Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada

230 Pages·1940·20.761 MB·English

by  Seymour de Ricci, W. J. Wilson

CENSUS
OF
MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE
MANUSCRIPTS
IN
THE UNITED STATES
AND
CANADA
BY
SEYMOUR DE RICCI
WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF
J.
W. WILSON
III
INDICES
NEW YORK
THE H. W. WILSON COMPANY
PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF
THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES
January 1940
Copies of this publication may be obtained from
THE H. W. WILSON COMPANY
950 University Avenue, New York
W. & R. HOLMES G. HEDELER
3-11 Dunlop Street Kurze Strasse 4
Glasgow, C. 1, Scotland Leipzig, Germany
Printed in the United States of Amet·ica
PREFACE
With the publication of the third and index volume of the Cl!ll.rttJ
of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and
Canada, a scholarly enterprise to which the American Council of
Learned Societies has attached great importance is now concluded.
For nearly a century the United States and Canada have increasingly
shared in the redistribution of materials for research that has been in
progress throughout the world. Indeed, during the latter part of that
period the scholars of the United States have been the chief benefici
aries of this migratory process which seems yet to be far from having
reached its peak, and there have come to more or less final resting
places in the libraries and museums and private collections of North
America a truly enormous number of manuscripts, books, works of art
and museum objects of all sorts, by means of which the opportunities
for research available to American scholars have been greatly enlarged
and the intellectual life of the United States and Canada correspond
ingly enriched.
Such a state of affairs, however, confers a heavy obligation upon
those who benefit from it, namely, to maintain a record of the mate
rials that thus become accessible to them, and of their respective pro
veniences and present locations. To meet this obligation is obviously
in the interest of American scholars themselves, who otherwise would
be unaware of the existence, near at hand, of much of the material in
question, and it is equally a duty that Americans owe to the scholarship
of the world and particularly to the scholars of the countries whence
the materials have come, who see with natural concern a part of their
resources passing into distant hands with no return other than the
prices paid to former owners, usually private individuals. An obliga
tion so imperative and an opportunity so interesting cannot be ignored
by an organization like the American Council of Learned Societies,
which has the privilege of representing the humanistic scholarship of
the United States.
The Council has long cherished the plan of preparing a series of
inventories of the most important materials of scholarship that have
come into American possession from other countries, and parts of this
plan have already been executed in whole or in part, as evidenced by
A Census of lndic Manuscripts in the United States and Canada, by
Horace I. Poleman (printed as Vol. 12 of the American Oriental
iv MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE MANUSCRIPTS
Series: American Oriental Society, 1938), by Chinese Studies in
America: I. Eastern Canada and New England, by Charles S. Gardner
(American Council of Learned Societies, 1935; mimeographed), and
by the Second Census of Fifteenth Century Books Owned in America,
by Margaret B. Stillwell, compiled by the Bibliographical Society of
America with the aid of the Council and now in process of publication.
Of such materials manuscripts are, for the historical, literary, and
philological studies, of prime importance, and it was natural that one
of the first efforts to inventory them should be directed toward a census
of the manuscripts of the Middle Ages and of the Renaissance. The
manner in which this task was conceived and the method of its execu
tion have been explained in the introductory sections of the first vol
ume, and those explanations need not be repeated. Perhaps, however,
some apology should be made for not having been able to fulfill in
their entirety the promises made in that introduction. It has not been
found feasible, for example, to include in the present work the descrip
tions of Greek and Latin papyri that constituted a part of the original
plan, nor has it been possible, in a work which has turned out to be
nearly three times as voluminous as the most careful estimates le<l
us to anticipate, to include the proposed lists of unlocated manuscripts
believed to be in American possession, or the lists of manuscripts that
are at present in the hands of dealers.
It is believed, however, that these omissions do not seriouslv
reduce the value of the Census for most of its users. It is hoped that
the lists of papyri may eventually be compiled and made public, al
though the fragmentary nature of this material, together with its vast
amount, is likely to make this hope difficult and slow of realization.
It is furthermore probable that such continuations of the Census as the
Council hopes to be able to issue from time to time will ultimately .
record many of the as yet unlocated manuscripts as well as many of
those now in the hands of the trade but destined soon, no doubt, to
pass into public or private collections.
The satisfaction of the American Council of Learned Societies at
the termination of the Census is enhanced by the gratitude that it feels
and desires to express to all who have helped to make it possible, for
it has been a work of collaboration of the broadest sort.
For financial assistance the Council is indebted to the General
E<lucation Board, whose generous initial subvention made the under-
taking possible, and to the Carnegie Corporation of New York, whose
1
substantial grant made it possible to complete the work when circum
stances beyond the control of the Council, such as the increase in the
number of manuscripts to be recorded and the devaluation of the
PREFACE V
dollar, made it necessary to seek additional aid. Financial contribu
tions were also made by the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art
Gallery of San Marino, California, and by the Folger Shakespeare
Library of Washington, D.C., toward the cost of cataloguing their
own very extensive collections; and Mr. Howard L. Goodhart of New
York, Mr. Boies Penrose of Devon, Pennsylvania, and Mr. John H.
Scheide of Titusville, Pennsylvania, have contributed to the cost of
printing in this index volume the valuable and interesting "Index of
Previous Owners", which itself is a contribution of Mr. Seymour de
Ricci.
Of the special committee of the Council which served as a general
advisory body to the project, whose members were Robert P. Blake of
Harvard University (chairman), George L. Burr of Cornell Univer
sity, James T. Gerould of Princeton University, J. Franklin Jameson
of the Library of Congress, Henry A. Sanders of the University of
Michigan, and Karl Young of Yale University, two members have not
lived to see the completion of the work: Dr. Jameson and Prof. Burr.
The relation of both of these fine scholars to the enterprise was most
helpful, but that of Dr. Jameson was especially intimate, since he, as
chief of the Division of Manuscripts of the Library of Congress, exer
cised a certain control over the work from its inception until his death,
and many difficult problems of policy and method were decided by
him. The Library of Congress, in assuming administrative charge of
the undertaking, which was known as the Library's "Project C", has
conferred another signal benefit upon American scholarship, and espe
cial thanks are due to Dr. Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress,
whose sympathy and understanding have always been in advance of
the demands made upon them.
To Seymour de Ricci, of Paris, eminent privat-gelehl"ter anJ
notable citizen of the world of learning, who has directed and carried
on the work and labored over it with an extraordinary knowledge
equalled only by his self-sacrificing enthusiasm; and to Dr. William J.
Wilson, his associate, who has made the Census his career for nearly
a decade, the Council's thanks can never be sufficiently expressed.
With two exceptions, the indices, which constitute this third volume,
have been prepared by Miss Anne M. Nill, who also collaborated most
effectively in the editing of the Census, and who has devoted herself
to the work in a manner that has placed all users of it in her debt.
Miss Dorothy C. Manning also served helpfully during several years
as secretary of the Project, and valuable assistance with the early
Spanish-American documents was rendered by Miss Stella R. Clemence.
vi MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE MANUSCRIPTS
Supplementing the editorial acknowledgments expressed in their
appropriate places throughout the first two volumes of the Census, the
Council desires to extend to the owners and custodians of the manu
scripts its own appreciation of their courtesy and of their generous and
indispensable collaboration.
It is also proper to acknowledge the care which the printers of the
two principal volumes, Frazier-Soye of Paris, and of the index volume,
The H. W. Wilson Company of New York, have devoted to their
difficult tasks, as well as the great help that the latter firm, as pub
lishers of the Census, have rendered with respect to many problems.
Finally, the Council is grateful to the numerous reviewers of the
first two volumes, whose appreciation and criticisms have been encour
aging and helpful.
Reference has been made to possible continuations of the Census.
Such should certainly be issued at proper intervals, for the unchecked
flow of manuscripts to America makes it imperative that the record be
maintained; the American Council of Learned Societies, while unable
at present to make definite promises with respect to such continuations,
will certainly do all in its power to assure their preparation and
publication.
WALDO G. LELAND
Director of the American Council of
Leamed Societies
Washington, D.C.
May 24, 1939
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE, by Waldo G. Leland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
GENERAL INDEX OF NAMES, TITLES AND HEADINGS, by Anne
M. Nill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
SCRIBES, lLLUMINATORS AND CARTOGRAPHERSb, y Anne M.
Nill ............................................. 147
lNCIPITs, by Anne M. Nill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 5
GREGORY NUMBERS FOR GREEK NEW TESTAMENT MANU
SCRIPTS,b y W. J. Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
PRESENT OWNERS, by Anne M. Nill : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
PREVIOUSO WNERS, by Seymour de Ricci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

GENERAL INDEX OF NAMES, TITLES
AND HEADINGS