Re: Franco Pratesi, new publications (since 2023)

86
Here is the second of Franco's most recent notes, this one on an inventory documenting a "paio" of "XX" painted "triomphi" in a well-off Florentine family. The issues are first, what they are, and second, how the terms of the description are to be understood - notably "triomphi," "XX" and "paio". For myself, I am not convinced that "paio" must be understood as "deck" (British "pack") or even "partial deck," as opposed to "set." I base this on the entry for "paio" in the Grande Dizionario de la Lingua Italiana, in which its fourth definition includes a quotation from an old Treccani dictionary where the word is applied to chess: https://www.gdli.it/pdf_viewer/Scripts/ ... arola=paio. On the other hand, Franco has a lot more experience with old Italian in this particular context than I do. This issue is not important for understanding what the "triomphi" in question are in this case, but only for what "paio" means in other cases of "triomphi" or similar: are they always playing cards?

The translation here is of "Poppiano 1523 – Trionfi piuttosto arcani," posted July 21, 2024 at https://www.naibi.net/A/RIDOLFI.pdf. Notes inside square brackets are mine, in consultation with Franco.

Poppiano 1523 – Rather arcane triumphs

Franco Pratesi

1. Introduction

I recently have continued my study on the archive collection Magistracy of Minors before the Principality in the State Archives of Florence (ASFi). I had already made an incursion into the final part where it enters the sixteenth century; this had happened because I was looking in the well-known inventory of the Rosselli workshop for confirmation of the triumphs that I had found coming from a few decades earlier. [note 1] Unfortunately, I had not yet understood that those forms for printing images of Petrarch's triumphs referred to figures of larger dimensions and could not be considered in direct relation with the playing card triumphs.

One fact that is clear to me, however, is that the transition from 1499 to 1500 cannot correspond to a clear boundary between two different periods. For us, it remains convenient to divide the years into centuries, or then, in the case under examination of the Magistracies of Minors, into the series prior to the Principality [i.e. the Grand Duchy] and then that of the Principality. However, the differences that can be expected, also for the cases of our interest, are rather long-term, as they concern customs that transformed rather slowly.

What do I then expect by continuing to search for “our” objects in the following century? Certainly, if before it was rare to come across packs of naibi, now they would have become true antiques, preserved only if forgotten, in some chest of a building with many rooms, and perhaps in the rare case that they were artistic works of excellence. The same end is now beginning to be glimpsed also for the playing cards of subsequent production, and even for the "new" triumphs and minchiate, which in fact were truly new objects only for the grandparents.

In short, we shouldn't be surprised if, from a series of 887 inventory folios, I can only describe one deck of triumphs here. Reading the numerous books published on tarot today, it is common to come across the noun arcano, which has come to be used to clarify ideas about it, or confuse them. I even included it in the title, but only as an adjective, in the sense of enigmatic, mysterious, and this exclusively because of one detail, which fortunately doesn't seem to have anything esoteric about it.

2. The material examined

The archival unit examined in the collection indicated is the file immediately preceding 190, in which the Rosselli inventory is preserved.[note 2] As usual, the fact that I discuss only one finding does not mean that this is really the only example in the whole series; there may be others that have escaped my examination, but there cannot be many others, also because the date is now far from the one in which naibi and triumphs were sometimes produced as valuable objects.

In these inventories, I also researched chessboards and gameboards, [note 3] and I can mention that also in that case, moving forward into the sixteenth century, these objects, and especially chess sets, are now expected to be encountered only as exceptions, now exclusively in stately homes, or almost so.

As for playing cards, even in the fifteenth century, they were rarely found, and we can be satisfied if evidence of them can be found in these almost one thousand sixteenth-century documents. Also making the registration of playing cards unlikely is the area of origin of the inheritances: in the ASFi inventory, it is indicated that the file contains documents from Florence, but in fact most of the inventories of household goods present here concern people in Florentine territory, but not of the city center. Thus, in peasant huts it will be useless to look for game objects together with the very few clothing and work objects. Possibly, in the countryside they will be found in some "gentleman’s house" where the owners of the land used to spend part of the summer.

The inheritance in question is a rare example among these inventories of a prestigious family with a stately home in the center of Florence and a gentleman’s house in the Poppiano countryside (the family's territory of origin, in the Val di Pesa between San Casciano and Montespertoli), and this is reflected in a wealth of
________________
1. https://www.naibi.net/A/TRIOPETR.pdf
2. ASFi, Magistrato dei Pupilli avanti il Principato, N. 189. Filza d’inventari di Firenze, 1508-1532.
3. https://www.naibi.net/b/TAVOLIERI.pdf


2
entries that is extraordinarily above the average. Usually, an inventory of household goods in a country house takes up a single page or at most two pages, while in this case, we read 45 pages of inventory.

The deceased is Francesco di Giovanni Ridolfi, with a home in Via Maggio in the parish of San Felice in Piazza [in Florence]; therefore, it was the branch of the Ridolfi di Piazza, later more important than the other two branches in the city, the Ridolfi di Ponte and the Ridolfi di Borgo. The widow is Mona Alexandra of Antonio Ristori, pregnant, with sons Francescho, 2 years old, and Lorenzo, 10 months old.

It is easy to find information on the history of this large family. [note 4] Many Ristori di Piazza had gone from being merchants to becoming important politicians (and it would be so in the following centuries); in the most turbulent periods, they had mixed fortunes but often found themselves at the top of the city administration. The large city house and the country house that we encounter in the documents are the two main headquarters of the historic family, which had its origins in the fortified town of Poppiano.

I intend to transcribe in full only the goods found in the room with the object of our interest, but I list all the items in the inventory that indicate the individual rooms of the city palace and the country palace.

3. The inventory

First, on 28 August 1523, what was found in the palace in Via Maggio was listed, room after room.
Image
Florence, Casa Ridolfi, Via Maggio 43 (2024) _______________
4. E.g., M. Vannucci, Le grandi famiglie di Firenze. Rome 1983 (2006 reprint), on pp. 381-387.


3 
In the vault.[note 5]
In the ground floor room of the entrance hall that goes to the oven
In the room next to the oven and in the vault
In the stable below [note 6]
In the first stable
In the ground floor room next to the loggia
In the small bedchamber or soffitta [“attic” room, with low ceiling] at the mezzanine level [ameza schala - at the middle floor; counting from the ground floor as number one, it is the second floor in the photo] [note 7]
In the antechamber of the soffitta
In the necessary [note 8]
In the room of Lorenzo, uncle of said Antonio or of Mona Bice
In the hallway that descends
In the entrance hall
In the room behind the entrance hall where Mona Bice was
In the study in said room
In the antechamber beyond the study which comes out behind in a small veranda [note 9]
In the soffitta [“attic” room] above the antechamber and study
In the great room
In the bedchamber in the room, above
In the soffitta [“attic” room] above the main room
In the large upstairs room
In the room above the kitchen
In the maidservant's room [note 10]
In the kitchen
In the room where the oil is kept
Understandably, the entries above correspond to very different spaces in the inventory, where many of the items listed are items found in chests and strongboxes, present only in the main rooms.
Image
Family coat of arms - on the facade of the Casa Ridolfi in Via Maggio (2024)
(The local sandstone had resisted for centuries, but had to succumb to acid rain)
____________
5. Volta. Wine-cellar (with six barrels).
6. Here a dark-haired mule; in the next one a bad barrel.
7. In addition to the attic rooms on the top floor, the rooms on the mezzanine, under the main floor, are called attic rooms.
8. . Necessario. The toilet. In general, you will not find bathroom furniture there, but possibly objects and utensils stored in bulk. In this case: a pair of bad trestles.
9. The presence here of a chessboard is notable, also because I haven't seen any others in the whole series, nor even game-boards." Perhaps at the time it was really a legacy reserved only for the families of the highest classes.
10. Mostly used as a storage room or stockroom.


4
Following on August 31 - September 1, 1523, from c. 235v onwards, the inventory of goods found in the house of Poppiano, parish of San Biagio, precinct [podesteria] of Montespertoli, vicariate of Certaldo. It should be noted that, in addition to this manorial house, the family preserved several farmhouses, farms, and vineyards in the area of its origin, with plots that descended to the Virginio stream.
Cellar
(In the second room In the third room In the vault In the stockroom In the room next to the vault)
In the kitchen
In the great room
In the first bedchamber on the hall
In the antechamber
In the necessary
In the second bedchamber on the hall
In the tower room of the entrance hall
In the necessary in said room
In the storeroom
In the room facing the western meadow (details later!)
In the hallway where the house is entered and into the room
In the first room upstairs
In the second room upstairs
In the third room, servants’ bedchamber
In the fourth room or granary
In the old room
In the parlor on the ground floor
In the armoire [note 11] where we go above the hall
Item out of the house
Wheat in the holes [note 12] outside the house
Things and household goods outside the house [note 13]
Image
Poppiano (panorama from Montespertoli, top left, with the Guicciardini Castle, 2024) _____________
11. Armario. When we find an armoire at the time, it is not a wardrobe as for modern use, but a piece of furniture in which weapons, various tools, or even everyday objects were kept.
12. Buche. A kind of cisterns next to the farmers' houses with the owners' share of grain.
13. In particular, fabrics being processed at convents or with artisans and precious objects in storage by the father-in-law.


5
At this point we can focus on the details of the room and the cases. Especially bed linen and clothing items were stored in the chests [casse], and as a rule there were several of them, placed against the walls, perhaps with headboards, or directly against the bed.
In the room facing the western meadow
One white wooden bed with walnut veneered chests of 4 ½ arm-lengths
One bad mattress in said bed full of fur
2 quilts [coltrice] for said bed full of feathers
with plumes not good of 270 pounds
One sparrowhawk [note 14] of linen in said bed
In the chests []capse] around the bed within which [note 15] were these things, that is, in the first place
Four women's shirts with fittings, ready to be sewed
26 thin handkerchiefs in one thread
2 arm lengths of Rensa [note 16]
One pillowcase within which
One white silk net to tie
One becha [note 17] with striped train
One small box of one arm-length within which
One small bag and a pair [paio] of paternosters [note 18]
One pair [paio] of shoes
One tusk with silver rings
One pair [paio] of man's knives with silver ferrule fork everything provided
One pair [piao] of knives with mother-of-pearl handles
Silver fork and velvet sheath supplied in silver for women
One box inside which
More lace and ribbons and other zachere [note 19]

In the second chest [capsa]
Six small and two large knives
8 used women's shirts
3 men's shirts
One pair [paio] of linen sleeves
3 ruffs [note 20] and a woman's apron
One red velvet collar
One collar of red satin
6 large hand towels between large and small
Two pieces of red taffeta to make pillows
One purse with a silver-filled dagger
One box two-thirds of one arm-length within which
One man's netting
5 women's silk nets of various types and various other zachere, beche, mazochi [note 21] and otherwise
_________________
14. Sparviere, Sparrowhawk. In the Renaissance, name for quadrangular bed canopies, so called because they were equipped with curtains having the appearance of a sparrowhawk with open wings (Treccani).
15. Drentovi, that is, within which. The list of contents begins at the next entry, but it is not always obvious where it ends.
16. Rensa. White linen fabric, of very fine grain, also called canvas, used for fine linens and also in the first oil paintings on canvas (Treccani).
17. Beca. Or bécca, silk scarf, which once upon a time (especially in Venice in the 16th century) ecclesiastics, magistrates and university professors wore over their shoulders. (Treccani)
18. Paternostro. Rosary
19. Zachere. From Zacchera, Bagattella, trifle, little thing of little importance, insignificant (Treccani).
20. Gorgierie. Frenchism; properly indicates what covers the throat, the neck (Treccani).
21. Mazzocchio. Part of the hood, consisting of a circle of wool or silk waste covered with cloth, which wrapped the head (GDLI).


6
One box with several zachere [trifles] and used handkerchiefs

In the chests [casse] at the foot of the bed, within which
40 pounds of accia [thread] [note 22] for panata [note 23] of linen
28 pounds of thread in skeins of linen, tow, and other more valuable pieces
Two antique-style chests [casse] within which
One new rough canvas of 100 arm-lengths of broad sheet cloth weighing 55 lbs.
One tablecloth at the bottom of one of said chests [casse]
Four narrow tablecloths of various types
XII used napkins
Two used napkins
Two straps and four used canvases
One large tablecloth [note 24] of 6 arm-lengths approx.
One Perugia-style [note 25] tablecloth, 7 arm-lengths wide
26 pounds of accia in skeins of tow
Two bunches [mazi] of linacciuolo [some type of linen? - just a guess] weighing 2 ½ pounds

In the other chest [capsa], within which
More bound books of stories [historie] and in the vernacular and books of household accounts, that is
Seven books between great and small and other old contracts
Flat shoes of Antonio and Alexandra, his wife, X pairs [paia], used and new
One pair of triumphs of the XX, historiated and put with gold [Un paio di triomphi del XX historiati et con oro messi] [note 26]
16 tin soup plates
7 small tin soup plates
Two tin platters and 7 half-sized plates for cutting, weighing 45 pounds
One small flute [or flageolet] to play [note 27]
One chest [cassone] of about 3 arm-lengths within which
One large carpet of 6 arm-lengths
8 pounds of thread [accia]
One small bag within which
Two pounds of satile [note 28] thread
One small bag within which
6 arm-lengths of green cloth
3 sheets cut in X lengths of 7 arm-lengths or longer
One white quilt [coltre] in the manner of almonds [note 29]
Another quilt [colre] in the manner of almonds
One white quilt [coltre] with buttons, broken
Two pairs [paia] of used sheets
Another chest [cassone] of 3 arm-lengths within which, that is
One white thick quilt [coltrone] full of cotton wool
One white quilt [coltre] in the almond style [see n. 29]
Another blanket [coltre] of tablecloth
8 good large sheets
____________
22. Accia: Raw and skeined thread, made of linen, hemp, etc. (Treccani).
23. Pannata. Gown (GDLI).
24. Mantile. Mostly ordinary, cheap, commonly used, everyday tablecloth (GDLI).
25. Usually the cities of origin of the fashions are otherwise: Paris, Naples, Milan, Venice.
26. This is the entry that justified the whole description, to be discussed separately.
27. After the triumphs, it can be considered the second intruder among the various objects.
28. Satile=Sottile: thin.
29. A mandorle. Almond-shaped. Knitting with almond-shape design, which can be full-almond or empty-almond, depending on whether the links form a solid or empty rhomboid shape (Treccani).


7
Two large fine linen Rensa] tablecloths
Six tablecloths without tassels, about 6 arm-lengths long, used
Four tablecloths.
Two straps
One bedsheet of 4 cloths of 6 arms-length of tow
One piece of linen cloth weighing 15 pounds, 35 yards or more
One and a half pounds of thin thread
17 used napkins
One pair [paio] of pillows with netted pillowcases
One our Lady [note 30]
One sword
One hatrack with 6 rods 6 arms-length long
______________
30. The painting of the Madonna that cannot be missing in the rooms of the time.
Image
ASFi, Magistracy of Minors prior to the Principality, 189 c. 240v, detail
(Reproduction prohibited)

8
4. The triumphs

Here we finally arrive at the key point, the triumphs. We must try to better understand what can be indicated more precisely in the entry, which at first sight appears rather enigmatic: Un paio di triomphi del XX historiati et con oro messi [One pair of trionfi of the XX, historiated and put with gold]. If we were to "translate" the lexicon into more recent Italian we would read: Un mazzo di trionfi del 20 istoriati e messi a (oppure in o con) oro [One deck of triumphs of the 20, historiated and put to (or with or in) gold]. Let's look point by point.

A deck of triumphs only creates problems for us if we want to understand why it is there, how long it has been there, what it was used for, and what it could have been used for - but the indication of "a pair of triumphs" is already sufficient to describe the object uniquely. In this case, it could not have been a book of the Triumphs of Francesco Petrarca, neither printed nor manuscript, nor even larger prints such as those produced in the Rosselli workshop. The term “of the 20” had never been seen before and requires further discussion.

“Historiated” [with a story, not “with a history”] is more than plausible: they are triumphs illustrated with images that have their own meaning, which can be read and interpreted in some way - or rather in multiple ways, as they still do today. “Put in gold” also does not create any problems for us, since, with a little imagination, we can immediately compare them with the triumphs that came to us from the great ducal courts of Milan and Ferrara. The Florentine gold-beaters had been active for centuries. and their precious thin sheets had been used extensively, even centuries before, starting from the backgrounds of the panels of crucifixes, Madonnas and saints on wood.

In the end, to understand what object it is precisely, only the “20” remains. There seems to be no doubt that it is precisely 20. It is true that this 20 is actually read as XX, but one certainly cannot think at the time of the ecs being used as a sign of the unknown! In short, it is not possible to read triumphs made by an artist who would have been indicated XX because they no longer knew the name. It so happens that in the line above we read another X, with the very predictable meaning of 10. So XX are 20, and that's all.

At this point, I leave it up to each reader to find the explanation that most convinces him of this number. It may be that more than one will be suggested; it may be that, unusually, all experts agree on one. As far as I'm concerned, I would have found an explanation that at least convinces me, which is no small thing.

Here's how I read the inventory entry: we found a deck of triumphs that have unusual characteristics: they are illuminated and have a gold background and decorations; they are valuable, but they are not our minchiate decks with 40/41 tarocchi in addition to the 56 cards of the four suits. This is a deck with 20 tarocchi, that is, one that is now used (and referred to as tarocchi for the entire deck) far from here. Well. You might tell me that the hypothesis doesn't hold up because then the 20 should have been a 22, or at least a 21 without considering the Fool. It doesn't bother me; this is why I invited each reader to find the explanation that convinced them the most.

Once convinced, sooner or later, of an explanation of the deck, it remains to understand its history and destiny as much as possible, which is no less challenging. In my opinion, the destiny is to remain closed in its "capsa" [chest], because it is too beautiful and prestigious to be destroyed, but at the same time useless to play with because no one would have used it as such in Florentine territory, where tradition was now to play minchiate.

However, it remains very difficult, if not impossible, to propose definitive hypotheses regarding the past history of the deck, above all because here its production date remains undefined, when even a single decade more or less could greatly change its value as evidence.

The only certain point is that the Ridolfi di Piazza were an important family, one of the main ones in the city, but they certainly did not belong to the category of the dukes of northern Italy who are known to us as owners of similar decks. In short, if in Northern Italy (including Rimini) the triumphs of luxury were exclusive objects, present only in the hands of the lords of the cities, in Florence, they could be part of the trousseau of many high-class families. At the same time, it will not have been difficult for all interested Florentines to obtain less expensive versions.

Florence, 07.21.2024
Last edited by mikeh on 08 Aug 2024, 22:51, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Franco Pratesi, new publications (since 2023)

87
This is a translation of "Anni 1480 Trionfi a Firenze e Pistoia," which Franco posted at https://www.naibi.net/A/UBERTINO.pdf on July 24, 2024. Comments in square brackets are mine, in consultation with Franco, for clarification purposes.

1480s Triumphs in Florence and Pistoia

Franco Pratesi

1. Introduction


I thought I had finished my research on the Magistracy of Minors prior to the Principality collection in the State Archives of Florence (ASFi) [Magistrato dei Pupilli avanti il Principato nell’Archivio di Stato di Firenze], but instead I . . . returned to the scene of the crime. In the specific sector of playing cards, it is understandable that the further we move forward in time, the more unlikely it is to find evidence of notable historical interest; however, I thought that other information could be found to complete the picture, even towards the end of the fifteenth century.

In this note I report on what was found in the following manuscript of the Campione series of inventories and revised accounts: No. 177 Quarters of Santa Maria Novella and San Giovanni, 1479-1484, 319 ff. (it is part of the 13th sample).

2. The Triumphs of a broker


In the volume examined we encounter a deck of triumphs in a much more modest than average environment, in the inheritance of a sensale [broker, but at that time mostly in agriculture and livestock]. The sensale in question is Tomaso di Toto, not otherwise known (at least to me). This is one of the smallest inheritances, left to his son Antonio, aged around nine, with an inventory recorded on 30 January 1483 starting from f. 259r.

The household goods are listed on a single card and a very small quantity of the usual linen and clothing fabrics appears. Unlike usual, a family home does not appear but these household goods are kept in the house and home of Agnolo di Rinieri del Pacie and were placed and designated in said house by command and order of the eight of the bailiffs of the city of Florence after motion [or request: istanza] by creditors and passed under the care and custody of our office of minors and their judgment.

I copy and transcribe the part of interest.
Image
ASFi, Magistracy of Minors prior to the Principality, 177, f. 259v. Detail
(Reproduction prohibited)
2
1 small basket from/of Prato
1 crucifix as a shrine set in gold
2 cargo boxes
1 bolted table
4 pairs of molds for casting
2 skin shaving knives
1 merchandise case inside
1 lute to play
1 wooden bed with its cases around
1 raw bed mattress [just two sheets sewn together and filled with wool or other material]
1 our lady picture, round [tondo]
1 brass oil lamp
1 brass bucket
1 Saint Jerome and 1 majolica jar
1 towel around our lady
1 child’s bed and hat rack
2 leather pillows
1 small mattress and 3 bed pillows
1 Moorish-style carpet
2 chests 1 empty and 1 with inside various books and contracts
1 lantern
1 cup of tin and 1 of brass
1 pair of triumphs [paio di trionfi]
1 bunch of white wax candles of 4 lb.
1 Messer Domenecho [?]
1 French-style canvas cloth with figures
1 pictured linen piece of villa are villa things and for feet [?]
1 bench for the table and 1 small saw
1 tub and 2 chandeliers
1 large chair and 3 small chairs
2 chandeliers with 2 brass oil lamps
Despite the modesty of the whole, some objects can be noted that indicate a certain refinement, which makes the presence of a deck of triumphs not too extraordinary, although rather unexpected in such an environment.

But perhaps a deck of triumphs could also have proved useful during some country negotiations: between hesitant sellers and buyers, why wouldn’t the mediator have been able to propose a relaxing game of triumphs and then seal the sale or exchange pact of livestock with an always welcome jug of good wine? Obviously, even just to imagine such a scene one must have been vaccinated against the various triumphologies, always alive and well, both around the ducal courts and among the professors of divinatory sciences.

It is not clear what condition that deck of triumphs was in, but it can be considered as one of the few things present beyond the bare minimum, which is enough to indicate to us that that deck could no longer be an object of value, even assuming a significant - but unlikely - value when new.

3. Commentaries on the Triumphs of Ubertino from Pistoia


In the same inventory book, starting from c. 296r, we find another of some interest, which occupies six pages written in two columns. The inheritance is that of Ubertino di ser Atto di Giovanni Gherardi in Pistoia, for his children Lucrezia aged 17, Giovanni aged 12, and Giuliano aged 9, with guardianship by the magistracy of minors accepted on 15 December 1484. The family is one of the most noted of Pistoia, the


3
heirs' grandfather was a man of the law, a notary at least. The house, also judging by the above-average quality and quantity of household goods, is decidedly elegant; after the list of household goods, the real estate consisting of the house, two shops, and several farms and vineyards are listed.

I limit myself to copying and transcribing the part of specific interest.
Image
ASFi, Magistracy of Minors prior to the Principality, 177, c. 298r. Detail
(Reproduction prohibited)

In Ubertino’s study

1 Vergil In vernacular In form wooden board covered with green-purple leather
1 Juvenal In form wooden board covered with purple leather
1* the third decade [the work was divided into ten books] by Titus Livy in vernacular with wooden board covered with green leather with arms of Gerardi with cholonegli [perhaps colonnelli, small columns in the arms]
1 book In quarto folio paper with wooden board covered with white leather, in the vernacular of the creation of the world
1 book In vernacular on the Immortality of the soul, in form wooden board covered with yellow leather with four buckles
1 book upon triumphs of pretarcha, wooden board covered with green leather with 2 buckles in form [libro sopra trionfi del pretarcha cho asse chovertato di quoio verde chon 2 serrami in forma]
1 The same in form wooden board covered with purple leather

1 clock
1 ceramic inkwell with a silver seal to the sign of Partini [family arms?]
1 pair of large scissors
1 pound weight with a small box of worked cypress
1 purple leather money-bag
1 studded case with batachi [knockers?] said things
3 wooden bowls for keeping money [danali = danari]
2 grosoni of Milan of S. 26 d. 8 the one
2 papal carlini [unit of money]

4
1 royal carlino
4 old grossi
1 grosetto of Bologna
1 cuirass [choraza]
This was a more surprising discovery for me than usual; indeed, it can be said to be surprising for at least three reasons. A first surprise was to find Petrarch's Trionfi in an out-of-the-ordinary place: we are in Pistoia and not in a palace in the center of Florence. The second surprise was even greater: we are not simply talking about the Trionfi but about a book "upon" them. I wondered if it could be a printed book or manuscript and taking into account how it had been bound, I was convinced that it was a manuscript containing both the Trionfi and the added commentary. I just thought that to be listed like this, the commentary had to be something more than short notes on the side or bottom of the page. Then I realized that it was an incunabulum already known to scholars.

A third, subsequent surprise is that the name of this completely unknown to me Ubertino was in reality easily traceable with Google Books: by clicking on his name, with patronymic and location, perhaps a dozen studies appear which, coincidentally, are based precisely on the inventory I've been looking at lately. It seems that scholars have found great interest in his books, and in more than one direction, too.

One strand concerns children's literature: a children's book is also indicated in the inventory, and comments on this presence are today repeated by many pedagogical experts, from one book to another. Another trend concerns incunabula and the history of printing, and this book with a commentary on the Trionfi seems to have been recognized as having a certain interest also for bibliology. For now, I have not seen any authors specifically interested in this commentary on the Triumphs in the context of Petrarchan studies.

The foregoing was a great relief for my laziness: now I have no need to talk about this Ubertino, nor about the importance of these books of his. Those interested simply need to make the best use of the indications of Google Books, and perhaps other digital assistants, in order to collect information in the individual sector of their interest.

Florence, 07.24.2024
Last edited by mikeh on 08 Aug 2024, 22:54, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Franco Pratesi, new publications (since 2023)

88
If the commentary on the Trionfi is that of Bernardo Ilicino (Bernardo di Pietro Lapini da Montalcino), first printed in Bologna in 1475, then there have been some papers. The latest may be Leonardo Francalanci, "I "Trionfi con il commento di Bernardo Ilicino" o il "Commento di Bernardo Ilicino ai Trionfi"? Alcune riflessioni metodologiche dalla periferia del canone petrarchesco," Petrarchesca, vol. 3 (2015), pp. 75-87.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26498003
Follow the bibliography listed in note 4 there
la bibliografia relativa al Commento di Ilicino risulta circoscritta, grosso modo, ai seguenti contributi : Domenick D. Carnicelli, Bernardo Ilicino and the Renaissance commentaries on Petrarch’s ‘Trionfi ’, « Romance Philology », xxxiii, 1969, pp. 57-64 ; Angela Pozone, Un commentatore quattrocentesco del Petrarca : Bernardo Ilicino, « Atti dell’Accademia Pontaniana », n. s. xxiii, 1974, pp. 371-390 ; Valerie Merry, Una nota sulla fortuna del commento di Bernardo Ilicino ai ‘Trionfi ’ petrarcheschi, « Giornale storico della Letteratura Italiana », clxiii, 1986, pp. 235-246 ; Gian Carlo Alessio, The “lectura” of the ‘Triumphi’ in the fifteenth century, in Petrarch’s Triumphs. Allegory and Spectacle, a cura di Konrad Eisenbichler e Amilcare A. Iannucci, Ottawa, Dovehouse, 1990, pp. 269-290 ; Eric Haywood, “Inter urinas liber factus est”. Il commento dell’Ilicino ai “Trionfi ” del Petrarca, in Petrarca e la cultura europea, a cura di Luisa Rotondi Secchi Tarugi, Milano, Nuovi orizzonti, 1997, pp. 139-159 ; Francesco Tateo, Sulla ricezione umanistica dei ‘Trionfi’, e Stefano Cracolici, Esemplarità ed Emblematica nel commento di Bernardo Ilicino ai ‘Triumphi’ di Petrarca, in I ‘Triumphi’ di Francesco Petrarca, a cura di Claudia Berra, Bologna, Cisalpino, 1999, pp. 403-417 e 429-485.
More recent studies I don't know.

But the commentary may be the Chiose Portilia or Pseudo-Filelfo, printed in Parma in 1473, in which case search for that. I haven't found a downloadable PDF of the Portilia commentary, but you can download it page by page from a University of Manchester copy here -
https://www.digitalcollections.manchest ... CU-18977/1

Re: Franco Pratesi, new publications (since 2023)

89
Note that Filelfo explicitly denied writing the Portilia commentary, in a letter to Venetian humanist Marco Aurelio:
Audio librorum impressores quos vocant nescio quos impressisse commentarios quosdam in Francisci Petrarcae Triumphos eosque a mea emanasse officina addidisse in titulo. Ego commentarii istiusmodi bonine sint an mali haud scio, utpote quos neque legerim neque viderim. Sed unum certo scio: nihil a me unquam in Petrarcae Triumphos neque scriptum nec excogitatum. Itaque vereor factitatum ut nebulo quispiam idcirco id mihi opus ascripserit, quo ex nomine meo suae versutiae auctoritatem pareret. Quare, siquid istiusmodi apud vos fuerit impressum, tu pro nostra benivolentia fraudi occurrito operamque dato, ut is quicunque tandem fuerit, si minus punitus doli mali, derisus saltem videatur. Vale. Ex Mediolano, Idibus Septembribus MCCCCLXXIIII.
(Quoted in Nicoletta Marcelli, "Filelfo 'volgare': stato dell'arte e linee di recerca," in Silvia Fiaschi, ed., PHILELFIANA: Nuove prospettive di ricerca sulla figura di Francesco Filelfo. Atti del seminario di studi (Macerata, 6-7 novembre 2013), Firenze, Olschki, 2015, pp. 47-82; here page 61 and note 53.
https://www.academia.edu/24370642/Filel ... di_ricerca

"I hear that some book printers—people whom I don't know—have printed certain commentaries on the Triumphs of Francesco Petrarch and have added my name on the title, claiming that they came from my workshop. Whether these commentaries are good or bad, I do not know, as I have neither read nor seen them. But one thing I know for certain: I have never written or even conceived of anything on Petrarch's Triumphs. Therefore, I fear that some scoundrel has done this to falsely attribute the work to me, hoping to gain authority for his cunning tricks by using my name. Therefore, if any such thing has been printed among you, please, out of our goodwill, prevent this fraud and ensure that whoever did this, if not punished for his wicked deceit, is at least ridiculed. Farewell. From Milan, on the Ides of September, 1474."

(ChatGPT translation)

The consensus seems to be that the commentary was the work of Jacopo di Poggio Bracciolini (1442-1478).

Re: Franco Pratesi, new publications (since 2023)

90
I thought that Poggio's commentary was only on the Triumph of Fame, and that the 1473 commentary was anonymous. At least that is what D. D. Carnicelli said in Romance Philology, Vol. 23, No. 1 (August 1969), pp. 57-64. Of course that was a while back. I queried Franco on both of these, but he is not able to give any further clarification.

Re: Franco Pratesi, new publications (since 2023)

91
Here is a translation of the last of the four most recently posted notes of Franco's, this one of "1498 – Trionfi, libri dei Tornabuoni," posted at https://www.naibi.net/A/TORNABUONI.pdf on July 28, 2024. Comments in brackets are mine, in consultation with Franco, for explanatory purposes.


1498 – Trionfi, books of the Tornabuoni


Franco Pratesi

1. Introduction


Continuing my research on the Magistracy of Minors collection prior to the Principality [fondo Magistrato dei Pupilli avanti il Principato] in the State Archives of Florence (ASFi), I have examined the manuscript of the Campione series of inventories and accounts, revised No. 181: Quarters Santa Maria Novella and San Giovanni 1495-1501 (part of the 15th Campione).

An inventory of some interest can be found in correspondence with the prestigious Tornabuoni family, certainly one of the oldest in Florence, if we consider that it was born simply with a "strategic" change of surname from the even older one of Tornaquinci (to avoid, as magnates, being ousted from high public office).

After a long presence at the top of the city, in the era in question they found themselves following the Medici themselves closely, including close family ties. In this case, not only the family is known but also the members themselves involved here, starting with the grandfather Giovanni Tornabuoni, who was Lorenzo the Magnificent's uncle and papal treasurer.

The marriage of Lorenzo di Giovanni in 1486 to Giovanna degli Albizzi marked an attempt to bring the two long-adversarial families closer together. This Giovanna was one of the most beautiful Florentine young women, painted several times in portraits and frescoes by Ghirlandaio and Botticelli. The Tornabuoni family was known for its patronage, and among other works, the famous Tornabuoni Chapel in Santa Maria Novella remains as one evidence.

Lorenzo was born in Florence in 1465 to Giovanni and Francesca di Luca Pitti, and his closeness to the Medici was fatal to him: together with four other conspirators who intended to re-establish the hegemony of the Medici during the Savonarola republic (destined to end shortly after), he was condemned to death and beheaded in the Bargello Palace on 21 August 1497.

The specific case of the inventory in question concerns the inheritance left by Lorenzo di Giovanni to his ten-year-old sons Giovanni, born to his first wife Giovanna degli Albizzi (who died in childbirth at the age of twenty, at the end of her second pregnancy), and five-year-old Leonardo, three-year-old Francesca and one-year-old Giovanna, children of his second wife Ginevra Gianfigliazzi.

2. Saint Stefano in Pane


The inventories begin on c. 141r with that of 5 January 1498 relating to one of the villas that the family owned in the Florentine countryside, in this case, a villa purchased a few decades before in the parish of Santo Stefano in Pane, and in particular in "Chiasso a Macieregli." Chiasso Macerelli is a road that goes up from Rifredi to Careggi and in the twentieth century took the name of Via Taddeo Alderotti.

The Tornabuoni, in addition to their possessions in the area, long had the patronage of the pieve [main church of a group of parishes, ten or so constituting a diocese] of Santo Stefano in Pane, and three priests of the family were pieve priests in the 16th and 17th centuries (elsewhere, somewhat curiously, as many as four members of the family were bishops of Spoleto during the sixteenth century). This pieve has always had a particular importance in the area, which continued as it transformed from a country pieve into a suburban parish in Rifredi, until recently an important working-class neighborhood with many factories, starting with the Officine Galileo precisely in Chiasso Macerelli.

To get an idea of this long history, I think the brief description by Alberto Andreoni on the website of the same parish is sufficient. [note 1] Before industrialization, the area was especially famous for its country villas. The panorama of the time is difficult to imagine today, but the nearby and much more famous Villa di Careggi was similarly at the center of agricultural estates belonging to the Medici family for centuries and only recently habitually welcomed writers and philosophers. In connection with the
_____________________
1. https://www.pieverifredi.it/storia_arte.php


2
Villa Medici in Careggi, there were other villas of rich Florentines who, like the Tornabuoni, also gravitated culturally around the artistic and literary environment of the Medici.

Some information on the history of the villa in question, then Villa Lemmi, can also be found on Wikipedia, [note 2] and detailed information is collected in several books; note 3 to see some of the frescoes from Tornabuoni times involved here - found in the 19th century - you have to go to the Louvre.
Image

Villa Tornabuoni Lemmi from Via Incontri (2024)
Image

Church of Santo Stefano in Pane (2024) The inventory of household goods in the villa (purchased in 1469) was compiled on 4 January 1498; I have reproduced the page in question and transcribed the elements of interest.
_______________
2. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Lemmi
3. For example: Villa Tornabuoni-Lemmi di Careggi. Rome 1988


3
Image
ASFi, Magistracy of Minors prior to the Principality, 181, f. 141v (Reproduction prohibited)
In the bed-chamber of the section above said room

One piata [pietà] and one small tabernacle [Typically the container for consecrated hosts on the (church) altar, but could also be a setting for religious images at home]
1 wooden bed frame with walnut cornices and inlay, 4 arm-lengths with supports and cane
1 raw mattress [two sheets sewn together, with stuffing] in two pieces
1 side mattress with old wool
1 striped quilt [choltricie] vergata [?], good, of feathers
2 primacci [large pillows or small quilts] of said bed, weight s. 4
1 pair of used 4-piece sheets
1 thick quilt [coltrone] with cottonwool, good
1 white quilt [choltra] with more work, good
2 good bed pillows
1 set of curtains with hangings around [the bed] as a pavilion
1 covered small bed antique-style of walnut of about 5 arm-lengths with chappellinaio [“hatrack” on wall, thus suitable for various items of clothing]
1 side [?] mattress with green wool cloth [weaving?]
2 pillows, of tapestry and leather
1 pair of pillows for small bed
1 used Parisian-style blanket for small bed, used

4
1 large bed towel
2 chests with 4 fasteners around said bed and in the 1st
1 chalice with enameled silver cup
1 missal in form and 1 piece of press [iron or other pressing device]
1 silver and bone pacie [“peace” tablet kissed during the mass]
1 brocaded altar front with 2 cloths
1 chasuble [liturgical vestment], brocaded
1 embroidered red velvet surplice
1 stole of blue velvet, amice [liturgical garment worn at the neck], and brocaded manipola [or manipolo, strap around the wrist, descending one or two hand-lengths]
1 surplice, used, and 1 amice, used
1 small bell and 2 brass chandeliers
1 book of triumphs of Petrarch
At f. 144r, after the household goods, the land and house possessions in the area are listed and the second inventory relating to the other country property begins.

3. San Michele in Castello

There follows the inventory of the villa of the Brache located in the parish of Santo Michele in Castello, a place known as le brache, made on 6 January 1497 [1498 in the current system] by the hands of Bernardo Ughuccioni first and Francescho a Careggi.
If the Careggi area could be considered a countryside suitable for holidays, that of Castello, further away from the walls of Florence in the same direction, was perhaps even more so, and numerous villas built in the area over the centuries on the low slopes in the foothills of Monte Morello remain as evidence, among which the famous Medici Villas of Castello and Petraia excel.

As usual, the inventory of household goods refers only to the villa, where the Tornabuoni family holidayed.
Image
ASFi, Magistracy of Minors prior to the Principality, 181, f. 145v. Detail (Reproduction prohibited)

5
In Giovanni's room

1 Our lady, painted in gesso
1 Saint Jerome painting
1. Simple bed frame attached to the small bed and chest and chappellinaio [“hatrack” on wall, also suitable to hang other clothing items]
1 raw mattress [?] of 2 pieces with sticks
1 rough fabric mattress with chapecchio [extra thickness at head end?]
2 rough fabric mattresses and 1 with blue fabric with wool
1 mattress of dense cotton or wool fabric full of cotton wool
1 primaccio [large pillow or small quilt] with Lombard filling
3 cotton heavy quilts [choltroni] used on said bed
1 rough fabric mattress with wool
1 Parisian-style quilt [choltre], used on said bed
1cottonwool quilt, used, for small bed
1 pillow of tapestry and leather used
1 platform pierced for invalids
1 chest with 2 fasteners, in antique style
1 simple panel of 3 arm-lengths with trestles
1 dining table at 4 feet by 2 arm-lengths and 1 window covering
1 used walnut table
2 books covered in red in form of Guido's [probably referring to Livy's] decades and petrarcha's trionfi
1 pair of andirons of l. 32
1 dustpan 1 pair of tongs and 1 fork
After the inventory of household goods, f. 146r briefly lists the farms, workers' houses, and cultivated land that the family-owned locally.

4. The big house

In a rather unusual order, starting from c. 146v, after the inventories of the household goods in the two Tornabuoni country houses, we find the last inventory of this kind, relating to the stately home of the city, the Palazzo Tornabuoni, which still exists near the Palazzo Strozzi, despite renovations repeated over the centuries and with massive reconstructions on the occasion of Florence as capital [of Italy].
A large house with its vaults and courtyard rooms and bedchambers and other homes and apartments located in the parish of Santo Branchazio of Florence and in via de beglisporti.
Two other houses are also listed, one adjacent, the other also nearby, in Via dei Ferravecchi. I have not seen the date of this inventory, but it cannot be far from the previous ones.

The inventory occupies eight pages written in two columns and therefore highlights the abundance of objects, as could be expected from the family's well-known wealth. Somewhat surprisingly, we find very few books listed. Of gaming objects we only find a chessboard; that there are no playing cards or triumphs present corresponds to the general situation, such that they are only recorded in extremely rare cases. Instead, some musical instruments appear.
In the ground floor room in the entrance hall: 1 viola with bow, 2 zufoli [early flutes or recorders?] to play, and 1 chessboard. a bone horn with works. In the chamber of the golden ceiling: 1 large harp for playing.
This inventory ends on f. 150r.

5. Comments and conclusion

The reason why I have reported this information does not directly concern playing cards or triumphs, but "only" the books of Francesco Petrarch's Trionfi. We are now at the end of the fifteenth century, and finding these books in the homes of ancient Florentine families cannot be a surprise. But there are some open questions about it.


6
An initial question is whether there could have been printed books or manuscripts. If it had been a list of new or very recently produced objects, the choice would plausibly go towards the press, but no one can certify that these books had not been preserved as they were in the family for decades. Incidentally, I don't know of a printed book that contains both the Deche and the Trionfi, but I don't have enough experience in this regard. Personally, however, I am inclined, at least in this case, towards a manuscript, also on the basis of the book's binding.

Perhaps more significant is trying to understand the relevance of these two books for the personages of the Tornabuoni family. We know from other sources that there was a rich library in the family. Here we can only glimpse something of the kind when we read that: "In the study of the country house of Santo Stefano in Pane, there are 30 volumes of Latin and Vernacular books, unfortunately not better identified.

Instead, the Trionfi have a unique and prominent role. An example is present in both villas, and it is as if it had taken the place of a book of the Gospels, or of Dante. Ultimately, it is this unexpected role that gives all the information particular importance.

Florence, 07.28.2024

Re: Franco Pratesi, new publications (since 2023)

92
mikeh wrote: 10 Aug 2024, 21:01 I thought that Poggio's commentary was only on the Triumph of Fame, and that the 1473 commentary was anonymous. At least that is what D. D. Carnicelli said in Romance Philology, Vol. 23, No. 1 (August 1969), pp. 57-64. Of course that was a while back. I queried Franco on both of these, but he is not able to give any further clarification.
Indeed, my "consensus" is too strong. He has been suggested as the author, though. The University of Manchester page on the book says "probably":
"The Triumphi with commentary, attributed to Franciscus Philelphus in the colophon but probably that of Jacopo di Poggio (Bracciolini). Printed by Andreas Portilia in Parma, dated 1473."
https://www.digitalcollections.manchest ... -18977/250

Sonia Maura Barillari, «La “coppia d’Arimino” fra il Triumphus cupidinis e il Purgatorio di san Patrizio. (Una ballata per Viola Novella dal codice Magliabechiano VII, 1078)» in Paolo Canettieri and Arianna Punzi, eds., Dai pochi ai molti. Studi in onore di Roberto Antonelli, Rome, 2014, pp. 89-114; see page 95 note 29:
Fra le attribuzioni proposte per il Commento Portilia vi è anche quella a Jacopo di Poggio Bracciolini. Per ulteriori approfondimenti rinvio a C. Bianca, "Filelfo, Petrarca et alii: ipotesi per un commento ai Trioni," in «quaderni petrarcheschi», 7 (1990), pp. 217-229.
https://www.academia.edu/7001507/_La_co ... _VII_1078_

I haven't been able to see Concetta Bianca's paper in order to learn about the arguments given for and against Iacopo's authorship.

Re: Franco Pratesi, new publications (since 2023)

93
While I haven't found a downloadable copy of the 1473 Portilia text yet, there is something better, a critical edition (because using the manuscripts upon which the 1473 printing is partly based):

Sandra Rizzardi, Il commento "Portilia" ai Trionfi di F. Petrarca (edizione critica), thesis at the Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2004.

Text downloadable from the link which says "View/Open" at the bottom of this page:
http://dspace.unive.it/handle/10579/319

Re: Franco Pratesi, new publications (since 2023)

94
I can't find Bianchi online either. However, the PhD dissertation you found has some useful comments in the introduction. My translation follows these png files. Comments in brackets are my translations of the Latin (a language I don't really know!). Poggio isn't mentioned, and instead two other suggestions, both of whom seem credible, especially the first, and who do have some connection to Filelfo, for whom, at least the name, has some basis in the text. Here is the relevant section, pp. XXVIII-XXX of Rizzardi's introduction.
Image
Image
Image
Image
XXVIII
...
§ 5. The problem of the authorship of the commentary.
Finally, a few words on the problem of the authorship of the commentary, not yet resolved but close to a solution at least as regards the estensore (as S calls him) of the commentary, i.e. the second redactor and reviser of the archaic glosses. The attribution to Francesco Filelfo is found in manuscripts P and H, and can be deduced from the final couplets of the incunabulum S (and of the ms suo descriptus Co), a sort of farewell addressed to the reader, where however only the surname is mentioned ( ... perlege: Philelphi nam commentario... [...read through: Philelphus for the commentary...]), which could also make you think of his son Gian Mario Filelfo; all the other witnesses are adespoti [nameless], even the most authoritative among them, such as Ash, T, for the complete comment, and Pv for the partial one. This gives rise to the possibility that the certain attribution of manuscripts P and H originates in some way from the same misunderstanding that the couplets can generate (an antigraph with only the surname Filelfo?). Secondly, as we see in Concetta Bianca's study 25, several times

XXIX
Francesco Filelfo, questioned by friends about his alleged commentary on the Trionfi, flatly denied having ever written one. Ultimately, in the first part of the commentary there seems to be a serious error (as Allenspach 22 also observes), which Filelfo would never have made (and we are referring to the first part, because the crudeness of the second excludes a priori any Filelfian revision): see at comment to Tr. C. IV, vv 22-24, Ash 47r:
L'uno era Ovidio, l'altro era Catullo / L'altro Propertio che d'amor cantavo / fervidamente. L'altro era Tibullo. Ovidio fu da Sulmona. Catullo di Verona. Gli altri appresso furono greci. Tutti questi quano compuosero libri de amore come dice lo testo.

One was Ovid, another was Catullo / Another Propertio that sang of love / fervently. Another was Tibullo. Ovid was from Sulmona. Catullus of Verona. The others after were Greeks. All these four composed books of love as the text says.
In any case, the error seems to be reduced a bit if we compare this gloss with another very similar one, from which we understand how these "archaic" notations could only have been made by the first closatore: see, in the comment of Tr. F. III, v 90, Ash 265v:
Seneca fu il più morale uomo che avesse Grecia, overo Italia nel tempo suo, fu preceptore di Claudio Nerone, fu amicissimo dello apostolo Paulo.

Seneca was the most moral man in Greece, or Italy in his time, he was preceptor of Claudius Nero, he was a very close friend of the apostle Paul.
As regards the attribution to Giovan Mario Filelfo, there is only one certain piece of data, introduced by Dionisotti 23, which however still needs to be analyzed: around 1471 Giovan Mario compiled a list of his works composed up until then in a Latin elegy to Bartolomeo Girardino, where he recalls one of his Petrarchan comments "tightened by a more serious knot than his father's," probably meaning his comment on the Trionfi after that of Filelfo on the RVF: Francisci numeros nodo graviore Petrarcae adstrictos prosa sedulus explicui [Franciscus's numbers tied by Petrarch's heavier knot I elaborated in prose].

Dionisotti also has suggested, however indirectly, another candidate for the authorship of the commentary, where, describing the ms Forster Request 436 (formerly 48.D.28) of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, evidence of a commentary on the Canzoniere by Francesco Patrizi and an unknown partial commentary on the Trionfi (which stops at the Tr. Famae la), assigns this also with strong probability to Patrizi 25. Concetta Bianca foreshadows the possibility that this same commentary is that of the "pseudo-Filelfo," at the same time suggesting with Belloni to compare the London manuscript with Marciano R. IX 227 (=6888), which also contains a commentary on the Trionfi 26.

In addition to these elements, the significant diffusion of the pseudo-Filelfian commentary in Neapolitan (4 mss out of 15 are by a Neapolitan copyist, excluding the incunabulum and the descriptus of this) now directs the research in the direction of the Sienese Francesco Patrizi (born in 1413, pupil of Filelfo in Siena), bishop of Gaeta and humanist, protected by the Duke of Calabria, former commentator of the RVF (the fact that many manuscripts are written in Neapolitan does not mean that the original was in this language, it was enough that the Sienese Patrizi was surrounded by Neapolitan copyists; after all, T and P, which are Neapolitan, are almost copies of each other, but are less close to the original than Ash). Also remember the precision with which the Neapolitan area and the southern Pontine is described in some glosses
_____________
22 ALLENSPACH 1993, 293.
23 DIONISOTTI 87-88.
24 C. BIANCA 1990, 222; see the eulogy in L. AGOSTINELLI and G. BENADUCCI, Biografia e bibliografia di Giovan Mario Filelfo, Tolentino 1899, 31-34.
25 DIONISOTTI 92-93. See also N. MANN, 331-332, who refers to Dionisotti.
26 G. BELLONI, "Manoscritti veneziani e prime stampe venete," in Ateneo Veneto, n.s., XXI (1983), 42-43; C. BIANCA 1990, 223.

XXX
(at Tr . P., 163-168; cf. Ash, f. 64v), requires that the commentator has at least stayed in these southern areas.
My tentative conclusion is that the Tornabuoni were well enough connected with the literati of Florence that, he would not have bothered buying it, since it would quickly have been an object of ridicule. Carnicelli, in the article I cited previously, p. 58, says of the anonymous 1473 commentary that it "was so bad and so incomplete that it was never reprinted." Illicino's was an immediate success. He seems to have been living in Siena at the time: Treccani traces him there in 1474 as his last known residence. [Added later in day: The statement about Tibullus and Propertius being Greek is, or was originally, perhaps only to say that they wrote in a Greek elegaic manner. See dissertation p. 220. I do not know what to make of the statement about Seneca.]

Re: Franco Pratesi, new publications (since 2023)

95
This is a translation of "Firenze 1430: naibi ritrovati," at https://www.naibi.net/A/CHARLO.pdf, posted there Aug. 25, 2024. Comments in brackets are mine for clarification purposes after consulting with Franco. Numbers by themselves on the left margin are the page numbers of Franco's pdf. This short note, besides documenting the presence of naibi (as the earliest playing cards in Italy were called), also offers some insight about the scarcity of such records.

Florence 1430: Naibi found again

Franco Pratesi

1. Introduction

My research on the Magistracy of Minors prior to the Principality section has been characterized by a long reading of lists of inventories of household goods forming part of inheritances. Each manuscript is much thicker than average in size and there are always thousands of items listed. The effort required is evident. There was, however, a singular case in which even the search for the manuscript was laborious: No. 164, Sample of inventories and revised accounts for the quarters of Santo Spirito and Santa Croce: 1 Oct. 1429 - 20 Mar. 1430/1, 239 ff.

This member of the series was listed as unavailable for consultation because it was being restored. After checking for months to see if it had finally returned to the library, I decided to ask about it, suspecting some error in the digital cataloging systems. In fact, I was informed almost immediately that the manuscript was in fact back on site and would be available for a future request, as they had currently included it among the manuscripts available for online requests.

The story does not end here, because in the meantime the reservation system for access to the reading room had changed, and the new national system of requests was based on an inventory taken directly from the local one of some time before, which means that in the national system, No. 164 was still not available for reading in the room and therefore not bookable. Somehow, the archivist on duty in the reading room then managed to make the program understand that I was entitled to the consultation, and so the story of the search for the manuscript ended.

Once we had the long-awaited object in our hands, the real search inside it began, which ended with the identification of only one pack of naibi. Let's be clear, given the rarity of finds of this kind in the whole series of these manuscripts, one example would already have been no small thing. What makes this find special, however, is the fact that I had already encountered these same naibi as ”naibi tristi” [worn-out naibi] in a previous register, and I had reported them together with others for sale in San Giovanni Valdarno. [note 1]

The first inventory was from the year 1424; this one is from the year 1430, so we can check if something had changed in the meantime and benefit from a better reading of some names.

2. New data and comparison with that previously

Image

ASFi, Magistracy of Minors prior to the Principality, No. 164, f. 217r – detail
(Reproduction prohibited)
The attachment Charlo1b.png is no longer available

___________
1. https://www.naibi.net/A/NAIBBI.pdf

2
Report done by me, Carlo di Ser Tomaso Aldobrandi, Accountant of the Officials of the Minors of the quarters of Santo Spirito and Santa Croce, to whom this Inheritance of Carlo di [son of] Matteo dello [son of] Scielto and under their government and of the substance with the above written the twenty-first day of August 1430 and of the balance made by the custodian, that is, Giovanni di [son of] Matteo dello [son of] Scielto, from the twenty-first of June 1429 up to the twenty-first of August 1430, that is

The following are the remaining persons of said Inheritance:
Scielto di [son of] Carlo, age in years xii
Alessandro di [son of] Carlo age in years around xiii
Caterina di [daughter of] Carlo age in years xiii
They have in the present catasto [tax assessment] L vi s 1 d 5
There follow eight inventory pages of household goods, one and a half of real estate, and finally a list of debtors. Unlike the majority of cases, here the items (possibly grouped) have associated [with them] the corresponding value. The group of objects of interest to us, valued at ten soldi in total, is the following: iii Jars, ii Candle holders, ii Wooden salt cellars, 1 Wooden ink pot, ii Earthen bowls, 1 Pack [paio = pair] of naibi, 1 Iron ladle.

The main real estate assets were two farms with houses and other properties, one in Val Marina and one in Monte San Savino. In this case, it was clearly not a rich Florentine family of merchants with houses and land in the countryside: this was a family that based its income on agricultural work; like most of these country families, it did not yet have a surname. Among other things, this can provide us with a further useful detail to define the context for the use of naibi, the only item in the inventory of specific interest to us.

Image


ASFi, Magistracy of Minors prior to the Principality, N. 164, c. 220r - detail
(Reproduction prohibited)
3
It is useful to compare what was found in 1430 with the corresponding elements recorded six years prior: the following table shows the comparison of the entries in the two inventories.

Image
The first list includes 15 objects of ten different types; the second, 12 of seven types; the entire group is valued at 10 soldi in both cases. I do not believe that at the time we can speak of a devaluation of the lira capable of compensating for the decrease in the goods, while it seems plausible that the group of objects maintained more or less the same value even if missing three elements.

4. Comments and conclusion

An important consideration is that this is still a presumed value for objects put up for sale. This is significant because the value no longer depends directly on that of the new product: there may be objects that even after prolonged use maintain their value almost unchanged and are widely requested by the public, while there may be others that were originally very expensive but with a value reduced to almost zero even after limited use.

The previous consideration is particularly relevant for playing cards in general, and here in particular for naibi. What can be the value of a used pack of cards in general? They are not objects that can be used for several different purposes: they are only used for playing, but in order to be used, it is not necessary that the pack of cards was originally of superior quality; what is required is that all the cards in the deck are still present and that each one is still of sufficient quality, without obvious signs of wear, such as creases or worse, tears. Not even one card in the deck, if covered, should be easily recognizable from the others. Statistically, it took very little to reduce a deck of new cards to an object absolutely worthless, at least in the sense that no one would decide to buy it.

It also seems significant to me that we find these naibi, which had already been indicated as worn-out, in a group of objects put up for sale together. It seems probable to me that it is precisely thanks to this grouping that we find the news we were looking for about the naibi present in the house. I imagine that the battered naibi themselves would not even have been listed if they had not been bundled with other objects of little value, so as to constitute a saleable unit

I do not think that one can give importance to the fact that the naibi of the same deck were indicated as worn-out in 1424 and without specifications in 1430; obviously, their quality could not have improved in the meantime. It would have been easier to accept an indication in the opposite sense; but on reflection, any significant variation could not have been expected for objects kept in custody, except in the case of deletions from the list due to sales or other reasons.

A deck of cards with signs of use was not always an object to be thrown away; it could still be used in the family; at most, it could be a memento to be kept anyway, even without being usable for playing; that is, it could have an emotional value, perhaps as a memory of pleasant times gone by. All this did not change the estimate of its current value in relation to the money that could be obtained from


4
an upcoming sale, an estimate that could not take into account anything other than the price that someone would decide to pay to purchase it.

Beyond the specific case, I believe that the above can also serve as an explanation for the fact that both the naibi before and the playing cards after, the triumphs in particular, are only very rarely present in the inventories of the [inherited] household goods found in the houses of the heirs.

Florence, 08.25.2024