Only a Peep

This post was first published at a time when "only a peep" at the manuscripts was possible (original preface appended below). The digitizations have since trickled online. As always, click on my screen-grabs to go straight to the manuscripts.

The following lists are, first, the 35 digitizations issued June 1, and secondly, the 44 digitizations of the previous week (when I popped down to Trent, Italy for a holiday and included a look at some of its manuscript treasures (not yet digitized) in glass cases at the Diocesan Museum). The new BAV total of manuscripts digitized is 4,471, whereby four items were inexplicably dropped from the Vat. estr. or. array. These lists will continue to be fleshed out as more information becomes available.

1. Urb.ebr.57,
2. Vat.ebr.2,
3. Vat.ebr.22,
4. Vat.ebr.23,
5. Vat.ebr.24,
6. Vat.ebr.112,
7. Vat.ebr.207.pt.2,
8. Vat.ebr.208,
9. Vat.ebr.209,
10. Vat.ebr.216,
11. Vat.ebr.218,
12. Vat.ebr.219,
13. Vat.ebr.224,
14. Vat.ebr.238,
15. Vat.ebr.240,
16. Vat.lat.384,
17. Vat.lat.451.pt.1,
18. Vat.lat.525, Cyril of Alexandria, In Iohannis Evangelium libri I-XI in Latin, 15th century
19. Vat.lat.565,
20. Vat.lat.576,
21. Vat.lat.647,
22. Vat.lat.659,
23. Vat.lat.684,
24. Vat.lat.695,
25. Vat.lat.696,
26. Vat.lat.709,
27. Vat.lat.727,
28. Vat.lat.733,
29. Vat.lat.735,
30. Vat.lat.742,
31. Vat.lat.743,
32. Vat.lat.744, Thomas Aquinas
33. Vat.lat.749,
34. Vat.lat.9966, Tasso
35. Vat.lat.11539, poetry by Vittoria Colonna: 103 sonnets in a manuscript of about 1540 that was made by or under the supervision of Colonna as a present to Michelangelo. Details by Antonio Corsaro. Here is the opening folio:
    
    
    

Uploaded in the last week of May:

1. Arch.Cap.S.Pietro.B.52,
2. Barb.lat.587, the St Cecilia Bible from Rome: 11th-century, with sections of Isidore, Etymologiae, at the end. Look at this gorgeous haloed Eve as she plucks the forbidden fruit in paradise:
   
   Later there is Joshua as he receives the "dogmata vitae" from a dying Moses:
   
3. Barb.lat.613, Bible of Niccolò d'Este (1434) with decoration by the amazing Belbello da Pavia, such as this figure.
   
   Here Hezekiah orders the demolition of a bronze serpent (2Ki 18:4). Just flick through the visionary paintings in this codex: it's like a whole morning in a great art museum.
   
4. Barb.lat.2173,
5. Barb.lat.4398,
6. Borgh.246,
7. Pal.lat.990,
8. Reg.lat.2105,
9. Vat.ebr.18, Torah, Haftarot, Five Scrolls and Job Solomon b. Isaac's (Rashi) commentary  
10. Vat.ebr.20,
11. Vat.ebr.170,
12. Vat.ebr.179,
13. Vat.ebr.181,
14. Vat.ebr.183, a 14th century Tashbets, rebound in 1553 with this fine gilded inlay in the front cover:
    
    HT to Bodleian for this information.
15. Vat.ebr.184,
16. Vat.ebr.187,
17. Vat.ebr.188,
18. Vat.ebr.194,
19. Vat.lat.249,
20. Vat.lat.263, Theophylact: In epistulas s. Pauli commentarius, Latin translation of 15th century manuscript, of which Anthony Grafton's Rome Reborn catalogue writes:Theophylact, an eleventh-century Byzantine exegete, defended the Roman Catholic position against Greek intransigence on a number of key theological issues. In the 15th century his works were translated into Latin by Christoforo Persona. Persona later became the head of the Williamite order in Rome and papal librarian under Sixtus IV.
21. Vat.lat.451.pt.2,
22. Vat.lat.483,
23. Vat.lat.496,
24. Vat.lat.586,
25. Vat.lat.593,
26. Vat.lat.599,
27. Vat.lat.603,
28. Vat.lat.612,
29. Vat.lat.615,
30. Vat.lat.631.pt.1,
31. Vat.lat.632,
32. Vat.lat.635,
33. Vat.lat.641,
34. Vat.lat.644,
35. Vat.lat.656,
36. Vat.lat.658,
37. Vat.lat.685,
38. Vat.lat.700,
39. Vat.lat.701,
40. Vat.lat.715,
41. Vat.lat.10831,
42. Vat.lat.10834,
43. Vat.lat.13479,
44. Vat.lat.14953, actually an early 20th century printed book: Charles Péguy, 1873-1914: Le mystère de la charité de Jeanne d'Arc, with his autograph, postcard etc at the front.

This is Piggin's Unofficial List 51. Below is the original commencement of this post:

The transition from an old to a new portal architecture at the Vatican's digital library means many of the latest releases were marked as published but still not available at the time of this blog post.

The Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana says on its OLD index page

http://www.mss.vatlib.it/guii/scan/link.jsp

that we can hope to see 4,471 manuscripts online.

But on its NEW index page

http://digi.vatlib.it/mss/

the posted number of digitized manuscripts is 4,306 as of June 2.

Apart from the lag caused by the transition, even some of the new postings are not yet available. For example the following index page offers a peep at two great treasures of illumination that have just been digitized, the Saint Cecilia Bible and the Bible of Niccolò d'Este. But when you clicked on the inviting thumbnails, there was nothing to see as of June 2, 2016. No doubt this will improve soon.

If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to Digita Vaticana.