DATI, Goro (1362-1435). Storia di Firenze , in Italian. MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER. [Florence, ca. 1420] Chancery 2° (292 x 218mm). 50 leaves (of 52; lacking 2 of 4 final blanks): 1-4 10 5 1 2 ; horizontal catchwords in lower right corner on last versos, modern pencilled foliation 1-48, single columns of 31-32 lines, frame-ruled in drypoint, justification: 195 x 135mm, written in brown ink in a humanistic bookhand; rubrics in red in the same hand, 1-line initials in red in margin, books with 3- or 4-line initial spaces with roman capitals in red, original marginalia in red (spotted and foxed; the upper half of each leaf waterstained, with fading of text; the innermost bifolium of each quire strengthened at the inner margin; f.41 and f.43 detached from textblock; ff.35-48 lacking upper inner corners, touching text on ff.45-48; the upper halves of blank ff.49-50 cut away). Modern limp vellum; modern black morocco box. PROVENANCE: Prince Piero Ginori Conti: his bookplate inside upper cover CONTENTS: Dati's History of Florence , covering the years 1380-1405, declares itself in its preface to be 'the history of the long war, the greatest in our day in Italy, between the tyrant of Lombardy, Duke of Milan, and the magnificant Commune of Florence'. Modern students of the Renaissance have hailed it as a forward-looking historical analysis, in which 'Delight in broad details is replaced by a sustained purposeful selection of facts to answer specific, clearly formulated questions, posed frequently to determine the political, economic, or psychological causes [of historical events]' and as a seminal witness to the development of 'the historical realism and some of the politico-historical ideas which were to dominate the Florentine Renaissance' -- for example, the notion that Florence, as the heir of Rome, was destined to maintain the cause of freedom in Italy (H. Baron, The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance , Princeton 1966, p.169; id., 'A Crucial Date in the History of Florentine Historiography: The Composition of Dati's Istoria di Firenze in 1409', in From Petrarch to Leonardo Bruni , Chicago 1968, p.138). Dati, a Florentine silk merchant who later held a series of civic offices, is thought to have composed his history in 1409, drawing to a considerable extent on his own observation of the events he narrates. Although no autograph manuscript survives, 46 of the 72 manuscripts of the work in Italian libraries date from the 15th century (A.P. McCormick, 'Goro Dati's "Storia di Firenze": A Census of the Manuscripts in Italy', Studi Medievali , ser. 3, 22 (1981), pp.907-952). The text of the present manuscript is divided into 10 books, like the majority of copies known, although the two standard printed editions (ed. Manni, 1735; ed. Pratesi, 1904) both present a division into 9 books; the difference lies in a division introduced into Book VIII. Based on the characteristics of script and language, this manuscript appears to be one of the earlier representatives of the tradition.
DATI, Goro (1362-1435). Storia di Firenze , in Italian. MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER. [Florence, ca. 1420] Chancery 2° (292 x 218mm). 50 leaves (of 52; lacking 2 of 4 final blanks): 1-4 10 5 1 2 ; horizontal catchwords in lower right corner on last versos, modern pencilled foliation 1-48, single columns of 31-32 lines, frame-ruled in drypoint, justification: 195 x 135mm, written in brown ink in a humanistic bookhand; rubrics in red in the same hand, 1-line initials in red in margin, books with 3- or 4-line initial spaces with roman capitals in red, original marginalia in red (spotted and foxed; the upper half of each leaf waterstained, with fading of text; the innermost bifolium of each quire strengthened at the inner margin; f.41 and f.43 detached from textblock; ff.35-48 lacking upper inner corners, touching text on ff.45-48; the upper halves of blank ff.49-50 cut away). Modern limp vellum; modern black morocco box. PROVENANCE: Prince Piero Ginori Conti: his bookplate inside upper cover CONTENTS: Dati's History of Florence , covering the years 1380-1405, declares itself in its preface to be 'the history of the long war, the greatest in our day in Italy, between the tyrant of Lombardy, Duke of Milan, and the magnificant Commune of Florence'. Modern students of the Renaissance have hailed it as a forward-looking historical analysis, in which 'Delight in broad details is replaced by a sustained purposeful selection of facts to answer specific, clearly formulated questions, posed frequently to determine the political, economic, or psychological causes [of historical events]' and as a seminal witness to the development of 'the historical realism and some of the politico-historical ideas which were to dominate the Florentine Renaissance' -- for example, the notion that Florence, as the heir of Rome, was destined to maintain the cause of freedom in Italy (H. Baron, The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance , Princeton 1966, p.169; id., 'A Crucial Date in the History of Florentine Historiography: The Composition of Dati's Istoria di Firenze in 1409', in From Petrarch to Leonardo Bruni , Chicago 1968, p.138). Dati, a Florentine silk merchant who later held a series of civic offices, is thought to have composed his history in 1409, drawing to a considerable extent on his own observation of the events he narrates. Although no autograph manuscript survives, 46 of the 72 manuscripts of the work in Italian libraries date from the 15th century (A.P. McCormick, 'Goro Dati's "Storia di Firenze": A Census of the Manuscripts in Italy', Studi Medievali , ser. 3, 22 (1981), pp.907-952). The text of the present manuscript is divided into 10 books, like the majority of copies known, although the two standard printed editions (ed. Manni, 1735; ed. Pratesi, 1904) both present a division into 9 books; the difference lies in a division introduced into Book VIII. Based on the characteristics of script and language, this manuscript appears to be one of the earlier representatives of the tradition.
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