16-11-2020, 03:00 PM
Dear Lisa,
looking forward to that.
I can provide a bit of background information, some of which you certainly know already.
When, in 2014, the MS was scrutinised by MS conservators from Yale, the Folger, Library of Congress and the Walters, I was initially surprised that they concentrated their attention primarily on the binding details, especially the opened spine, and much less on the writing and the fancy illustrations. At the time, the question of 'genuinely old' was a hot topic, in the wake of the Galileo fake. I realised all this afterwards. In any case, I was standing close by and had my ears wide open. They looked at it from all angles. The verdict on the binding was: genuinely old, probably 15th century and probably/perhaps Italian. This is reflected in the essay in the Yale photo-facsimile.
Driven by some specific questions and some new information, I asked Paula quite recently if this could also be Italian, but much later, say 18th - 19th century. She looked at it again with a colleague, and confirmed the earlier assessment.
You may want to check with her.
The reason for my questions was that this MS, and all others in the same collection, were rebound in Rome in the 18th-19th century, and some binding details of the others, as visible in the Vatican digital library, made me wonder whether the binding supports were also renewed.
This could not be confirmed. Details are You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., more than halfway down.
looking forward to that.
I can provide a bit of background information, some of which you certainly know already.
When, in 2014, the MS was scrutinised by MS conservators from Yale, the Folger, Library of Congress and the Walters, I was initially surprised that they concentrated their attention primarily on the binding details, especially the opened spine, and much less on the writing and the fancy illustrations. At the time, the question of 'genuinely old' was a hot topic, in the wake of the Galileo fake. I realised all this afterwards. In any case, I was standing close by and had my ears wide open. They looked at it from all angles. The verdict on the binding was: genuinely old, probably 15th century and probably/perhaps Italian. This is reflected in the essay in the Yale photo-facsimile.
Driven by some specific questions and some new information, I asked Paula quite recently if this could also be Italian, but much later, say 18th - 19th century. She looked at it again with a colleague, and confirmed the earlier assessment.
You may want to check with her.
The reason for my questions was that this MS, and all others in the same collection, were rebound in Rome in the 18th-19th century, and some binding details of the others, as visible in the Vatican digital library, made me wonder whether the binding supports were also renewed.
This could not be confirmed. Details are You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., more than halfway down.