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

MS. Rawl. G. 68

Summary Catalogue no.: 14798

Contents

Leonardo Bruni, De bello Italico
Rubric: Leonardi Aretini de Bello Italico Adversus Gothos gesto libri quattuor incipiunt ad reverendissimum dominum Iulianum [Caesarinum] cardinalem S. Angeli'
Incipit: Etsi longe mihi iucundius fuisset

This is Procopius's work which Leonardo Bruni of Arezzo, thinking that he possessed the only manuscript of it, issued as his own work

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: 109 leaves
Dimensions (binding): 9.375 × 6.5 in.

Decoration

Pächt and Alexander ii. 737, pl. LXXI Related to the style of the so-called 'Ippolyta Master'. Humanistic script

Fine border

Fine initials

Summary Catalogue: Fine border on fol. 2 with erased coat of arms

Binding

Contemporary Italian stamped binding, with one clasp (two lost)

History

Origin: 15th century, third quarter ; Italy, Milan

Provenance and Acquisition

Erased coat of arms with crest and initials 'I. O', fol. 2; Pächt and Alexander suggested 'possibly Giovanni Ferrufini', cf. Paris, Bibl. Nat. Latin 665 with his arms and the initials 'I. O.', and MS. Auct. T. 4. 16. The same initials are also found in Princeton University Library MS. Kane 44, Holkham Hall, Norfolk, MS. 345, Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett MS. 78.C.25, and former Dyson Perrins MS. 64, all Milanese manuscripts. Suzanne Reynolds, A catalogue of the manuscripts in the library at Holkham Hall I (2015), p. 224, cites further literature on initials I. O. in Milanese manuscripts of this period.

Richard Rawlinson, 1690–1755

Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1755

Record Sources

Description adapted (January 2023) by Stewart J. Brookes from the Summary Catalogue (1895). Decoration, localization, date and early provenance follow Pächt and Alexander (1973)

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (2 images from 35mm slides)

Last Substantive Revision

2023-01-25: Description revised to incorporate all the information in the Summary Catalogue (1895)