Astronomicon
Poems dedicated to the cosmos are a tradition that goes back to classical antiquity, and it was this tradition that the Italian humanist and poet Basinio da Parma (1425-57) was working when he wrote his Astronomicon. Published in 1455 while he was living and working at the court of the Malatesta family in Rimini, the work was copied ca. 1460 by Angelo Aquilano. It was then transformed into a beautifully illuminated manuscript by the so-called Tiptoft Master, who furnished the codex with 38 miniatures of constellations and celestial diagrams at the behest of the English scholar and Earl of Worcester John Tiptoft (1427-70).
Astronomicon
Before dying prematurely at the age of 32, Basinio da Parma (1425-57) was an Italian humanist and poet who authored several important works that have survived to the present including his Astronomicon. Composed while he was living at the court of the Malatesta family in Rimini**, his work was first published in 1455. Basinio da Parma wrote the first astronomical poem of Italian Humanism in the tradition of other Astronomicon texts from ancient Rome; similar astronomical poems written by Marcus Manilius and Gaius Julius Hyginus had been rediscovered in recent decades. The manuscript known as Bodley 646 is one of the finest and most fascinating specimens of the Latin hexameter work, which describes in detail the structure of the cosmos, the constellations and their stars, and the motions of the Sun and the planets.
The Commission of an English Earl
The codex was copied by Angelo Aquilano (who is identified in the manuscript) ca. 1460 at the behest of the English scholar and Earl of Worcester John Tiptoft (1427-70), who had a number of works transcribed during his stay that were then brought back with him to England in 1461 after his two-year sojourn in Italy. The 38 miniatures of constellations in the text are clearly based on models from antiquity and are the work of the Tiptoft Master. Constellations are brightly colored and surrounded by gold leaf stars while other miniatures include two celestial diagrams containing the description of the heavens and the planets as well as a diagram of the celestial circles. A magnificent frontispiece introduces the work showing the title and author of the work in capital letters written in gold ink. A palm tree grows behind the inscription, which is held up by two cherubs flanked by red amphorae, out of which grows a garland arch. All of this rests on a marble plinth in the center of which are placed the coat of arms and the crest of John Tiptoft. The manuscript was later donated by Sir Richard Worsley to the Bodleian Library in the 17th century.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Astronomicon Libri
Astronomicon. Manoscritto Bodley 646 - Size / Format
- 70 pages / 18.9 × 12.1 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- Ca. 1460
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Script
- Humanistic
- Illustrations
- 38 miniatures of zodiac signs and constellations; 2 astronomical diagrams
- Content
- Astronomicon by Basinio de' Basini of Parma
- Patron
- John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester
- Artist / School
- Tiptoft Master (illuminator)
Angelo Aquilano (scribe) - Previous Owners
- Sir Richard Worsley
#1 Astronomicon. Manoscritto Bodley 646
Language: Italian
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- France
- Germany
- Hungary
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Serbia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Aboca Museum
- Akademie Verlag
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Alkuin Verlag
- Almqvist & Wiksell
- ARS
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Azimuth Editions
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- Boydell & Brewer
- Brepols Publishers
- British Library
- C. Weckesser
- Caixa Catalunya
- Canesi
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Caratzas Brothers, Publishers
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collegium Graphicum
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- CTHS
- D. S. Brewer
- De Agostini/UTET
- De Schutter
- Deuschle & Stemmle
- Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft
- DIAMM
- Droz
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Éditions de l'Oiseau Lyre
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Casariego
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Editrice Antenore
- Edizioni Edison
- Egeria, S.L.
- Eikon Editores
- Electa
- Eos-Verlag
- ET&B
- Eugrammia Press
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- G. Braziller
- Gebr. Mann Verlag
- Giovanni Domenico de Rossi
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Guido Pressler
- Guillermo Blazquez
- Helikon
- Henning Oppermann
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hoepli
- Houghton Library
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- ILte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses
- Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- J. Thorbecke
- Jugoslavija
- Karl W. Hiersemann
- Kasper Straube
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- Kurt Wolff Verlag
- La Liberia dello Stato
- La Linea Editrice
- La Meta Editore
- Lambert Schneider
- Leo S. Olschki
- Les Incunables
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lichtdruck
- Lumen Artis
- Lund Humphries
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Maison des Sciences de l'homme et de la société de Poitiers
- Manuscriptum
- Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd.
- MASA
- McGraw-Hill
- Militos
- Millennium Liber
- Müller & Schindler
- National Library of Wales
- Nova Charta
- Odeon
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Oxford University Press
- Parzellers Buchverlag
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Plon-Nourrit et cie
- Prestel Verlag
- Princeton University Press
- Prisma Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Propyläen Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Riehn & Reusch
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Rosenkilde and Bagger
- Roxburghe Club
- Salerno Editrice
- Sarajevo Svjetlost
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scolar Press
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo
- Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología
- Stainer and Bell
- Styria Verlag
- Sumptibus Pragopress
- Szegedi Tudomànyegyetem
- Tarshish Books
- Taschen
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- The Marquess of Normanby
- The Richard III and Yorkist History Trust
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Typis Regiae Officinae Polygraphicae
- University of California Press
- University of Chicago Press
- Urs Graf
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- VCH, Acta Humaniora
- VDI Verlag
- Verlag Styria
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Xuntanza Editorial
- Zollikofer AG