Pigafetta, Antonio, approximately 1480-approximately 1534
Published / Created:
[ca. 1525]
Call Number:
Beinecke MS 351
Container / Volume:
Box
Image Count:
218
Resource Type:
unspecified
Abstract:
Manuscript on parchment (fine) of A journal of Ferdinand Magellan's voyage around the world in 1522, written by Antonio Pigafetta (ca. 1480/91 - ca. 1534), an Italian gentleman from Vincenza who survived the trip. Beinecke MS 351, the text of which is divided into 57 numbered chapters, is the most complete and most handsomely produced manuscript of the four surviving witnesses to the text; the original, probably in Italian, is now lost
Description:
In French., Script: Written in elegant humanistic bookhand with script often resting above the rulings; marginal notes and headings in a more cursive script that inclines toward the right., Twenty-three beautifully drawn and illuminated maps, mostly full-page, surrounded by gold frames, and with scrolls superimposed that contain the identifying legends for islands and land masses. Decorative initials, 4- to 3-line, rose or blue highlighted with white, on gold rectangular grounds edged in black, contain flowers in contrasting colors or strawberries and green and chartreuse leaves. Gold initials, 2-line, on red rectangular grounds or on red and blue grounds (divided diagonally or horizontally) with gold highlights. Gold paragraph marks, 1-line, on rectangular grounds that alternate red and blue, with gold highlights; rectangular line-fillers in red and gold, also highlighted with gold. Headings for chapters and titles for maps within text, as well as notes in margin entered by same scribe, in red or blue., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Red goatskin, gold-tooled. Bound by Duru in 1851. Disbound and mounted for photographic reproduction for the facsimile edition by Harold Tribolet at the Extra Bindery of the Lakeside Press. Rebacked with extraordinary skill.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Magalhães, Fernão de, 1480-1521. and Pigafetta, Antonio, approximately 1480-approximately 1534.
Subject (Topic):
Discoveries in geography, Portuguese, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, Early maps, and Voyages around the world
Manuscript on paper (watermarks buried in gutter) of Gregorio (or Leonardo?) Dati, La Sfera. This rhyming treatise (ottava rima) is divided into two parts: 1) a treatise on astronomy; 2) rules for navigation and the determination of the position of the sea
Description:
In Italian., Script: Written by one person in neat mercantile script., One 4-line initial, f. lr., gold capital with white-vine foliage against a blue, pink and green ground, connected to a 3/4 white-vine border with brown penwork and gold dots; a coat of arms in wreath at center of lower margin. Two 3-line initials, ff. 7r and 14v, gold, against pink and green grounds with yellow and white filigree. Folios 1r-14v illustrated in margins with astronomical and geographical diagrams, all of them circular, tinted drawings in brown pen with red, yellow, blue and green washes. Folios 15r-24v decorated with unframed maps and illustrations drawn in brown pen, and tinted green, brown and red. Most illustrations unlabeled., Some leaves repaired; the manuscript shows signs of heavy use., and Binding: 16th-17th centuries. Resewn on three vegetable fiber supports. Rounded spine. Covered in black/brown sheepskin over wooden boards with corner tongues. Blind-tooled with five line fillets forming diamonds. There are traces of four bosses on each board and two clasp-and-catch fastenings, the catches on the lower board. Fastenings and bosses are wanting. Concentric circles are scratched in the center of the lower board. Rebacked.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Dati, Gregorio, 1362-1436.
Subject (Topic):
Astronomy, Medieval, Italian poetry, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, Early maps, and Navigation
