Among the most remarkable works are fourteen nineteenth-century tablets in a
Polynesian language (MS Ricc. 4125); written on both sides of tree bark, they report magic/religious formulas. Also, particularly noteworthy are three scrolls (in Greek, Arabic, and Hebrew, respectively, now MSS Ricc. I-III). MS. Ricc 1071 contains one of the earliest books of
Tuscan cuisine; it was dedicated to a “pleasure-seeking fraternity” known as
I Dodici Ghiottoni (
The Twelve Gluttons). Other
manuscripts contain texts handwritten by
Petrarch,
Boccaccio and by some of the greatest Renaissance
humanists (such as
Pico della Mirandola,
Leon Battista Alberti,
Marsilio Ficino, and
Agnolo Poliziano) or by famous artists like
Piero della Francesca and
Bartolomeo Ammannati. No less impressive is the collection of theatrical texts, which features charming stage sketches, including some that were specially made for the Grand Duke
Ferdinand III (MS Ricc. 2444), script notes for actors, comedy plots and other such extremely rare materials that help us shed light on staging techniques, theater production, and a number of related matters. The
Dante section of the Biblioteca Riccardiana is also conspicuous, including such manuscripts as Ricc. 1005 (also known as “Riccardiano
Braidense”), that is, a Bolognese copy of the
Divine Comedy – decorated with miniatures – consisting of the first two books, i.e.,
Hell and
Purgatory (
Paradise is preserved at the
Biblioteca Braidense in
Milan instead) with Jacopo della Lana's commentary; MS Ricc. 1035 (for which see the brief description below) and MS Ricc. 1040, a fifteenth-century exemplar whose first page features a famous portrait of
Dante, showing those physical traits that tradition has always ascribed to him. In addition to
manuscripts, the Riccardi also collected precious incunables, such as
Manuel Chrysoloras’
Erotemata (maybe the first book ever to be printed in Greek), and famous editions, including
Savonarola's
Bible (Ed. Rare 640) filled with notes written in his own hand.
Manuscripts •
Archimedes’ Treatises (Ricc. 106): This
manuscript gathers several treatises by
Archimedes. The over 200 marginal drawings illustrating them (including sketches of various kinds of spirals) are in
Piero della Francesca's hand, thus attesting to this famous artist's attention to classical authors. •
The “Atlantic Bible” (Ricc. 221): This handwritten copy of the Scriptures from the first decade of the 12th century is also known as “Atlantic Bible” because of its extraordinary size (908 x 415 mm). It belongs to the class of the so-called Roman and Umbro-Roman
"giant Bibles", the best-known among them being those of Saint Cecilia, the
Pantheon, Todi, and the
Biblioteca Angelica. • '''''Frederick II's
Psalter''''' (Ricc. 323): Dating from ca. 1235–1237, this copy was commissioned by
Emperor Frederick II for his third wife. Its illuminations, in typical southern Italian style, are characterized by precise outlines in Byzantine fashion coupled with shiny colors and an abundance of gold in the decoration. •
The Sant Margaret and Saint Agnese Legends (Ricc. 453): Produced in
Bologna in the late 13th century by a bookshop specialized in the making of precious codices, this small yet extremely refined exemplar must have been commissioned by members of the highest rank. • The
Virgilio Riccardiano (Ricc. 492): It is the most famous manuscript of the Biblioteca Riccardiana, whose book collection it entered no later than 1706. Transcribed by “Nicolaus Riccius Spinosus” – one of the best-known copyists of fifteenth-century
Florence – and illuminated by
Apollonio di Giovanni and members of his workshop, it contains
Virgil's major poems (i.e., that is, the
Bucolics, the
Georgics, and the
Aeneid). More precisely, the lower margins of the
manuscript are decorated with 88 miniatures (19 of which are incomplete) illustrating the texts. ''. •
Dante's
Divine Comedy in
Giovanni Boccaccio's hand (Ricc. 1035): Dating from the 1360s, this copy of
Dante's main poem is transcribed by
Boccaccio, who also decorated it with seven drawings – in the lower margins of the folios – depicting scenes from Hell. •
Dante's
Rhymes (Ricc. 1040): Written between 1440 and 1450, the first folio of this codex (f. Iv) features a famous portrait of
Dante, showing the facial features that
Boccaccio ascribed to him, maybe basing himself on a funerary mask of the poet. •
Cookbook or Recipes for Making Good Dishes (Ricc. 1071): Dating from the first quarter of the 14th century, it is regarded as the oldest Italian
cookbook. It now contains 57 recipes; yet, originally, it must have had at least 72. •
Giuliano de’ Medici's
Abacus or Mathematical Treatise (Ricc. 2669): This precious
manuscript was commissioned by
Lorenzo “The Magnificent” for his son
Giuliano, the future Duke of Nemours. As a
Liber Abaci (
Book of Calculation) this text gives fundamental information to learn about commerce. Yet, in addition to being a schoolbook that teaches the basics on a specific subject, this text conveys a subtler message, as it praises the house of
Medici through coats-of-arms and sketches alluding to scenes from Florentine daily life that have to do with the main local trades. As such, the illuminations decorating this
manuscript provide precious information on the techniques and utensils that were used in
Florence in the second half of the 15th century. • Francesco Ghisolfo's
Nautical Atlases (Ricc. 3615–3616): These richly decorated masterpieces of nautical
cartography, reporting the two atlases produced by Genoese cartographer Francesco Ghisolfo, belonged to the
Medici family. They probably date from the first half of the 16th century. MS Ricc. 3616 was originally made for the Martellis but it was eventually donated to
Francesco I de’ Medici (son of
Cosimo I) with an accompanying dedication and a laudatory sonnet. MS Ricc. 3615, instead, bears on the cover a coat of arms under a cardinal's hat; it may refer either to
Ferdinando de’ Medici (who was elected cardinal in 1563) or Giovanni de’ Medici. Ghisolfo probably drew inspiration for his atlases from the more than seventy nautical maps that Battista Agnese's workshop produced in
Venice from 1536 to 1564.'s sketchbook (bust of
Cosimo I de’ Medici wearing a classicizing armor). • Handwritten copy of
Machiavelli's
The Prince (Ricc. 2603): Transcribed by Biagio Buonaccorsi (d. 1521), this
manuscript is one of earliest handwritten copies of Machiavelli famous treatise before the 1532
editio princeps. •
Architecture treatise or
Bartolomeo Ammannati's drawing notebook (Ed. rare 120): Put together in the course of the 19th century without following any precise chronological order, these 114 folios are covered with drawings, sketches, and notes in
Ammannati's own hand that address subjects as diverse as math, geometry, architecture, studies on fortresses, and measurement systems. All of them were meant as projects for the
Medici family, some of which were eventually realized. Among
Ammannati's various studies collected in this volume is one for a bust of Grand Duke
Cosimo I (c.45r) wearing a classicize.
Printed books •
Life of Francesco Sforza (Ed. rare 428): A magnificent copy of this biography, dedicated to the emperor, displaying a richly decorated frontispiece. •
Bible with
Girolamo Savonarola's notes (Ed. rare 640): Preserved in the monastery of Santa Lucia at Camporeggi until the second half of the 18th century, this small text (decorated with blue and red initials for each section) bears many small glosses by
Savonarola. In view of the sermons that he would give, the famous Dominican preacher used to cover with tiny notes the margins of his own liturgical books and copies of the
Bible. •
Dante's
Divine Comedy (Ed. rare 691): It is the first Florentine edition of
Dante's main poem with
Cristoforo Landino's commentary and 21 woodcuts based on
Sandro Botticelli's drawings. Most likely,
Botticelli is also the author of a drawing (a winged female figure holding an armillary sphere, probably to be identified with Urania) in a refined small copy of the
Fiore di virtù (Ricc. 1711, f. 1v) illuminated by Antonio di Niccolò. == Directors ==