Marginalia and Decorations- De Officiis
Marginalia
Through the tracing of different hands in the text of this manuscript,it is evident that more than one scribe participated in the creation of this manuscript.
Furthermore, it records the use of the book through the several
readers who left numerous marginalia (such as corrections or notes in the margin)
and manicula (small drawings of hands with one finger pointing to the text that the
reader wished to single out).
Decorations
Fol. 1: Illuminated initial and a three-sided French floriated frame, with flowers and leaves in red, blue, green, and pink inks. Gilding appears throughout the illumination. At center of bottom frame is a bright blue shield with a vase containing three lilies, matching the tooling on the metal clasp of the binding. This is the manuscript’s only full page illumination.Smaller initials in gold with red and blue illuminations appear throughout the text at the head of each paragraph. The initial which should begin the third book of De Officiis, Fol. lxxvi verso, was overlooked.