Litterarum simulationis liber

Alternate Title:

Liber litterarum simulationis et de zifris

Contributor:

Callistus III, Pope, 1378-1458 (dedicatee); Gioacchino, di Giovanni (illuminator)

Name:

Zopello, Michele

Timespan:

Early works to 1800

Date:

1455

Description:

Presentation copy for Pope Callistus III of a work on cryptography that describes two systems: in the first, Italian words beginning with one letter are all represented by Italian words beginning with another letter; in the second, signs or symbols represent letters or entire Italian words (titles, city names, and numbers).

Language:

Latin

Provenance:

Illuminated for Pope Callistus III, between 1455 and 1458.; Sold at auction at Sotheby's, 20 June 1989, lot 49.; Sold by Martin Breslauer, 1989.; Sold at auction at Christie's, 26 June 1996, lot 19, to Lawrence J. Schoenberg.; Gift of Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle in honor of Tina Skov Cowan, Director, Development & External Affairs, Penn Libraries, 2013.

Relation:

Video orientation: http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017.12/1338705; The Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative Fund Home Page: http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017.12/366278; Digital facsimile for download (OPenn): https://openn.library.upenn.edu/Data/0001/html/ljs225.html

Subject:

Cryptography -- Early works to 1800; Cryptography; Ciphers -- Early works to 1800; Ciphers

Resource Type:

Text

Form/Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts); illuminations (paintings); manuals (instructional materials); treatises; Manuscripts, Renaissance; manuscripts (documents)

Physical Description:

20 leaves : parchment, color illustrations; 223 x 150 (127 x 85) mm bound to 228 x 155 mm

Rights:

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Notes:

Ms. codex.; Humanist from Sacile (Sacilensis, f. 1r), north of Venice; secretary to Duke Louis of Savoy from 1450; released in 1452 from imprisonment by Francesco Sforza.; Title from opening rubric (f. 1r); alternate title, Liber litterarum simulationis et de zifris, from early note inside front cover.; Collation: Parchment, i + 20 + i; 1⁵ 2⁵; catchword with simple ornamentation on last verso of first gathering (f. 10v).; Layout: Written in 24 long lines; ruled in lead, vertical bounding lines occasionally visible.; Script: Written in humanistic script.; Decoration: 1 full-page white vine-stem (bianchi girari) border with 3 birds in the outer border and 2 putti with necklaces holding the arms of Pope Callistus III in the lower border (f. 1r) and 1 7-line initial in gold on a white vine-stem ground (f. 1r), illuminated by Gioacchino di Giovanni di Gigantibus of Rothenberg, Germany, a professional illuminator for the papal court from 1448 onward; 2-line initials in gold filled with green and/or pink throughout; rubrics in faint red ink.; Binding: Contemporary calf blind-stamped in the Florentine style (modo fiorentino), with an ornamental pattern based on Islamic ropework, over wooden boards, with remnants of 4 pairs of ties.; Origin: Probably written in Rome, between 1455 and 1458 (during the papacy of Callistus III).; Lawrence J. Schoenberg & Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative.; Latin (f. 1r-5r) and Italian with rubrics in Latin (f. 5v-20r).

Physical Location:

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Manuscripts, LJS 225

Collection:

Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection (University of Pennsylvania)