MARCUS MANILIUS. ASTRONOMY, FOUR BOOKS. original Latin title: "Astronomicon, Libri IV"

Manilius lived during the reign of Augustus The first Roman Emperor, reigning from 27 BCE to 14 CE. The first volume of his works treats of the spheres, the form of the earth, the division of the sky and the constellations. The remaining volumes are mostly astrological. The book was very popular during the Middle Ages. It was first printed in 1472, and often reprinted till the end of the 16th Century.

The manuscript in the Library was written in small, beautiful italic characters A cursive style of handwriting developed in Renaissance Italy by an Italian scribe, Peregrinus Allius, at Ferrara in 1461. It occupies 86 leaves individual sheets of parchment. Long lines, twenty-five to a page. Illustrated initials with marginal decorations on the first page. Bound in old vellum.

On the fly-leaf the blank page at the very beginning of a bound book is written: “Book of Lord Grimani, Cardinal of Saint Mark” original Latin: "Liber D. Grimani Cardinalis S. Marci"; and below, in a different hand: “M[arc], Patriarch of Aquileia” original Latin: "M. Patriarchae Aquileiensis". The first name is that of Domenico Grimani (1461–1523), Cardinal of St. Mark and Patriarch of Aquileia, the owner of the famous Grimani Breviary and of a great library; the second name is probably that of his nephew, Marin or Marc Grimani, who succeeded him in the Patriarchate. Soon the volume became the property of Pierre Pithou (1496–1556), a French jurist and scholar original: "savant", who lived at Troyes. Later it belonged to the de Rosny Library, the book-plate of which is on the inside cover.

From the Library of the Earl of Ashburnham, (Barrois Collection).

Size, 5 × 7½ inches.