Medieval and Renaissance Digital Materials from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection

Rosenwald 1
Exposicio mistica super exod[um]. [Germany, ca. 1150]. [116] l., the first and last wanting. 18 cm.
Page Turner - Bibliographic Information

Early bindings in their original appearance are quite scarce. This spectacular survivor is made of white deerskin over boards of thick leather, now buckled. The stamps are place in vertical rows, within a border of small cross-circles on the upper cover and of narrow rectangular vine stamps on the lower. Not all the stamps are clearly enough impressed for identification, but several of them are of familiar type –dragons, stags, etc.

Rosenwald 7
Roberto Valturio. De re militari. [North Italy, 3d quarter of 15th cent.] [208] 1., the last 2 blank. illus. 30 cm.
Page Turner - PDF (125.18 MB) - Bibliographic Information

When this military treatise was completed around 1460, the patron, Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, distributed a number of manuscript copies to rulers such as Louis XI, Francesco Sforza, and Lorenzo de' Medici. Twenty-two handwritten copies survive. In 1472, the book appeared in print in this Latin edition, which was followed in 1483 by an Italian version.
The novelty of the publication lay less in the machines portrayed than in the fact that the images of the machines achieved such wide distribution. Leonardo da Vinci knew the Italian edition well and drew inspiration from it for some of his drawings of military technology.
The illustrations derive from those in other manuscript copies (probably the work of the architect, medalist, and miniaturist Matteo de' Pasti), yet are more rigorous and correct in their depiction of perspective, space, and human anatomy.

Rosenwald 14
Catholic Church. [Book of hours]. Book of hours (Ms. Library of Congress. Rosenwald ms. 10) 1524. 113 leaves (23 lines (calendar 33 lines)), bound: parchment, col. ill.; 24 cm.
Page Turner - PDF (80 MB) - Bibliographic Information

This superb French Book of Hours, written in a fine roman script on 113 leaves of pure white vellum, has been attributed to the French miniaturist, calligrapher, and printer, Geoffroy Tory. The manuscript contains sixteen full-page miniatures, twenty-six small miniatures of the evangelists and saints, and sixteen illuminated borders. The date 1524 appears in a shield located in the gold border surrounding one of the large miniatures, and it has been assumed that the volume was executed in that year. The large miniatures are brilliantly colored and filled with a wealth of detail and the landscapes and interiors are delicately executed. Former owners of this distinguished manuscript include Girardot de Préfond, Duc de la Vallière, William Beckford, Robert Hoe, and Cortland F. Bishop.