Li livres dou tresor
Manuscript Information
Title of manuscript: Li livres dou tresorMS call number (and folio selected): Ms Fr.F.v.III.4
Current location: Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia
Place of creation: Therouanne/ Saint Omer, ca
Date of creation: 1300-1310
Codicology and Paleography
Language(s) of text: Old FrenchScript: textura, Gothic
Abbreviations: none
Textual corrections
Contemporary: none
Later: none
Marginal commentary
Contemporary: none
Later: bestiary animals or astronomical signs were added around the third quarter of the 14th century. As owners transitioned, different writing styles that were thinner and more cursive appeared.
Rubrication: encyclopedia; written and illuminated in France, Arras or TheÌrouanne, in the early 14th century-much books created for knowledge at this time
Instructions for scribe: seated scribe copying from a manuscript
Instructions for rubricator and/or artist: encyclopedia; written and illuminated in France, Arras or TheÌrouanne, in the early 14th century-remain explanatory and factual like-although were more fantasy images
Provenance
Marks of ownership: A red shield stamp on the right side of the column is present, it seems to have been smudged downwardsPrevious owners: Pierre Seguier; Abbey of Saint-German-des-Pres (1735); Piotr Dubrovsky (1754-1816; end of the 18th century); public library of Saint Petersburg (1805)
Mise en page
Columns: 2 columnsLines per column: 37 lines
Decoration (in hierarchical order)
Gilding: There are gold detailed initials ane undertones in the artworkSmall ink initials: thin strokes circular and decorate the border
Pen flourished initials: There are pen strokes within this page, the initials have them as well
Painted initials: There is painted initials within the text, it is a blue tint, and another with a red tint.
Gold initials: Within the initials, there are golden decorations
Foliate initials: The initials are curved and stroked into a decorative shape
Zoomorphic initials: In this specific page there is not an animal like initial, however, on other pages, there are beastly animals integrated into the text
Anthropomorphic initials: none
Historiated initials: Yes, the pictures within the folios of this manuscript does contain images relevant to the text in a historical aspect
Miniatures: 1 12-line miniature (seated scribe copying from a manuscript) that is original to text
Marginal Illustrations: 65 marginal drawings (3 figured, the rest of bestiary animals or astronomical signs) that were added around the third quarter of the 14th century.
Full page illustration:
Other Information
Also abound beasts, grotesque and strange, dwarf characters that make all kinds of mischief; They make balancing acrobats and juggling; musicians playing trumpet, flute, viola, tambourine, organ and bagpipes; Birds, hares, fawns, lions and dogs hunting wild boar appear. It has even drawn the creation of EveFurther readings
Add at least 3- His Livre dou Tresor is a compilation of material previously available to the learned in Latin texts, presented here in a vernacular language as a kind of De Regimine principum not for the nobility, but for those responsible for city government in the political circumstances prevalent in Italy, and more specifically Florence, at the time.
- The first book of Latini’s Trésor among many topics contains notes on astronomy and the universe
- In book two, Latini translates the Ethics of Aristotle into French. Virgil will quote Ethics in the Comedy (Inf.XI.79-80), and Dante’s Convivio is firmly rooted in Aristotelian logic.
- The third and final book, which contains a robust discussion of politics, would also have been a formative text for Dante, who, like Latini, was involved in the Florentine government. Both men supported the Guelph faction of Florentine politics. Latini even warns Dante in the Inferno (XV.61-78) about the history of the discord between the Ghibellines and the Guelphs, which resulted in Latini’s exile and would ultimately be the cause of Dante’s.
(themorgan.org)
