Palaeography, Humanism and Manuscript Illumination
in Renaissance Italy

A Conference in Memory of A. C. de la Mare
London, King’s College London and The Warburg Institute, 17–19 November 2011

Albinia de la Mare (1932–2001), OBE, FBA, received her doctorate from the Warburg Institute (1965), worked as an assistant librarian in the Bodleian Library (1964–1988) and was Professor of Palaeography at King’s College London (1989-1997). She was one of the twentieth century’s outstanding palaeographers and the world's leading authority on Italian Renaissance manuscripts. Among her greatest achievements was tracing the careers of hundreds of scribes writing the new humanist script in Italy during the fifteenth century. The purpose of this conference is to honour her contribution to research and to illustrate how the main areas of her scholarly interests – the palaeography, humanism and manuscript illumination of the Italian Renaissance – have developed in the ten years since her death.

The conference has received generous financial support from AMARC (The Association for Manuscripts and Archives in Research Collections), APICES (Association Paléographique Internationale: Culture, Écriture, Société) and The Bibliographical Society.

Programme

1. The Contribution of A. C. de la Mare
(Chair: Robert Black, University of Leeds )

Laura Nuvoloni, Cambridge University Library

Genius at Work: Bartolomeo Sanvito and Tilly de la Mare

Xavier Van Binnebeke, University of Messina and Bodleian Library, Oxford:

Albinia’s House of Treasures, a ‘Mare magnum manuscriptorum’

Vincenzo Fera, University of Messina:

L'umanesimo di Albinia C. de la Mare

2. Palaeography, I
(Chair: Nicolas Barker )

Mirella Ferrari, Catholic University, Milan:

Italian Manuscripts in the Burney Collection at the British Library

Stefano Zamponi, University of Florence:

Strutture grafiche gotiche nella prima scrittura umanistica

Irene Ceccherini, University of Florence:

Manuscripts in the Early Humanist Period: Production, Models, Script

Teresa De Robertis, University of Florence:

I primi dieci anni della riforma grafica umanistica

3. Palaeography, II
(Chair: Mirella Ferrari )

Giliola Barbero, Catholic University, Milan:

Manuscripts and Script in Lombardy during the First Half of the Fifteenth Century

David Chambers, Warburg Institute:

Matteo Contugi of Volterra (d. 1493): Scribe and Secret Agent

Gabriella Pomaro, Società Internazionale per lo Studio del Medioevo Latino:

Copisti stranieri in Italia nel Quattrocento in Codex - Inventario dei Manoscritti Medievali della Toscana

4. Manuscript Illumination
(Chair: Christopher de Hamel, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)

Jonathan Alexander, Institute of Fine Art, New York University:

Script and Ornament in Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts

Giordana Mariani Canova, University of Padua:

La dimensione universitaria della miniatura a Padova nel Rinascimento

Martin Davies, I Tatti Renaissance Library:

Further Adventures of the Master of the Barbo Missal

Angela Dillon Bussi, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana:

Vespasiano e la miniatura

5. Humanism, I
(Chair: Jill Kraye, Warburg Institute)

Stephen Oakley, Emmanuel College, Cambridge:

Tilly de la Mare and the Manuscripts of Saint Cyprian

Sebastiano Gentile, University of Cassino:

Nuove considerazioni sullo 'scrittoio' di Marsilio Ficino: tra paleografia e filologia

Lorenz Böninger, The Letters of Lorenzo de' Medici:

The Ricordanze of Lorenzo di Francesco Guidetti: Manuscript Production and Circulation

6. Humanism, II
(Chair: Cristina Dondi, Oxford University and CERL )

Silvia Rizzo, University of Rome 'La Sapienza':

Il copista del nuovo codice petrarchesco delle Tusculanae: filologia vs paleografia

James Hankins, Harvard University:

Leonardo Bruni: Humanistic Manuscripts

Concetta Bianca, University of Florence:

Biblioteche senza inventario