Background Essays for Manuscripts

Below you can find a list of background essays for the manuscripts, authored by the website editors and other experts in the field. See a complete list of contributors here. Background essays include a brief description of the item, a 300-word essay, a short paleographic description of the script, and a bibliography related specifically to the item.

• Collection of Diplomatic Speeches 002
• Prayers to Saint Jerome 003
• The Sphere 004
• The Mirror of the Cross 005
• Italian Proverbs 006
• Rule of Saint Benedict (in Italian) 007
• Lives of the Fathers 008
• On the First Punic War in Vernacular 009
• Miscellany 010
• Supplication 011
• Handbook for Confessors 012
• Commentary on Petrarch’s Triumph of Fame 013
• Saint Jerome’s Life and Letters 014
• Philosophical Considerations on God and the Soul 015
• Lorenzo de’ Medici Letter 016
• Register for contracts and purchases of the Orsucci family 017
• Partial Index of Livy’s Historiae 018
• On the First Punic War 019
• Humanistic Miscellany 020
• Collection of Vernacular Prose and Verse 021
• Ballate by Paolo da Firenze 022
• Sacred Poems 023
• Venetian Chronicle 024
• Account and Memorandum Book of the Works Administration of Santa Maria degli Alberighi in Florence 025
• Letter to Joannes Barbadico from Leonardo Loredano 026
• The Vincenzo Capirola Lutebook 027
• Mantiga Family’s Account Book 028
• Florentine Priorista 029
• Michelangelo Letter 030
• Memorial and Account Book of the Angelio Family 031
• Collection of Documents from Piacenza and Parma 032
• Francesco I de’ Medici Letter 033
• Life of Cardinal Reginaldo Polo and Senate Report by Marin de Cavalli 034
• Lodovico Castelvetro’s autograph notes on Petrarch 035
• Cellini Letter 036
• Copies of Venetian Documents in Latin and Vernacular 037
• Orders of the Society of St. Ambrose 038
• Essay by Lodovico Castelvetro on the Poets’ Invocation to the Muses 039
• Guild Statutes of the Florentine Mercanzia and its University 040
• Notarial Certificate Concerning the Legitimation of Marco Negroponte, Issued in Venice, 1581 041
• Giacomo Castelvetro’s Autograph Documents 042
• Collection of Italian Poetry 043
• Cambini’s History of France 044
• Florentine Chronicle 045
• Copy of the Iliad in Tuscan Translation 046
• Special Dispensations for Foreigners to Join the Order of St. Stephen 047
• Collection of Veneziano’s Poems in Sicilian Dialect 048
• History of Venice by Gian Giacomo Caroldo 049
• Collection of Documents Bound Together 050
• Register of Government and Public Officials of the City of Florence 051
• Strozzi Text Dedicated to Grand Duke Ferdinando II 052
• Seventeenth-Century Register of Florentine Families 053
• Record Book Concerning Rights of Patronage of the General Chapter of the Franciscans in Vicenza 054
• Statutes of the Sienese Guild of Stationers and Booksellers 055
• Giacomo Franco Letter 056
• Treatise on Political Issues Relating to Italy 057
• Coraro’s History of France 058
• Robert Dudley Letter 059
• Prose and Poetry by Giovanni Battista Ciampoli 061
• Register of the Angelio Family’s Affairs and Properties in Barga 062
• Gasparo Tentivo’s Atlas 063
• Cardinal Azzolino’s Poetry 064
• Essay on the Jesuit’s Customs and Government 065
• Ajax 066
• Notes on payments made for the funeral of Cardinal Giacomo de Angelis 067
• Choirbook of Hymns and Motets 068
• Book of Fortune 069
• Sundial Manual 070
• The Discourse of Vincenzo Galilei 071
• Register of Criminals Executed in Venice 072
• Giovanni Battista Bodoni’s Notes 073
• Treatise on the Tuscan Language 074
• The Study of Counterpoint from Johann Joseph Fux’s Gradus ad parnassum 075
• Alessandro Giunta Letter 076
• Fortification by “Monsiu di Vouban” 077
• Notes in Luca Pacioli’s Somma 078
• Terze Rime by Dante Alighieri 079
• Notes in Giambattista della Porta’s Magiae naturalis 080
• The Mirror of the Cross (Printed Book) 081
• Pisan Naval Account 300
• Book of Hours 301
• Copy of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy 302
• Copy of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy transcribed by Andrea Lancia 303
• Aristotle’s Ethics Translated by Taddeo Alderotti 304
• Acciaiuoli Family Correspondence 305
• Copy of Francesco Petrarca’s Songbook Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta 306
• Algorismus 307
• Chiarini Family Correspondence 308
• Rule of Saint Augustine for Nuns 309
• Book of Sun and Moon Calculations 310
• Chronicle of Rome and Southern Italy 311
• The Flower of Battle 312
• Account Book on the Management of a Landed Estate 313
• The Art of Cooking 314
• Religious Miscellany 315
• Legend of St. Blaise 317
• Copy of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Filostrato 318
• Agreement between Bernardo de Lazara and Pietro Calzetta for the Decoration of the Corpus Christi Chapel in Padua 319
• Inventory of Buildings Selected by Michelangelo to be Demolished 320
• Account Book of Santa Maria degli Alberighi in Florence 321
• Giuseppe Gualdi’s Diary 322