Details
GALVAGNEUS DE LA FLAMMA. Chronicon maius. Latin. [Milan, after 1336].
MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, 156 leaves, [1-15 10 16 6], horizontal catchwords at center of lower margin on last verso of each quire, foliated 134-288 (135 repeated) in brown ink in an early modern hand. 405 x 275mm. (15 7/8 x 11 in.), written in brown ink in a round Italian Gothic script, ruled in lead or in blind, two columns of 53 lines, justification (267 x 178mm.). Rubricated with chapter titles, underlines and chapter numbers in margins, all in red; two lines left blank before each chapter title. Initial spaces of 12, 11 or 10 lines for books, 3 lines for chapters; initials not executed. Genealogical diagrams, entirely in brown ink, consisting of circles containing names and linked by curved lines, on c. 60 pages. Shoulder notes in the hand of the original scribe; some marginalia in an early cursive hand. Later Italian poem on f. 288v; scribbles, not affecting text, on ff. 275v, 287v and 288r-v. Some worming to pastedowns, slight scaling of ink, especially on flesh sides, a few slight stains in margins or smudges in text, some cockling of edges.
BINDING
Later stiff vellum wrapper, lacking two pairs of tawed leather ties, torn at front. Sewing loose, many bifolia loosened or detached.
TEXT
Chronicon maius, to book IV, chapter 36. The Chronicon maius is one of several historical works credited to Galvagneus de la Flamma (1283-c. 1344), known also to scholarship as Galvano Fiamma. A Dominican friar of S. Eustorgio in Milan, he was a supporter of the Visconti dukes of Milan and in particular was an intimate friend of Duke Azzo (1328-1339), to whom the Chronicon maius was dedicated. All of Galvagneus' historical works -- several chronicles whose interrelationships have never been precisely determined -- pertain to the history of Milan or of the Dominican order. Although the Chronicon maius is cast as a universal chronicle, it, like Galvagneus' other works, focuses progressively on the history of Milan. It draws on a large number of sources, listed at the beginning of the work, some of which are no longer extant, and it includes a number of lengthy excursuses on topics of contemporary political or religious interest. Thus it preserves information of interest to historians, despite the fanciful genealogies that adorn it. The Chronicon maius was divided into sixteen books, covering the history of the world from the Creation to the time of Duke Azzo. Books 14-16, covering 1216-1328, are now lost.
ONLY TWO OTHER MANUSCRIPTS OF THE CHRONICON MAIUS ARE KNOWN. Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS A 275 inf., includes the complete text (except for books 14-16) and was the source of an edition published by A. Ceruti in Miscellanea de storia italiana, vol. 7, 1869, pp. 506-773. A second manuscript, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Ottob. lat. 761, contains selections only. (See Thomas Kaeppeli, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum Medii Aevi, vol. 2, Rome 1975, no. 1181.) The present manuscript, which is unstudied, is probably to be identified with one seen at the end of the eighteenth century at S. Ambrogio, Milan, and described then as consisting of the first four books of the text in an expanded version (Deutsches Archiv, 25, 1969, p. 124n.) Although this manuscript was never completed (the text breaks off after the first three words copied at the top of f. 288r), its prefatory material gives valuable information about the composition of the Chronicon maius. In addition to naming himself as the author, listing his sources and enumerating the contents of each of the sixteen books, Galvagneus indicated that he started work in the year 1310, the year when the Emperor Henry VII was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan (anno quo fuit coronatus in mediolano serenissimus imperator henricus huius hominis septimus). The dedication to Azzo is dated 1 September 1336, giving a terminus ante quem for the completion of the work.
PROVENANCE
Est Jo[annis] Bapt[istae] Blanchini, inscription on flyleaf -- spine lining cut from an early printed book -- No. 292, inscription on front pastedown -- No. T7, printed and manuscript shelf-label on front pastedown -- No. 868 in an unidentified collection, inscription on front flyleaf verso -- Geo. A. Leavitt & Co., Auctioneers, New York, no. 3 in an unidentified sale, probably 1880s, printed label on front pastedown -- Byron Reed, acquired before 1892 -- Omaha Public Library Byron Reed Collection, embossed stamp on front flyleaf.
MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, 156 leaves, [1-15 10 16 6], horizontal catchwords at center of lower margin on last verso of each quire, foliated 134-288 (135 repeated) in brown ink in an early modern hand. 405 x 275mm. (15 7/8 x 11 in.), written in brown ink in a round Italian Gothic script, ruled in lead or in blind, two columns of 53 lines, justification (267 x 178mm.). Rubricated with chapter titles, underlines and chapter numbers in margins, all in red; two lines left blank before each chapter title. Initial spaces of 12, 11 or 10 lines for books, 3 lines for chapters; initials not executed. Genealogical diagrams, entirely in brown ink, consisting of circles containing names and linked by curved lines, on c. 60 pages. Shoulder notes in the hand of the original scribe; some marginalia in an early cursive hand. Later Italian poem on f. 288v; scribbles, not affecting text, on ff. 275v, 287v and 288r-v. Some worming to pastedowns, slight scaling of ink, especially on flesh sides, a few slight stains in margins or smudges in text, some cockling of edges.
BINDING
Later stiff vellum wrapper, lacking two pairs of tawed leather ties, torn at front. Sewing loose, many bifolia loosened or detached.
TEXT
Chronicon maius, to book IV, chapter 36. The Chronicon maius is one of several historical works credited to Galvagneus de la Flamma (1283-c. 1344), known also to scholarship as Galvano Fiamma. A Dominican friar of S. Eustorgio in Milan, he was a supporter of the Visconti dukes of Milan and in particular was an intimate friend of Duke Azzo (1328-1339), to whom the Chronicon maius was dedicated. All of Galvagneus' historical works -- several chronicles whose interrelationships have never been precisely determined -- pertain to the history of Milan or of the Dominican order. Although the Chronicon maius is cast as a universal chronicle, it, like Galvagneus' other works, focuses progressively on the history of Milan. It draws on a large number of sources, listed at the beginning of the work, some of which are no longer extant, and it includes a number of lengthy excursuses on topics of contemporary political or religious interest. Thus it preserves information of interest to historians, despite the fanciful genealogies that adorn it. The Chronicon maius was divided into sixteen books, covering the history of the world from the Creation to the time of Duke Azzo. Books 14-16, covering 1216-1328, are now lost.
ONLY TWO OTHER MANUSCRIPTS OF THE CHRONICON MAIUS ARE KNOWN. Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS A 275 inf., includes the complete text (except for books 14-16) and was the source of an edition published by A. Ceruti in Miscellanea de storia italiana, vol. 7, 1869, pp. 506-773. A second manuscript, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Ottob. lat. 761, contains selections only. (See Thomas Kaeppeli, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum Medii Aevi, vol. 2, Rome 1975, no. 1181.) The present manuscript, which is unstudied, is probably to be identified with one seen at the end of the eighteenth century at S. Ambrogio, Milan, and described then as consisting of the first four books of the text in an expanded version (Deutsches Archiv, 25, 1969, p. 124n.) Although this manuscript was never completed (the text breaks off after the first three words copied at the top of f. 288r), its prefatory material gives valuable information about the composition of the Chronicon maius. In addition to naming himself as the author, listing his sources and enumerating the contents of each of the sixteen books, Galvagneus indicated that he started work in the year 1310, the year when the Emperor Henry VII was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan (anno quo fuit coronatus in mediolano serenissimus imperator henricus huius hominis septimus). The dedication to Azzo is dated 1 September 1336, giving a terminus ante quem for the completion of the work.
PROVENANCE
Est Jo[annis] Bapt[istae] Blanchini, inscription on flyleaf -- spine lining cut from an early printed book -- No. 292, inscription on front pastedown -- No. T7, printed and manuscript shelf-label on front pastedown -- No. 868 in an unidentified collection, inscription on front flyleaf verso -- Geo. A. Leavitt & Co., Auctioneers, New York, no. 3 in an unidentified sale, probably 1880s, printed label on front pastedown -- Byron Reed, acquired before 1892 -- Omaha Public Library Byron Reed Collection, embossed stamp on front flyleaf.