MS. Laud Misc. 503

Summary Catalogue no.: 1178

Petrarch, Letters (selection) and Secretum; Italy (north-west?), 15th century, third quarter

1. (fols. 1r–6v)

Petrarch, Epistolae familiares XI. 8

Incipit: Ut aliquid ad te scribam

Explicit: nil aliunde trepidandum est. Vale ducum ac virorum optime.

2. (fols. 6v–10v)

Petrarch, Ep. fam. X. 1, to Charles IV

Incipit: ⟨P⟩recipitium horret epistola

Explicit: dillatam gloriam reservavit. Franciscus de petrarchis lauereatus de florentia

3. (fols. 10v–11v)

Charles IV, Letter to Petrarch

Incipit: ⟨L⟩aureta tui gratanter emicuit

Explicit: imperii denotamus

P. Piur, Petrarcas Briefwechsel mit deutschen Zeitgenossen (Vom Mittelalter zur Reformation, 7), Berlin 1933, 12-16

4. (fols. 11v–13v)

Petrarch, Ep. fam. III. 12

Incipit: ⟨A⟩nimum tuum quam visibille [sic] fuit

Explicit: et pro caritate huic impensa [space for one word left blank] grates agam. Vale memor mei.

5. (fols. 13v–18v)

Petrarch, Ep. fam. XX. 4

Incipit: ⟨C⟩rebras ex te literulas

Explicit: sis innocentum. Valle. M(edio)l(ani)i v junii.

6. (fols. 18v–20r)

Petrarch, Letter to Giovannolo da Mandello

Incipit: ⟨S⟩era quidem amice optime ad epistoIam vestram

Explicit: nos in patria et in terra viuentium videamus. Valete feliciter et immerite exul et eregie[sic]. Ticini vi Jullii frater vester si quid est.

Ernest H. Wilkins and Giuseppe Billanovich, 'The Miscellaneous Letters of Petrarch', Speculum, 37, No. 2 (Apr., 1962), 226-243 at pp. 232-3

7. (fols. 20r–86v)

Petrarch, Secretum

Incipit: ⟨A⟩thonito mihi quidem

Explicit: fortuna non obstrepat. Explicit liber iste. Deo gratias amen.

Fols. 86(a)r-v, 86(b)r-v ruled but blank.

8. (fols. 87r–93v)

Petrarch, Ep. fam. XII. 2

Incipit: ⟨J⟩am tandem, vir clarissime

Explicit: velocior ad sedes ethereas peruolabit. Vale, patrie decus ac nostrum.

9. (fols. 93v–101r)

Petrarch, Ep. fam. XVII. 3

Incipit: ⟨C⟩onscilium tuum ut nec probem nec improbem

Explicit: regna ipsa mortalia. Valle.

10. (fols. 101r–103v)

Petrarch, Ep. fam. XVII. 5

Incipit: ⟨Q⟩ue spes, quod solamen publice calamitatis

Explicit: vmbra castenee. Valle.

11. (fols. 103v–110r)

Petrarch, Ep. fam. XXIII. 12

Incipit: Nemo myser esse vult, aut nunquam voluit

Explicit: tecum sum. Valle. M(edio)l(ani)i in kalendis decembris.

Rest of fol. 110r, and fol. 110v, ruled, blank.

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Paper folded in octavo and (quire 4) quarto. Watermark apparently flower with 8 petals (examples in Piccard mostly from Pavia), except quire 4: tower (type Piccard, Turm, II.333-377, 33mm. between chainlines). Quires supported with parchment guards.

Extent: i (parchment) + 112 + i (parchment) leaves.

Dimensions (leaf): c. 200 × c. 145 mm.

Foliation: i, 1-86, 86a, 86b, 87-113, in 19th-century pencil.

Collation

1(8)-11(8) (fols. 1-86(b)v), 12(8)-14(8) (fols. 87-110). Horizontal catchwords in the middle of the page.. 'Jesus' written at the top of the opening page of each quire.

Layout

1 col., 22 lines; ruled space c. 125 × c. 90 mm. Partly below and partly above top line. Verticals ruled in leadpoint, horizontals in ink (perhaps using a rake: see fol. 86v).

Hand(s)

Humanistic script; one scribe.

Decoration

Pächt and Alexander ii. 874, pl. LXXVII:

Good initial (fol. 1r).

Spaces left for rubrics and for other initials.

Binding

15th-century Italian quarter calf binding.

History

Origin: 15th century, third quarter ; Italian, North-west (?)

Provenance and Acquisition

16th-century (?) note on fol. 111v, possibly price or shelfmark; read by Pächt and Alexander as 'Visto 11. 70'

William Laud, 1573–1645, 1637

Given to the Bodleian as part of his third donation, dispatched on 28 June 1639.

Record Sources

Description adapted (2025) by Matthew Holford from the following sources, with limited additional description and reference to published literature as cited:

Otto Pächt and J. J. G. Alexander, Illuminated Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library Oxford, II (1970), no. 874

H. O. Coxe, Laudian Manuscripts, Quarto Catalogues II, repr. with corrections, 1969, from the original ed. of 1858–1885).

Quarto Catalogue, col. 363

Summary Catalogue, vol. 2, part 1, p. 51

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2025-03: Incorporate all information from printed catalogues with limited additional description.

A catalogue of Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries and selected Oxford colleges