Manuscript codex. Title supplied by cataloger. Combining scholarly knowledge of ancient sources and models and an innovative architectural technique, Alberti's treatise on architecture was composed in 1452. De re aedificatoria provided the Renaissance with an organized program for architectural design. By using new mathematical techniques and relationships found in musical harmony, Alberti achieved a balanced proportion which was emulated... The Chicago manuscript, which originated in Sicilian Italy during the last quarter of the fifteenth century, was probably produced by a large scriptorium, since as many as ten scribes collaborated on it. Large blue Roman initials were intended to mark the beginning of each section, but after the Introduction and Book I, the initials have not been painted in. This work has been rebound and binding fragments retained. See the Special Collections circulation desk for additional information. Collation: Paper, iii (modern flyleaves) + iii (older, perhaps not contemporary? flyleaves) + 281 + iii (older flyleaves) + iii (modern flyleaves); i-ii10, iii8, iv-viii10, ix500 Collation: Paper, iii (modern flyleaves) + iii (older, perhaps not contemporary? flyleaves) + 281 + iii (older flyleaves) + iii (modern flyleaves); i-ii10 iii8 iv-viii10 ix8 x-xiv10 xv6 xvi8 xvii10 xviii6 xix-xx8... Layout: 25-41 long lines per page, varying with individual scribes and even within the writing of one scribe. Not ruled or lined. Script: Brown ink; Italic hands written by a number of scribes. Scribal colophon on fol. 150v: "Scriptum manu cancellarij ex[cellen?]tis Regni Sciciliae Cancellarii," in hand of the scribe of that quire. Many scribes worked on this manuscript, but all used various humanistic scripts of Italy of a middling grade. All are definitely humanistic and exhibit few to no Gothic characteristics. Some... Decoration: Two blue initials at beginnings of introduction and Book I, but after that, spaces left for initials were not filled in. Shelfmark: Chicago, Illinois, University of Chicago Library, Ms1. Some manicules and marginal notes, Xs in margin, etc. Most notes in non-scribal but contemporary hand. On flyleaf facing first leaf, "Leonis Albertius Architectura" in 16th? cent hand. "Leonis Albertius" is written on top of "Vitruvius", correcting a misattribution. Quire beginning on f. 151 has its pages numbered 1-10. Some other quires, like quire beginning on p. 1, have partial numeration... Shelf mark LXIII in an old Italian library (as University of Chicago MSs. 5, 11, 51, 52, 65). From the library of Marchese Taccone of Naples.
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