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GIOVANNI BALBI of Genoa (d.1298), Summa Grammaticalis quae vocatur Catholicon , DECORATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
GIOVANNI BALBI of Genoa (d.1298), Summa Grammaticalis quae vocatur Catholicon , DECORATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [northern Italy, mid-15th century] 413 x 305mm. 329 leaves: 1-18 1 0 , 19 9 (of 10, iii cancelled blank), 20-33 1 0 , COMPLETE, catchwords in lower margins of final versos, signature marks in lower margins on each recto of first half of every gathering, in ink, or in ink and plummet and sometimes visible in plummet at lower edges, occasional guide letters in outer margins, 67-75 lines in two columns written in brown ink in a small neat round gothic bookhand between four verticals and two horizontals ruled in plummet, justification: 305 x 215mm, prickings visible at upper and lower edges of some leaves, scribal corrections in margins and text, rubrics in red, one-line initials alternately of red or purple/blue, three- to ten-line initials in red flourished mauve, or purple/blue flourished red, two large opening initials with divided staves of red and blue with elaborate flourishing, the first, on f.1, with flourishing in mauve and red incorporating a hooded face, occasional faces and a fish in flourished extensions or infills (f.1 with light crease and surface wear affecting some text, small hole in upper margin to first few folios, occasional slight marginal cockling or surface soiling). Contemporary Italian white goatskin over thick, unbevelled wooden boards, stamped and engraved shaped centre- and cornerpieces, the stamps comprising the monogram of Christ with sunburst surrounds, Lamb and Flag, flowerheads and 'Maria' within floral surrounds, evidence of two fore-edge clasps, one strap remaining (worn, with losses to two cornerpieces and textblock detached at upper hinge). PROVENANCE: The script and style of the penwork decoration suggest that the manuscript was produced in Italy. Inscriptions noting the opening and conclusion of the work have been added to the upper margins of ff. 1 and 329 in an 18th-century hand. A bookstamp, 'A' within a square, appears twice in the lower margin of f.1 From the collection of comte Paul Durrieu, by descent to the present owner. A HANDSOME, COMPLETE COPY OF BALBI'S CELEBRATED CATHOLICON , regarded as the first alphabetically-arranged Latin dictionary. CONTENT: 'Prosodia Queda[m] p[ar]s gramatice...', preface and treatises in four parts on orthography, prosody, etymology, derivatio and rhetoric, ending 'in suo loco de periodus' ff.1-52v; etymological dictionary, opening 'Iam divina potencia auxiliante...' ff.52v-328; scribal colophon, the scribe asking for a drink on the completion of the work ('Explicit hoc totu[m] pro xpo da m[ihi] potu[m] Ffinito libro sit laus et gloria xpo') f.328; alphabetical table ('Ista est libra istius libri catholicon...') f.328-9. The final colophon comprises the usual conclusion in which the author defines the date of writing ('nonis martii', 1286). A blank verso and recto (and cancelled blank) divides sections 'L' and 'M'. Although this might suggest the scribe's intention to add further text, none appears to be lacking: the 'L' section ends with 'Luxus', as compared with other copies. When considering methods of production it is also interesting to note that the style of penwork flourishing contained within the fifth, unlettered, gathering differs significantly from the rest of the volume. The Dominican friar and grammarian, Giovanni Balbi da Genova, or Johannes Balbus or de Janua, completed his celebrated Latin dictionary on 7 March 1286. He prefaced his work with the claim 'Liber iste vocetur Catholicon, eo q[uo]d sit co[mmun]is et uni[ver]salis. Valet siq[ui]dem ad o[mne]s fere sci[enti]as' [line 21, 'Let this book be called the Catholicon, in that it is common and universal, because it covers almost all knowledge'], following with observations on grammar in four parts leading to the alphabetically-arranged encylopaedic dictionary, comprising over 14,000 entries (see F. Wallis, Communis et universalis: the Catholicon , unpublished Licentiate