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Merton College MS. 326

Former shelfmark: H. 2. 10

PETRARCH; c. 1465–75

Contents

Language(s): Italian

On f. iii is the washed-out text of a list or inventory, in a good Italian cursive hand, s. xv. Read using ultra-violet light, the first two words seem to be ‘Alla badia’, and ‘Bernardo dalla Bada’ and ‘dalla Bada’ occur further down.

1. (fols. 1–35v)
PETRARCH, Trionfi
Rubric: Triomfi di messer Francesco Petrarca poeta Fiorentine Laureato in capitolio romano.
Incipit: ⟨N⟩el tempo che rinnova e mie sospiri
Explicit: Hor che fia dunque arivederla in cielo.
Final rubric: Finis Patrarcae Triumphus.

Listed by Mann. ed. V. Pacca (Milan, 1996); Petrarca nel tempo: tradizione lettori e immagini delle opere, ed. M. Feo (Florence 2003), pp. 171–6.

Language(s): Italian
2. (fols. 36–163)
PETRARCH, Rime
Incipit: ||(Beg. impf. with 4) Que chenfinita providentia et arte
Explicit: (361) Caccolga el mio spirto ultimo in pace.
Final rubric: Finis. Finiscono le canzoni et sonetti di messer Francesco Petrarca poeta Fiorentino.

Listed by Mann. Ed. M. Santagata (Milan, 1996), pp. 627–754; Petrarca nel tempo, pp. 41–67.

(fols. 163v-8v)
Table of first lines of art. 2

, in alphabetical order, as far as S.

Language(s): Italian

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: Cosi dissio
Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Extent: 174 leaves of parchment prepared in the Italian manner (iii + 171)
Dimensions (leaf): 240 × 150 mm.
Dimensions (written): 165 × 85 mm.
The lower margins of many leaves have been excised.

Collation

A singleton, 114, 26, 310, 46 (lacks 6), 510 (lacks 1), 6–710, 810 (lacks 4–7), 910, 1010 (lacks 1, 10), 1110 (lacks 1), 1210 (lacks 3), 13–1810, a bifolium; vertical catchwords. The bifolium at the end is a modern construction, and was probably originally a quire of 4, of which 1–2 remain. Inside the front board is tipped a letter from N. Mann, 8 June 1970, on the book’s structure, pointing out that leaves in the first four quires have been misbound. The quires should collate 1–310, 46(lacks 1), and the leaves should be ordered 1–4, 8, 7, 11–15, 17, 16, 5–6, 9–10, 19, 18, 20–5, 23, 28, 26–7, 29–35.

Layout

Ruled in 30 long lines.

Hand(s)

Written in the humanistic bookhand of Giovanni Francesco Marzi di San Gimignano of Florence.

Decoration

Florentine. Large initials have been excised; most of the 3-sided floral border remains on f. 1; gold initials on blue, pink and green grounds, fols. 3v, 7v, 9, 13v, 17v, 18, 22, 26, 29v, 31, 33; rubrics, numbers of Rime and table in pink; thereafter initials of individual Rime blue.

Binding

s. xvii, polished, blind-tooled, sewn on five bands; the marks of a chain-staple on the foredge of the front board near the head. fols. i-ii, 169–71 are blank paper binding leaves.

History

Origin: c. 1465–75 ; Italy, Florence

Provenance and Acquisition

Made in Florence; at the College s. xvii or xviii.

On f. iii, erased,‘Samuell Stokes his booke’, and ‘Day of Heaven. King of England Scotland and France. B. Brothᵉ’, s. xvi.

On f. iiivis ‘Q. 4. 22. Art.’, s. xvii or xviii, canc. and replaced with ‘H. 2. 10’ in red. On f. i is ‘Liber Coll. Mert.’, s. xvii or xviii. Inside the front board is ‘H. 2. 10 (CCCXXVI)’ in red.

Record Sources

R. M. Thomson, A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of Merton College, Oxford (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer), 2009.

Availability

For enquiries relating to this manuscript please contact Merton College Library.

Bibliography

    Coxe, p. 129; N. Mann, ‘Petrarch manuscripts in the British Isles’, Italia medioevale e umanistica18 (1975), 139–527, no. 244; Alexander & Temple, no. 960.

Funding of Cataloguing

Conversion of the printed catalogue to TEI funded by the Warden and Fellows of Merton College .

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2019-11-18: First online publication

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