Emily Bulik-Sullivan `16 and Daniel Hartnett, 2014

Applying Modern Technology to Codicological Research: A Catalogue of Fifteenth-Century Iberian Boccaccio Manuscripts
Emily Bulik-Sullivan ‘16 and Daniel Hartnett, 2014
Giovanni Boccaccio
(1313-1375)
•  From Certaldo, outside of Florence, Italy1 •  One of the “Three Crowns of Florence” (with Dante and Petrarch) 6
Giovanni
Boccaccio
•  Author of numerous works •  In the twenty-­‐first century, Boccaccio’s most famous work is The Decameron •  In late medieval Gmes, it seems his other works – including De mulieribus claris (Of Noble Women) and De casibus virorum illustrium (translated as The Fall of Princes) – were more popular. •  82 manuscripts idenGfied •  The locaGon of 49 of these can be verified •  The other 33 have either been lost or are inaccessible in private collecGons •  Manuscripts vary in quality •  Some are in varying degrees of compleGon •  Others are richly illuminated with mulGple colors of ink and gold leaf •  A handful are clearly decoraGve or intended for display; others are scholarly in nature, with interlineal glossing and annotaGon Library
Over the past century, research on the works of the
Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) has
been plagued by two issues: a lack of knowledge
about how accessible Boccaccio’s works were to
medieval readers, and a tendency to adhere to
assumptions and opinions as if they were facts
because available search tools were not up to the
task of providing sufficient information to answer
scholars’ questions. In fifteenth- and sixteenthcentury Iberia, the writings of the “Three Crowns of
Florence” (Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio) held a
significant amount of political and social sway over
the noble class. Through their works, these three
writers influenced the self-fashioning of powerful
political figures and the courtly education of young
princes.2 Authors with this degree of sociopolitical
clout deserve accurate portrayals in contemporary
criticism. To contribute to the present state of
codicological research, this study offers the most
comprehensive and accurate catalogue to date of
manuscripts of Boccaccio’s works that were present
either in Iberia or in Iberian-controlled regions
during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Recent
developments in tools and techniques, particularly
on the Internet, have enabled the creation of a much
more accurate and detailed catalogue of
manuscripts of Boccaccio’s works than what has
been previously available, and this study establishes
a pathway for locating manuscripts. Not only can
this catalogue serve as a powerful tool for research
about Boccaccio’s social and literary prestige in late
medieval Iberia, but the development of modern
techniques for generating this sort of manuscript
catalogue could easily be applied to the works of
other authors.
The Catalogue
Houghton Library (Harvard)
1 La librería del cabildo toledano
1 Biblioteca Capitular de Toledo
1 Archivo Capitular de Barcelona
1 Arxiu de la Corona d'Aragò
1 Biblioteca Capitular de Zaragoza
1 Biblioteca de Catalunya
1 Real Biblioteca del Palacio Real de Madrid
2 Biblioteca Capitular y Colombina de Sevilla
2 Universitat de València
2 Bibliothèque nationale de France
8 Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de El Escorial
7 Biblioteca Nacional de España
21 0 5 10 15 20 25 Number of Manuscripts
Figure 2: A representation of the current locations of fifteenth-century
Iberian Boccaccio manuscripts. The highest concentration of those
manuscripts whose location is verifiable is in the National Library of Spain
(Madrid). The National Library of France (Paris) also houses a large
collection of Boccaccian manuscripts. Many of the manuscripts currently in
Paris come from the Neapolitan library of the Aragonese King Alfonso the
Magnanimous, who controlled Naples between 1442-1458.
Prevalence of Specific Works by Boccaccio in the
Fifteenth Century
Ameto/Comedia delle Ninfe Fiorentine
3
De casibus virorum illustrium
Figure 1: Examples of some of the
manuscripts included in this
catalogue. Clockwise, starting from
top left: the first page of a copy of
Elegia di madonna Fiammeta
currently housed in the National
Library of Spain3 (note gold leaf,
humanistic script, and elaborate
illumination); first page of a copy of
Il Filostrato also housed in the National Library of Spain4 (note historiated
initial with a figure writing the first word of the manuscript, “Molte”); the
first letter, in gold leaf, of a copy of Il Filostrato housed in the Lilly Library
at the University of Indiana-Bloomington; the first page, unfinished, of a
copy of De mulieribus claris housed at the University of Valencia5 (note
glossing and annotation, and space left blank for the initial).
Research Methods
•  Inclusion criteria: •  Manuscript (not incunable or printed book) •  By or about Boccaccio •  Present in Iberia or Iberian-­‐controlled regions (e.g. Naples) between ~1375-­‐1525 •  Every effort was made to verify each manuscript’s conGnued existence and locaGon •  Manuscripts were idenGfied by various methods: •  By directly consulGng libraries’ catalogues •  By crosschecking references in late medieval library inventories •  Via personal communicaGon with librarians in Europe Work by Boccaccio
Abstract
Distribution of Extant 15th Century Iberian Boccaccio
Manuscripts
14
De montibus, silvis, etc.
3
De mulieribus claris
10
Elegia di madonna Fiammeta
9
Genealogia deorum gentilium
9
Il Corbaccio
6
Il Decamerone
5
Il Filocolo
2
Il Filostrato
5
Other
7
Teseida delle Nozze d'Emilia
6
Trattatello in laude di Dante
3
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Number of Manuscripts
Figure 3: Of the 82 manuscripts located in this study, considerably fewer
than expected were copies of Boccaccio’s Decameron. Notable is the high
number of both De casibus virorum illustrium (translated into Spanish as
The Fall of Princes) and De mulieribus claris (Of Noble Women), possibly
revealing Boccaccio’s political influence in fifteenth-century Iberia. It is
known that the “Reyes Católicos,” Isabella and Ferdinand, used The Fall of
Princes to educate their son, himself a prince.2
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to the Lilly Library at the University of Indiana – Bloomington for allowing us to handle their fiPeenth-­‐century Milanese manuscript of Il Filostrato. Funding for this project was provided by the Kenyon Summer HumaniGes Scholar program. References
1. 
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5. 
6. 
Branca, Vigore. Boccaccio: The Man and His Works. Trans. Richard Monges. New York: New York University Press, 1976. Print. Ruiz García, Elisa. El imaginario de una reina: páginas selectas del patrimonio escrito de Isabel la Católica. Madrid: AyN Ediciones, 2007. Print. Unknown. Fiammega [Manuscrito]. Inc.: Svole ai miseri di dolersi uagheza (h. 1). 15th Century. Biblioteca Nacional de España. Biblioteca Digital Hispánica. Web. 4 Oct. 2014. Unknown. Filostrato [Manuscrito]. Inc.: Io di Parnaso le muse pregare (h. 6). 15th Century. Biblioteca Nacional de España. Biblioteca Digital Hispánica. Web. 4 Oct. 2014. Unknown. Iohannis Boccacii de Certaldo De mulierib[us] claris f. 3 r. 1393. Universitat de València Biblioteca Històrica. Universitat de València Somni. Web. 4 Oct. 2014. Unknown. Portrait of Giovanni Boccaccio. N.d. Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Web. 4 Oct. 2014.