Extent: 67 leaves : parchment ; 181 x 131 (129 x 83) mm bound to 197 x 131 mm
Note:
Ms. codex. Title supplied by cataloger (Zacour-Hirsch). Title derived from text of dedication (f. 1r): L'epistole. Spine label: Phalari M.S. In the dedication (f. 1r), Francesco Aretino states that he translated the letters from Greek into Latin. Zacour-Hirsch mistakenly says that Aretino translated them from Greek into Italian. The translator who produced this Italian version is not named in the manuscript. Zacour-Hirsch suggests Giovanni Andrea Ferabos or Bartholomeo Phontio [or Fontio]; cf. the early printed Italian translations--1471, 1488, etc.--listed by S. F. G. Hoffmann, Lexicon bibliographicum, III, 214-215. Collation: Parchment, ii (paper) + 67 + i (paper); 110(-1), 2-610, 78; [1-67]; modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto. One leaf appears to be missing at the beginning of the first quire; might have been blank or contained a dedication, etc. Link to collation model at end of record. Layout: Written in 25 long lines; ruled in ink. Script: Written in a single humanist book hand. Decoration: Titles in red, initials in red and blue. Binding: Vellum, with a gilded design on the spine; probably a bit later than the manuscript. Origin: Written in Tuscany[?], probably in the second half of the 15th century (Zacour-Hirsch). Cover worn slightly at the edges. Various smudges and stains. The British classical scholar Richard Bentley (1662-1742) demonstrated conclusively that these letters cannot have been written by Phalaris but are much later in date. From the Macauley Collection. Accessioned (or given new accession number), 1959.
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