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Second, third and fourth book of the Courtier, by Baldassare Castiglione in Latin...

Catalogue reference: HMS/4/17

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This record is a file about the Second, third and fourth book of the Courtier, by Baldassare Castiglione in Latin... dating from 1605.

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Full description and record details

Reference
HMS/4/17
Title
Second, third and fourth book of the Courtier, by Baldassare Castiglione in Latin (Hardwick MS 76)
Date
1605
Description

This manuscript copy is a continuation of The Book of the Courtier by Baldassare. The text is a Latin translation of the second, third and fourth books. The second book is written in the same very neat hand as the first book in HMS/4/15 and the second book in HMS/4/16. The third and fourth books are in several different hands, some of which match the hands in the English version of this manuscript (HMS/4/16). There has been some suggestion it may have been William Cavendish who wrote this manuscript (later the 2nd Earl of Devonshire), but there is no evidence of this from the manuscript itself apart from corrections to the text throughout and uneven line-spacing which might not occur in a scribal copy. The fact that the hands match those writing the Latin manuscript (HMS/4/17) and that the end date of both manuscripts is a day apart suggest the manuscripts were probably produced by the same person. There is also a reference in HMS/1/15 to Mr William Cavendish being paid £5 by his father for finishing his Latin and English translations of the Courtier, as pointed out by Timothy Raylor.
At the end of the manuscript is written: "Finis quator librorum Aulici being the 4th day of October in the third year of the reign of our Sovreign Lord King James 1605 - Clauditie iam rivce pueri sat prata biberunt."

Related material

HMS/4/15, HMS/4/16 and this item were clearly a set.

Held by
Devonshire Collection Archives, Chatsworth
Former department reference
HM/76
Language
Latin
Physical description
1 volume; 140 folios (240pp)
Dimensions
212(w) x 312(h) x 23(d) mm
Physical condition
Brown calf leather-bound book with the initials WC stamped in gold on the front and back covers.
Administrative / biographical background

The Italian author, courtier, and diplomat Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) is known primarily for his "Book of the Courtier." This work, which portrays the ideal courtier, was a chief vehicle in spreading Italian humanism into England and France.

Source: 'Baldassare Castiglione', Your Dictionary.com, https://biography.yourdictionary.com/baldassare-castiglione [accessed 8 Jun 2021].

Record URL
https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/4e7269de-46ac-46d6-acf5-2d4fd98ede46/

Series information

HMS/4

Manuscripts

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Within the fonds: HMS

Hardwick Manuscripts

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Within the series: HMS/4

Manuscripts

You are currently looking at the file: HMS/4/17

Second, third and fourth book of the Courtier, by Baldassare Castiglione in Latin (Hardwick MS 76)