Marci Fabii Quintiliani De institutione oratoria 1473

Pietro Ippolito da Luni () was the royal scribe (''librarius regius'') of the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

from 1472 to 1492.. He was a native of the

Lunigiana The Lunigiana () or Lunesana is a historical territory of Italy that today falls within the provinces of Massa Carrara, Tuscany, and La Spezia, Liguria. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, ...

.. In 1473, Ippolito copied manuscripts 692 and 408 of the of the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...

. Both were

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * Illuminated (song), "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also

by Cola Rapicano and ended up in the library of

Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria (Spanish: ''Fernando de Aragón, Duque de Calabria'') (15 December 1488 – 20 October 1550) was a Neapolitan prince who played a significant role in the Mediterranean politics of the Crown of Aragon in the early 16t ...

.Marci Fabii Quintiliani De institutione oratoria
an
Elegantiarum Laurentii Vallae
at RODERIC, Universitat de València. In 1491–1493, in collaboration with the illuminator , Ippolito copied Harley 3481 and Harley 3482 of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

and ''Est. lat.'' 469 of the

Biblioteca Estense The Biblioteca Estense (), was the family library of the marquises and dukes of the House of Este. The exact date of the library's birth is still under speculation, however it is known for certain that the library was in use during the fourteenth ...

for King Ferdinand I.. Besides his work for the royal court, Ippolito copied manuscripts for several members of the Carafa family. He copied the manuscript ''Reg. lat.'' 812 for Count Diomede Carafa; ''Vat. lat.'' 7230 for the count's son, Giovan Tommaso Carafa; ''Vat. lat.'' 3551 for Cardinal

Oliviero Carafa Oliviero Carafa (10 March 1430 – 20 January 1511), in Latin Oliverius Carafa, was an Italian cardinal and diplomat of the Renaissance. Like the majority of his era's prelates, he displayed the lavish and conspicuous standard of living that w ...

; and ''Vat. lat.'' 3297 for the cardinal's nephew,

Bernardino Carafa Bernardino is a name of Italian, Hispanic, or Portuguese origin. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Bernardino of Fossa (1420–1503), Italian Franciscan historian and ascetical writer *Bernardino of Siena (1380–1444), Italian ...

. All these manuscripts are now in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

.. In addition to a copyist, Ippolito was a scholar and translator. He sometimes engaged in sophisticated

textual criticism Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may rang ...

. According to his notice, he edited the text of

Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of Neo ...

's translations of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

in Harley 3481. A similar note appears in ''Reg. lat.'' 1792.. Between about 1491 and 1492, Ippolito created an anthology of philosophical sayings drawn from works he had copied, translating them from Latin into Tuscan. Entitled ''Auree Sententie e Proverbi Platonici'', this anthology is founded in Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale, XII E 32, where it is illustrated by Felice. It may be a

presentation copy A presentation copy is a copy of a book that has been presented, usually by the author or someone associated with the book's production, to another individual.Richard Ovenden"Presentation Copy" ''The Oxford Companion to the Book'' (Oxford Universit ...

for an unknown patron. The manuscript XII E 31 contains a

lapidarium A lapidarium is a place where stone (Latin: ) monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited. They can include stone epigraphy, epigraphs; statues; architectural elements such as columns, cornices, and acroterions; bas relief ...

translated by Ippolito for the courtier Aloysio Corellio.

References

{{reflist 15th-century Italian writers Latin–Italian translators Medieval European scribes Italian scribes