The Laurentian Codex and the Art of Silk in Florence

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work in two volumes which is precious and unique in its kind: the facsimile of a famous, antique illustrated codex, and the anastatic edition, put into type for the first time in Florence in 1868 by Barbčra, of another fifteenth century treatise on a parallel subject.

Indeed, ever since the Middle Ages, the silk craft had given renown to Florence among merchants all over the world then known. This caused a proliferation, particularly during the fifteenth century, of treatises, written in polished and lively style, often embellished with magnificent illustrations, shedding light on every aspect of this fascinating artistic practice.

The edition in facsimile of the codex, which is preserved in Florence’s Laurentian Library, contains exquisitely accurate reproductions of the 59 pages of a richly decorated manuscript dated February 1489. The volume was once the property of Emperor Francis III, who donated it to the prestigious Florentine Library in 1755. The water colour illustrations provide charming vignettes of each phase of silk manufacture, following the text step by step. This ends with an interesting book of accounts with marginal sketches showing merchants and bookkeepers.

The small volume of 1868 on the other hand is the reproduction of another fifteenth century Florentine treatise on the subject of silk craft that was published and annotated by the learned Girolamo Gargiolli who, on sending it to press in about 1868, endowed it with a documentary appendix, a glossary and a useful index of special words and expressions.

A box (size 235 x 325 mm, (also available with a silk binding)) contains the facsimile of the Laurentian Codex Plut. 89. sup.cod 117 (year 1489), of 122 pages, and the anastatic reprint of the 1868 edition of L’arte della seta, from the Riccardi codex 2580 (fifteenth century), of X - 344 pages.

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