Perrins, Charles William Dyson (1864-1958)
This Latin manuscript on astronomical topics includes works by Germanicus, Pliny the Elder and Hyginus. The codex features numerous pen and ink drawings, including a planisphere (rotatable star chart) consisting of five golden concentric circles containing constellations portrayed as people or animals. These drawings, dating from the 15th century, have been attributed to Antonio di Mario of the Neapolitan region.
Online Since: 07/31/2007
- Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description
- Aratus, Solensis (Author) | Bodmer, Martin (Former possessor) | Germanicus, Julius Caesar (Author) | Hyginus, Mythographus (Author) | Ludwig Rosenthal's Antiquariat (München) (Seller) | Matthaeus, Vindocinensis (Author) | Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) | Plinius Secundus, Gaius (Author) Found in: Standard description
This copy of Cesar's "Commentarii" from about 1480 attests to the great popularity this text attained during the early Renaissance (there are more than 240 surviving manuscripts of the "Commentarii" from the 15th century). This manuscript was produced in the atelier of the illuminator Cola Rapicano in Naples. The "bianchi girari" (white vine) book decoration and the illuminated initial capitals which mark the beginning of each book are of a type often found in codices containing humanistic works. The illuminated initial capital on fol. 1r, on the other hand, portrays the Roman ruler in an unusual way, as an armored horseman.
Online Since: 03/25/2009
- Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description
- Bodmer, Martin (Former possessor) | Caesar, Gaius Iulius (Author) | Murray, Charles Fairfax (Former possessor) | Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) | Rubicano, Cola (Illuminator) Found in: Standard description
This Hebrew manuscript from the 15th century combines liturgical texts and contains commentaries on the rites that provide the framework for the observation of the Passover. This Pesach Haggadah, adorned with miniatures and rich illustrations, contains the complete liturgical version of the Exodus story. The first part of the manuscript contains the text of the Italian rite, the second part that of the Ashkenazi. The manuscript was written and illuminated by Joël ben Siméon, who signed his work with a colophon (f. 34r): I am Joel ben Simeon, called Veibusch Ashkenazi – blessed be his memory – and I am from Cologne, which is on the banks of the Rhine.
Online Since: 04/23/2013
- Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description
- Bodmer, Martin (Former possessor) | Murray, Charles Fairfax (Former possessor) | Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description
The double page at the beginning of this manuscript of the Metamorphoses and the Fasti of Ovid shows its connections to antiquity: the use of initials in the fashion of antiquity, the purple tint that colors the entire double page and the laurels that crown the poet's verses and anchor the production of this volume in the Italian Renaissance. The dedication in golden letters on the back of the first page confirm this origin: the manuscript was copied by the Neapolitan Ippolito Lunense for the secretary of Ferdinand I. of Aragon, Antonello Petrucci, whose coat of arms, surrounded by putti and horns of plenty, may be found on the back of the second page. The style, color and ink are changed according to the text. The decoration with bianchi girari of a very high quality is typical of Neapolitan production methods that were practiced by the royal illuminator Cola Rapicano.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
- Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description
- Alcuinus, Flaccus (Author) | Bodmer, Martin (Former possessor) | Hawtrey, Edward Craven (Former possessor) | Kraus, Hans P. (Seller) | Murray, Charles Fairfax (Former possessor) | Oricus, de Capriana (Author) | Ovidius Naso, Publius (Author) | Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description
The twenty comedies by Plautus contained in this manuscript were written in the course of the second half of the 15th century in a very careful humanist script. Each comedy begins with a golden initial with bianchi girari. The first page is also decorated with a frame of floral interlace, which is interrupted in the lower part by a laurel crown flanked by two putti; the inside of the frame was left blank and must have been meant to contain the owner's coat of arms. According to a shelfmark on the front pastedown, in the 17th century this manuscript belonged to the Maurist library in Rome.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
- Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description
- Bodmer, Martin (Former possessor) | Murray, Charles Fairfax (Former possessor) | Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) | Plautus, Titus Maccius (Author) Found in: Standard description
The Theban and Trojan sagas held an important place in the literature of the middle ages. The contents of manuscript CB 160, written in 1469 on paper by Jacotin de Lespluc (« escript par la main de Jacotin de Lespluc »), form part of this tradition. This codex contains a prose version of the "Historia trojana" by Guido delle Colonne and a history of Thebes that closely follows the "Histoire ancienne jusqu'à César". The ink wash drawings are very similar to those found in Ms. 9650-52 of the Königliche Bibliothek of Belgium.
Online Since: 03/25/2009
- Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description
- Bodmer, Martin (Former possessor) | Evans, Robert Harding (Seller) | Gaignat, Louis Jean (Former possessor) | Guido, de Columnis (Author) | Henry Yates Thompson (Former possessor) | Kraus, Hans P. (Seller) | La Vallière, Louis César de LaBaume LeBlanc de (Former possessor) | Murray, Charles Fairfax (Former possessor) | Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) | Utterson, Edward Vernon (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description
- Bodmer, Martin (Former possessor) | Evans, Robert Harding (Seller) | Gaignat, Louis Jean (Former possessor) | Guido, de Columnis (Author) | Henry Yates Thompson (Former possessor) | Kraus, Hans P. (Seller) | La Vallière, Louis César de LaBaume LeBlanc de (Former possessor) | Murray, Charles Fairfax (Former possessor) | Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) | Utterson, Edward Vernon (Former possessor) Found in: Additional description
This gradual is from the Dominican Convent St. Katharinental and represents one of the most important artworks of the Gothic period in Switzerland. Created around 1312 in the convent itself, it was probably illuminated in the area around Lake Constance. It contains more than 80 pen-flourish initials, more than 60 historiated initials and 5 I-initials, which consist of several historiated medallions. Several pieces of the last two I-initials, whose medallions were cut out and sold separately, are known today; they are dispersed among various museums and libraries. In addition to the initials, in the floral friezes there are represented numerous kneeling and praying Dominican nuns as well as other secular donors (e.g., 3v, 18v, 90r, 159v, 161r etc.). Until the 19th century, the gradual was in use in the convent; around 1820 it was ceded to an antiquarian book dealer in Konstanz, Franz Joseph Aloys Castell (1796-1844). After 1860 it was owned by the English collectors Sir William Amherst of Hackney and Sir Charles Dyson Perrins (1864-1958). Upon the death of the latter, his library was offered for sale through Sotheby's, and the manuscript was purchased by the Swiss Confederation with the support of the Gottfried Keller-Foundation and the Canton of Thurgau.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
- Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description
- Amherst, William Amhurst Tyssen (Former possessor) | Perrins, Charles William Dyson (Former possessor) Found in: Standard description