Details

Subject(s)

• Emperors—Rome—Biography—Early works to 1800 [Browse]
• Rome—History—Empire, 30 B.C.-284 A.D.—Early works to 1800 [Browse]
• Emperors—Rome—Art—Early works to 1800 [Browse]
• Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)—New Jersey—Princeton [Browse]

Former owner

• Visconti family [Browse]
• Della Croce, Guiniforte [Browse]
• Giolito de' Ferrari, Gabriele [Browse]
• Bement, Clarence S. (Clarence Sweet), 1843-1923 [Browse]
• Hoe, Robert, 1839-1909 [Browse]
• Boyle, Phoebe A. D. [Browse]
• Kane, Grenville, 1854-1943 [Browse]

Bookseller

Anderson Auction Company [Browse]

Related name

Princeton University. Library. Manuscript. Kane MS. 44. [Browse]

Library of Congress genre(s)

• Art [Browse]

Getty AAT genre

• works of art [Browse]

Medium/​Support

parchment rdamat

Summary note

Collective biography of the Roman Empire's first leaders.

Notes

• Incipit: "Suetonii Tranquilli viri illustrissimi de duodecim Cesaribus liber primus incipit feliciter de Cai Jullii Cesaris diui vita. Annum agens Cesar Sextum decimum patrem amisit sequentibusque consulibus ..."
• Explicit: "... abstinentia et moderatione insequentium principum. Finis Domitiani. Explicit libri Suetonii Tranquilli de duodecim Cesaribus. Per Milanum Burrum. Deo gratias Amen. Anno domini 1433."
• Ms. codex.
• Title from title page (fol. 1r).
• Four prefatory poems attributed to Suetonius (fol. 2r-2v). Text is followed by a glossary of Latin terms pertaining to Roman government and public officials (fol. 169r-169v).
• Collation: Parchment ; fol. ii (paper) + 169 + ii (paper) ; catchwords every quire ; modern foliation in pencil.
• Layout: 30 long lines per page ; running header consisting of the emperor's name.
• Decoration: Miniatures of the Twelve Caesars (Julius Caesar to Domitian) precede each Vita. Each is dressed in 15th-century costume, usually with colored stockings; against a gold leaf or patterned background. Full-page miniatures on fols. 3v, 27r, 59v, 113r, 139r, 143v; three-quarter page on fols. 80v, 98r, 131v, 149v, 157r, and 160v. Twelve 9-line initials, colored and patterned, on gold leaf ground for beginning of each Vita. Initial A on fol. 4r includes blue Visconti knotted veil; initial E on fol. 113v includes blue Visconti knotted veil and also the motto "Pangre beau"; initial P on fol. 132r is composed of a blue upright long-sleeved hand holding a fish-like serpent terminating with a bird's head; initial V on fol. 144r composed of a deer head with antlers.
• Origin: Written in 1433 in Milan by the scribe Milanus Burrus. The miniatures are attributed to the "Master of the Vitae Imperatorum."

Binding note

Later binding. Italy (probably Venice), mid-16th century. Dark brown calf over pasteboard. Gold- and blind-stamped decorations. Framing central gilt stamp on front and back covers. Edges gilt and gauffered (most visible on the top edge). Multi-colored endbands.

Language note

Latin;

Script

Humanistica antiqua.

Provenance

Probably made for a member of the Visconti family of Milan or of their household. Owned by Guiniforte della Croce later in the 15th century. Owned by Gabriele Giolito de'Ferrari in the 16th century. Intermediate provenance unknown. Owned by Clarence S. Bement when exhibited in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1893. Later in the library of Robert Hoe. Sold from his collection by the Anderson Auction Company in 1912 to Phoebe A.D. Boyle. Auctioned again by Anderson (sale no. 1772) in 1923, probably to Grenville Kane. Exhibited in Paris, Musée des arts decoratifs in 1926, at the Exposition du livre italien. The Princeton University Library acquired the manuscript from Kane's heirs in 1946.

Source acquisition

Acquired; Estate of Grenville Kane, 1946.

References

See the entry in Medieval & Renaissance manuscripts in the Princeton University Library, volume 2, page 99-102 for detailed descriptions of the miniatures.

Other format(s)

Also available in an electronic version.

Place name(s)

Italy Milan

OCLC

1340256999

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