaf, verso.  Purchased
from H. P. Kraus in 1969 by Edwin J. Beinecke for the Beinecke Library.

Secundo folio:  Vagho dudir

Bibliography: Exhibition Catalogue, pp. 231-32, no. 56, with pl. 21 (f. 3r).
     D. Dutschke, Census of Petrarch Manuscripts in the United States,
Censimento dei Codici Petrarcheschi 9 (Padova, 1986) pp. 210-13, no. 82.

Barbara A. Shailor