New Findings on the Origin and Making of Napoli, Biblioteca Nazionale, Ms VI E 40

Abstract

Recent research into the manuscript Napoli, Biblioteca Nazionale, VI.E.40 (I-Nn 40) has led to the identification of the coat of arms present at the end of the manuscript, and to a new updated codicological description. The same coat of arms is present also in a 1476 printed book of Pliny the Elder’s Historia Naturalis belonging to the rather obscure de Janly family of Burgundy, made up of courtiers and civil servants, ennobled in the first half of the fifteenth century. Discussed in this article are three members of the de Janly family who might have been the original owner of I-Nn 40, with Philibert de Janly identified as the most plausible candidate. The historical context of ownership and gift-giving typical of Burgundian courtiers of the new nobility is discussed, as well as manuscript’s donation to Beatrice of Aragon, and its history after it left Burgundy. The article also presents a new codicological description of the manuscript, offering new insights into its preparation and the copying process.