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Ptolemaeus, Claudius , Cosmographia Claudii Ptolomaei Alexandrini [...] manu Domini Nicolai Germani, Presbyteri secularis d |
| The work of ancient Greek culture 'Geografice hyfegesis ...' by Claudius Ptolemy, an astronomer and geographer of Alexandria was written around 160 A.C. It influences the knowledge of the world and the self-awareness of Europeans for nearly 1500 years. The text in the presented BOZ codex (Zamoyski Library) is the fourth edited version of Geography authored by a monk Donnus Nicolaus Germanus with the later added title Cosmographia Claudii Ptolemaei. It contains, in the first volume the text of the work dedicated to pope Paul II and in the second volume 27 maps prepared on the basis of information contained in the work by Ptolemy and three "new" maps drawn according to the state of knowlegde from the beginning of the 15th century. One may find in it very significant information about Europe and the whole ancient world from the times before the discovery of America. It is the only preserved copy of the fourth edited version, which is why it is of immense interest to historians. It has not been published thus far, only pre-war facsimiles of two maps quotes in several publications are known. The whole codex is very richly decorated and gilt-edged. Both maps and their descriptions are within frames featuring floral motifs, at the beginning of each description are gilt initials in the bianchi ghirari style. The presented map of the world, stretching from Western Ocean to China and from the sources of Nile to Greenland is at the same time image of the Earth in the boundless outer space. It is surrounded by personifications of 12 winds, the luminous oval in gold, pinkish and blue symbolizes the elements which make up the Universe: earth, air, fire and water. The other hemisphere was not presented. The record is available in: The European Library The full book can be seen at: http://www.polona.pl/dlibra/doccontent2?id=61 |
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Chopin, Frédéric , Preludes Op. 28 (autograph) |
| An autograph for an edition of the cycle of 24 preludes for grand piano from 1831-1839, completed at the Majorca, having the most interesting provenance of the 21 Chopin manuscripts held by the National Library. The copy, featuring the characteristic traits of style of the composer’s hand, the delicacy and the same time the confidence of his hand-writing, contains also notes for the publisher and the engraver and the dedication reading: "a son ami J. C. Kessler". The first publisher of the cycle according to the manuscript was Adolph Catelin based in Paris (June 1839), which is confirmed by the marks of the publishing company added at the bottom of the first page. The autograph, originally a set of hand-ruled leaves of a rough copy, featuring page numbering by F.Chopin was made into one volume around 1943 and artistically bound in embossed leather by Bonawentura Lenart. |
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Rastrelli, Bartolomeo Francesco , Design of the façade of the palace in Mitawa |
| Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (1700-1771), a Russian architect of Italian descent, son of a sculptor B.C. Rastrelli (1675-1744). After the studies in Italy (1725-1730) a court architect of the empresses Anne and Elisabeth. A leading figure of Russian baroque. A turning point in Rastrelli’s career was his design for the duke of Kurland, count John Ernest Biron (1690-1772) of a unique palace and garden in Ruental and Mitawa. Undoubtedly the most interesting of the six drawings concerning the palace in Mitawa is the variant of the general plan of 1753 and the view of the façade from the side of the river produced towards the end of the 1730s. Rastrelli’s buildings in Kurland belong to an early period of the artist’s work. They were the first to reveal his artistic ideas and composition and town planning concepts which the artist developed in his later, already mature works. Rastrelli’s designs are distinct through their high scale and the inexhaustible richness of rhythms of compositions made up of solids and plastic forms. The main means of expression is the immense order enriching the plastic features of the walls and enhancing their dynamism. Rastrelli often said that he followed the example of contemporary Italian architecture. However, while comparing his buildings with the works of Italian or German baroque, we observe the uniqueness of his concepts. |
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Simoneta, Joannes , Commentarii rerum gestarum Francisci Sfortiae |
| "La Sforziada" is a historical-panygyrical work about the founder of the ducal dynasty of Milan, Francisco Sforza (1401-1475). In the 15th century the Milan-based publishing house of Antonio Zarotto pressed three editions of this text in the years 1482, 1486 and 1490. Only few copies of the 1490 impression were printed on vellum for the members of the ducal family. They were, each on an individual basis, decorated by illuminations by Giovanni Pietro Birago, an outstanding miniaturist who worked for the Milan court. Each miniature, in spite of the common scheme, constitutes an integral, selfstanding work featuring symbolics full of court-related and political hints, enabling identification of the ducal addresses of the four copies known to exist. The copy of duke Lodovico il Moro is held at the British Library. The copy of duke Gian Galeazza Sforza, father of Queen Bona, is held at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. A heavily damaged copy from the court library of the Sforza family of Pavia has been recently found at the Ufizzi Gallery in Florence. At the National Library in Warsaw is held a volume, which until recently was assigned to the descendants of duke Gian Galeazzo and Isabelle of Aragon and which could belong only to Queen Bona. The most recent research has indicated an addresse among the descendants of duke Gian Galeazzo Sanseverino, the son-in-law of Lodovico il Moro. Only this copy is signed by the author of miniatures, Giovanni Pietro Birago. It comes from the collections of the Zamoyski Library, earlier it was probably the property of king Sigismund Augustus and after his death, of chancellor Jan Zamoyski. F.7., illuminated : in the base of the right margin is a vase, in its border-strip is the sign : P[re]SB[yte]R IO[annes] PETR[us] BIRAGUS FE[cit]”. In the initial space of the text is the portrait of Francesco Sforza. |
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Unknown , Sakramentarz tyniecki Sacramentarium (The Tyniec Sacramentarium) |
| The Sacramentarium is the oldest part of the holy mass i.e. prayers said during the mass by the priest (Collect, Preface, Secret, Canon, post Communion Prayer). The 'Tyniec Sacramentarium' was written in ca. 1060-1070 in the Cologne diocese. It is one of the few surviving codices in Poland, brought to Poland and offered to the abbey at Tyniec. Magnificently decorated, it is one of the most precious artefacts of the Ottonian painting school comparable with the Freiburg Sacramentarium and the Abdinghof Book of Gospels. It contains 38 pages written in gold and silver letters on purple-tinted parchment, two figurative miniatures, and two full-page plaited initials, an interesting liturgical calendar, and the oldest musical notation in Poland in chironomic form. The sumptuous form Sacramentarium indicates that the codex belonged to the so-called royal manuscripts, which not only performed a liturgical function, but also reflected the monarchy’s splendour. One of the oldest manuscripts known to exist in Poland, it was used until at least the 13th century. It was stolen during the Swedish invasion in the 17th century. Repurchased in Cracow, it returned to Tyniec, probably without the original binding. The brown leather binding in which this tome has survived was made in the 17th century at the Tyniec abbey. On the front and back part of the cover is an oval ex libris tooled in gold, along with the crest of the abbey and the inscription: “DIVI TUTELLARES COENOBI TYNECENSIS”. In 1814 it was bought by Stanislaw Kostka Zamoyski and included in the Library the Zamoyski Estate Library. During the World War II the Nazis tried to take the manuscript to Berlin, but thanks to the endeavours of librarians, scholars and diplomats, they left it in the Zamoyski Library. After the Warsaw Uprising the manuscript was secretly evacuated and hidden in a collegiate church in Lowicz, where it survived until the end of the War. In 1946 it found its way to the National Library together with all the deposits of the Library of the Zamoyski Estate. |
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