Description of University of Pennsylvania Ms. Codex 2330: Register book / University of Pennsylvania 2026-07-22 2026-07-22 These images and the content of Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Ms. Codex 2330: Register book / are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/. Metadata is ©2026 University of Pennsylvania Libraries and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License version 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. For a description of the terms of use see the Creative Commons Deed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Ms. codex. Title from upper cover. 3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6206 University of Pennsylvania Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Ms. Codex 2330 9979448506203681 http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1537978191 Collection of 16 fragments from the register of Mei, notary public of Montepulciano, probably recovered from a binding, sewn to stubs and bound into an oblong volume in the mid-19th century with some interleaves and blank stubs. The fragments are from September through November 1345, not bound in chronological order. The events and transactions recorded include weddings (p. 9, 12) and land sales (p. 32). Some text is crossed out, and the fragments are stained and worm-damaged, with one small piece of detached text laid in. Late-nineteenth- or early-twentieth-century owners added four partial transcriptions tipped or laid in next to the transcribed text (p. 9, 12, 29, 32); a drawing of the unidentified watermark of the 14th-century paper (front flyleaf 3); and some additional notes of names and dates on the stubs. A slip with the date 12/1/57 is laid in inside the back cover. Latin Register book / Mei former owner Brent, Cecil, 1828?-1902? bookseller Downing, William, 1844-1910 former owner Ashby, Thomas, 1874-1931 former owner Clough, Cecil H

paper

 16 leaves : 150 x 210 mm bound to 165 x 250 mm + [1-32], modern pagination in pencil, upper inner corners (on stubs); no collation, as each fragment is sewn to a 19th-century stub. Written in Gothic cursive script by public notary Mei (p. 2, 29?, 32).

Mid-19th-century cloth-backed boards (Quaritch); title in ink on upper cover and in pencil on second front flyleaf, Register book of Mei / notary public of the village of / Montepulsano in Campania.

Written in Montepulciano, Italy (p. 12, 15, 32) in 1345 (p. 11, 14, 15, 17, 24, 26, 29, 32).

1345 Montepulciano Formerly owned by Cecil Brent (British archaeologist and collector, fellow of the Society of Antiquaries; ownership stamp inside front cover and verso of front flyleaf 2). Sold by the Chaucer's Head Library in account with William Downing, bookseller, Birmingham, 2 March 1909 (invoice laid inside front cover), to Thomas Ashby (British archaeologist, fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and director of the British School at Rome, 1902-1925; bookplate inside front cover, motto In unitate robur, shelfmark G8C in pencil). Formerly owned by Cecil H. Clough (1930-2017, reader in Medieval History, University of Liverpool (Dominic Winter)). Offered for sale at auction at Dominic Winter Auctioneers (South Cerney, England), 4 March 2020, lot 216. Sold by Bernard Quaritch Ltd. (London), 2024. Real property--Italy--14th century Montepulciano (Italy)--Early works to 1800 codices (bound manuscripts) notarial documents Manuscripts, Latin--14th century Manuscripts, Medieval Manuscripts, Renaissance