YALE UNIVERSITY
BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
GENERAL COLLECTION OF RARE BOOKS AND
MANUSCRIPTS
MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE MANUSCRIPTS
Beinecke MS 454 Spain, s. XV^^2
Manuel Diaz, Libre de cavalls
1. ff. 1r-2r Three Drawings of horses including: f. 1r the effects of the
signs of the zodiac on the horse (with descriptive rubrics, e.g., Aries es
contrari al cap. Cancer als pits; f.1v anatomical parts of the horse
(incomplete); f. 2r the proper locations for bloodletting [?].
2. ff. 2v-34v Sixty-five diagrams of bits for horses, some with explanations
in red.
3. ff. 35r-39r [Table of contents for art. 4:] Del preniment e del domdament
del cauall iij. De la guarda e doctrina del cauall iij...Del cauall
qui mena la choa e no la porta be ans la tors .C.xj. f. 39v ruled, but
blank
4. ff. 40r-151v [Preface, f. 1r:] [E]n nom sia de la sancta trinitat qui es
pare e ffill e sant spirit tot vn deu. Com sia molt necessari a tot caualler e
gentil hom...[text begins on 41r, without rubric:] Lo cauall deu esser
engendrat de guarra ho astello que sia bo e de bon pell...E asso sia escrit e
mes en les capsanes ho xaquima de la bistia. [added in a later hand:] e diren
per iij ho per iiij veses lo pater noster. ff. 152r-173v blank
Manuel Diaz, Libre de cavalls; this treatise in Valencian dialect was
translated into Spanish by Martin Martinez de Ampies and published under the
title Llibre de menescalia [Saragossa: Paul Horus, 1499].
Paper (with parchment leaves interspersed; watermarks: similar to Piccard
Turm 132-47 and Briquet Tete humaine 15670), ff. ii (original parchment
flyleaves) + 173 (art. 4: contemporary foliation, Roman numerals in red,
i-cxiiij, in
upper right corner) + i (original parchment flyleaf), 300 x 210 (175 x 119) mm.
Ca. 33 long lines (2 columns for ff. 35-39). Single vertical and upper
horizontal bounding lines in crayon or lead, rulings for written space usually
in hard point.
I^^14 (+ 1 parchment leaf at beginning), II^^16, III^^8, IV^^18, (1, 18 =
parchment bifolium), V-X^^16 (1, 16 in each gathering = parchment bifolium),
XI^^20. Catchwords, with penwork or ornamentation centered below written
space, verso.
Written by a single person in Spanish fere-humanistic script.
In addition to the illustrations listed in arts. 1-2, there is on f. 40r
a drawing of a knight in armor on horseback, in red, blue, green. He holds
a shield with the arms of Alfonso V, King of Aragon (d. 1458): per pale argent,
a lion rampant gules; bendy of 4, argent and gules. 2-line red initials with
penwork in black at beginning of each text section. Headings, paragraph marks,
and strokes on initials, in red. Remains of directions to rubricator along
lower edge.
Binding: s. xv. Original sewing on three slit-strap, tawed supports
laced to the inside of beech boards and pegged. Plain wound endbands with a
secondary, multi-colored sewing on tawed cores. The spine is square,
and lined with vellum between supports, the
sewing supports slightly defined. Covered in brown goatskin, blind-tooled with
concentric frames, the spine diced. Two fastenings, the catches on the
lower board decorated with floral designs, the clasps wanting. Repaired.
Written in Spain, perhaps Aragon, probably in the second half of the 15th
century; early modern provenance unknown. Belonged to Guglielmo Libri
(1803-69); his
sale (Sotheby's, 28 March 1859, no. 313; 25 July 1862, no. 124). Collection
of Sir Thomas Phillipps (no. 16379; tag on spine; note on front flyleaf).
Purchased from Robinson's in 1947 as the gift of the Yale Library Associates.
secundo folio: Asso son
Barbara A. Shailor