Regiomontanus: Canones LXIII
This work by the most famous astronomer of the era, Regiomontanus, is a collection of problems that astronomers may face during their daily work (including the conversion between two coordinate systems and the rise and set of planets).
The manuscript perfectly illustrates the first steps of book manufacturing in Buda around 1480. It is a volume previously copied in line with the medieval traditions and decorated in Gothic style that was then given a Renaissance look to fit in the royal collection of a Renaissance-Humanist monarch. The metamorphose is represented by the title-page designed entirely in the Renaissance spirit – ten years later than the publication of the main text.
The binding was probably made by the – probably Italian – master whom research gave the working name “Egidus”. He had been in the service of Johannes Vitez, and around 1480, could work for the royal court. That may indicate that at that time the famous bookbinder of the Corvinas has not yet arrived at Buda. The crown on the lion’s head in the fourth quarter of the coat of arms was probably erased. (Edina Zsupán)
Source: The Corvina Library and the Buda Worskhop: [National Széchényi Library, November 6, 2018 –February 9, 2019] A Guide to the Exhibition; introduction and summary tables: Edina Zsupán; object descriptions: Edina Zsupán, Ferenc Földesi; English translation: Ágnes Latorre, Budapest: NSZL, 2018, p 38
DATA SHEETShelfmark: Cod. Lat. 412.
Keeper location: National Széchényi Library
Author: Johannes Regiomontanus
Content: Canones LXIII in tabulam primi mobilis
Writing medium: parchment
Number of sheets: 102 fol.
Sheet size: 285 × 203 mm
Place of writing: Main text: Hungary (Buda?, Esztergom?); Prolog addressed to King Matthias: Buda
Date of writing: Main text: ca. 1470; Prolog addressed to King Matthias: ca. 1480?
Scriptor: Probably a Hungarian scriptor who had worked in the vicinity of Iohannes Vitéz and Regiomontanus. He was the scriptor of another Regiomontanus manuscript (Venice, shelfmark) as well.
Illuminator: f. 1r: Francesco Rosselli; f. 3r Central European Gothic ornamentation
Place of illumination: f. 1r: Buda; f.3r Buda?
Date of illumination: f. 1r: ca. 1480; f. 3r: ca. 1480? Ca. 1470?
Crest: Composition of King Matthias' gold and silver coins; Francesco Rosselli, Buda, ca. 1480
Possessor, provenience: King Matthias Hunyadi; Imperial Court Library, Vienna; in line with the Venice Agreement (signed on November 27, 1932), it was returned to National Széchényi Library.
Binding: original, blind-tooled leather binding (Egidus group); ca. 1480
Language of corvina: Latin
Condition: Restored; NSZL, Ildikó Kozocsa, 1981-82
Hungarian translation(s) of work(s) included in the corvina: None