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FRESCOBALDI, Leonardo di Niccolo (ca.1340-1405?). Viaggio d'oltremare, in Italian, MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Florence, very early 15th century]
253 x 178mm, 31 leaves + 2 original vellum fly-leaves (one originally a paste-down), collation: 1-48 (with 3 blanks at end, but lacking the final blank). 35 lines, written in brown ink in a late rounded gothic bookhand, paragraph marks in red and blue, 2- and 3-line blue and red initials with contrasting penwork decoration, one 5-line calligraphic initial on f.1. (Occasional minor staining). 18th-century half calf over paper boards.
PROVENANCE: In possession of the Frescobaldi family in the 17th century, but presumably earlier, and still during the 19th century. On the fly-leaf a short history of members of the Frescobaldi family up to 1695, in a late 17th-century hand, on verso 'Memorie di Leonardo Frescobaldi autore di questo libro' in an 18th century hand. Loosely inserted is a letter to Sig: Lorenzo Frescobaldi, informing him of Manzi's recent incorrect and very censored edition of the text, published in 1818. Also that the Libreria Ricasoli in Florence has a copy of the original manuscript.
TEXT:
In the year 1384 thirteen Tuscans undertook a journey to Egypt, Syria and the Holy Land, and on their return three of them, Leonardo Frescobaldi, Giorgio Gucci and Simone Sigoli independently wrote an account of their journey. Frescobaldi's account, being the most observant and elegant description, has always been highly regarded as a 'testo di lingua', and soon after its foundation the Accademia della Crusca decided to publish it in print, particularly for the importance of its vocabulary as an early Italian text.
The author explains that he went on this pilgrimage, at the behest of Onuphrius Visdomini Steccuti, an Augustinian friar and a great friend, who became bishop of Volterra and from 1390 to his death in 1403 bishop of Florence. He was also ambassador of Florence to the court of King Charles VI and very close to the king. He explains that Onuphrius "commanded me in the name of the said king and begged me on his own behalf ... that I should seek out the ports and lands over there, so that on my return I should be able to state where it was possible to find a convenient port for men-at-arms and to study rivers and places and sites for camps and terrains suitable for a battleground". Ancona & Bacci, Manuale della Letteratura Italiana, Florence 1906, vol.I p.640 "Il suo viaggio ha singolare importanza, perch'ei non era un mero devoto in cerca d'indulgenze, ma anche un osservatore fino e arguto"
The group of thirteen pilgrims, including three servants, left Florence on 10 August 1384 and embarked from Venice to Alexandria on 4 September, where they arrived on 27 September. They stayed there until the 5 October [Frescobaldi remarks on the size and commerce of the city, larger than Florence] and departed for Cairo on a boat up the Nile. On 19 October they went to Sinai, staying there until the 2 November. After that they visited to Gaza and Bethlehem, reaching Jerusalem on 22 November. They stayed there only four days, before departing for the River Jordan, Ain Karem and Galilee, arriving in Damascus on 9 December. There two of the party died, before they left for Beirut on 29 January 1385. Then they rested until 10 April, returning to Venice on 21 May. 'We stayed in Venice some days then we returned to Florence by way of Bologna and at the end of 11½ months we entered again our home to the joy of our families.' On verso of f.28 is a list of places visited that qualify for indulgences.
This is among the most complete accounts of churches in the Middle East and gives a clear idea of the state of Christianity there at the end of the 14th century. The account often speaks of money, the pilgrims pooled their funds, the expenses of journeys, the cost of goods, servants, etc. and from that aspect has a special importance. The Dizionario Enciclopedico della Letteratura Italiana (1966) states "L'interesse della relazione dipende dalle notizie geografiche trammandate dal Frescobaldi osservatore e, talvolta, descrittore felice di paesi e di nomini".
Little is known about the youth of Frescobaldi, who belonged to one of the oldest and noblest Florentine families. In his account he states that he had taken part in seven battles. At the time of his pilgrimage, he was ambassador of Florence to Conte da Barbiano in Arezzo. After his return in 1385 he became mayor of Città di Castello, and in 1390 took possession of Montepulciano on behalf of the Florentine republic. In 1398 he became Florentine ambassador in Rome to Pope Boniface IX. In 1405 he took part in the siege of Pisa, where he may have died, as his name does not appear in any later documents.
This is probably one of the earliest extant manuscripts. The other manuscripts are mostly on paper. The texts vary, particularly between the Rome and the Florence manuscripts. Our manuscript is close to the latter. The following 15th century manuscripts are recorded.
Rome, Biblioteca Barberiniana, ms 932
Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, once Magliabechiano, XIII,70
idem. XXI,121
Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, ms 818 misc. entitled 'Viaggi d'Oltramare'
idem. ms 2257
Also a codex, once in the collection of Leo S.Olschki, described by E.Vajna de Pava in 'La Bibliofilia' anno VII (Florence 1906) pp 347-349. This may have been the Ricasoli manuscript, mentioned in the letter above.
LITERATURE:
Frescobaldi, Viaggio in Egitto e in Terra Santa. Ed. Guglielmo Manzi, from the Barberiana manuscript. Rome 1818
Viaggio in Terra Santa. Ed. G.Gargiolli, from the Riccardiana mss. Florence, Barbera, 1862
Viaggi in Terra Santa. Ed. Cesare Angelini. Florence, Le Monnier, 1944
Visit to the Holy Places of Egypt, Sinai, Palestine and Syria in 1384 by Frescobaldi, Gucci and Sigoli. Translated from Italian by Th.Bellorini and E.Honde, ed. Bellarmino Bagatti. Jerusalem, Publications of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum no.6, 1948
Röhricht, Bibliotheca Geographica Palaestinae. Berlin 1890.with a list of the extant manuscripts.
[Florence, very early 15th century]
253 x 178mm, 31 leaves + 2 original vellum fly-leaves (one originally a paste-down), collation: 1-48 (with 3 blanks at end, but lacking the final blank). 35 lines, written in brown ink in a late rounded gothic bookhand, paragraph marks in red and blue, 2- and 3-line blue and red initials with contrasting penwork decoration, one 5-line calligraphic initial on f.1. (Occasional minor staining). 18th-century half calf over paper boards.
PROVENANCE: In possession of the Frescobaldi family in the 17th century, but presumably earlier, and still during the 19th century. On the fly-leaf a short history of members of the Frescobaldi family up to 1695, in a late 17th-century hand, on verso 'Memorie di Leonardo Frescobaldi autore di questo libro' in an 18th century hand. Loosely inserted is a letter to Sig: Lorenzo Frescobaldi, informing him of Manzi's recent incorrect and very censored edition of the text, published in 1818. Also that the Libreria Ricasoli in Florence has a copy of the original manuscript.
TEXT:
In the year 1384 thirteen Tuscans undertook a journey to Egypt, Syria and the Holy Land, and on their return three of them, Leonardo Frescobaldi, Giorgio Gucci and Simone Sigoli independently wrote an account of their journey. Frescobaldi's account, being the most observant and elegant description, has always been highly regarded as a 'testo di lingua', and soon after its foundation the Accademia della Crusca decided to publish it in print, particularly for the importance of its vocabulary as an early Italian text.
The author explains that he went on this pilgrimage, at the behest of Onuphrius Visdomini Steccuti, an Augustinian friar and a great friend, who became bishop of Volterra and from 1390 to his death in 1403 bishop of Florence. He was also ambassador of Florence to the court of King Charles VI and very close to the king. He explains that Onuphrius "commanded me in the name of the said king and begged me on his own behalf ... that I should seek out the ports and lands over there, so that on my return I should be able to state where it was possible to find a convenient port for men-at-arms and to study rivers and places and sites for camps and terrains suitable for a battleground". Ancona & Bacci, Manuale della Letteratura Italiana, Florence 1906, vol.I p.640 "Il suo viaggio ha singolare importanza, perch'ei non era un mero devoto in cerca d'indulgenze, ma anche un osservatore fino e arguto"
The group of thirteen pilgrims, including three servants, left Florence on 10 August 1384 and embarked from Venice to Alexandria on 4 September, where they arrived on 27 September. They stayed there until the 5 October [Frescobaldi remarks on the size and commerce of the city, larger than Florence] and departed for Cairo on a boat up the Nile. On 19 October they went to Sinai, staying there until the 2 November. After that they visited to Gaza and Bethlehem, reaching Jerusalem on 22 November. They stayed there only four days, before departing for the River Jordan, Ain Karem and Galilee, arriving in Damascus on 9 December. There two of the party died, before they left for Beirut on 29 January 1385. Then they rested until 10 April, returning to Venice on 21 May. 'We stayed in Venice some days then we returned to Florence by way of Bologna and at the end of 11½ months we entered again our home to the joy of our families.' On verso of f.28 is a list of places visited that qualify for indulgences.
This is among the most complete accounts of churches in the Middle East and gives a clear idea of the state of Christianity there at the end of the 14th century. The account often speaks of money, the pilgrims pooled their funds, the expenses of journeys, the cost of goods, servants, etc. and from that aspect has a special importance. The Dizionario Enciclopedico della Letteratura Italiana (1966) states "L'interesse della relazione dipende dalle notizie geografiche trammandate dal Frescobaldi osservatore e, talvolta, descrittore felice di paesi e di nomini".
Little is known about the youth of Frescobaldi, who belonged to one of the oldest and noblest Florentine families. In his account he states that he had taken part in seven battles. At the time of his pilgrimage, he was ambassador of Florence to Conte da Barbiano in Arezzo. After his return in 1385 he became mayor of Città di Castello, and in 1390 took possession of Montepulciano on behalf of the Florentine republic. In 1398 he became Florentine ambassador in Rome to Pope Boniface IX. In 1405 he took part in the siege of Pisa, where he may have died, as his name does not appear in any later documents.
This is probably one of the earliest extant manuscripts. The other manuscripts are mostly on paper. The texts vary, particularly between the Rome and the Florence manuscripts. Our manuscript is close to the latter. The following 15th century manuscripts are recorded.
Rome, Biblioteca Barberiniana, ms 932
Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, once Magliabechiano, XIII,70
idem. XXI,121
Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, ms 818 misc. entitled 'Viaggi d'Oltramare'
idem. ms 2257
Also a codex, once in the collection of Leo S.Olschki, described by E.Vajna de Pava in 'La Bibliofilia' anno VII (Florence 1906) pp 347-349. This may have been the Ricasoli manuscript, mentioned in the letter above.
LITERATURE:
Frescobaldi, Viaggio in Egitto e in Terra Santa. Ed. Guglielmo Manzi, from the Barberiana manuscript. Rome 1818
Viaggio in Terra Santa. Ed. G.Gargiolli, from the Riccardiana mss. Florence, Barbera, 1862
Viaggi in Terra Santa. Ed. Cesare Angelini. Florence, Le Monnier, 1944
Visit to the Holy Places of Egypt, Sinai, Palestine and Syria in 1384 by Frescobaldi, Gucci and Sigoli. Translated from Italian by Th.Bellorini and E.Honde, ed. Bellarmino Bagatti. Jerusalem, Publications of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum no.6, 1948
Röhricht, Bibliotheca Geographica Palaestinae. Berlin 1890.with a list of the extant manuscripts.