note (history)
The scribe's name, Franc. Wydon, and the place and date of copying are given in the dedication on f. 1. The full page illustrations in the calendar for the months of February, April, May, June and November have been cut out, with consequent loss of text.
provenance
Written in Rome, 1549, by F. Wydon for Claude d'Urfé (1501-58), ambassador of the King of France to the Holy See; his arms appear on f. 1v, ensigned with the collar of the order of St. Michael; see Rietstap, vol. 6, pl. 69. For a history of the d'Urfé library and a list of the surviving books (including HM 1102), see A. Vernet, "Les Manuscrits de Claude d'Urfé (1501-1558) au Château de la Bastie," Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: Comptes-Rendus (1976) 81-97. The d'Urfé library was bought in 1777 by the Duc de La Vallière; his sale, Paris, 1784, vol. 1, n. 317 (catalogue, dated 1783, compiled by Guillaume De Bure; entry for this manuscript carefully copied out on f. i verso) to De Bure; Duquesroy, Paris, 7 March 1803, n. 28. Belonged to Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow (1731-1806); his sale, Christie's, 1804, n. 298 to Hume (apparently a nom de guerre to disguise that of J. White of Fleet Street, the bookseller from whom Lord Thurlow had acquired his books originally); see Dibdin, Bibliomania (1842) 448-50, for an account of the sale; John White Catalogue 20 (January 1806) n. 466; acquired by Jeremiah Harman, and sold by Evans, 20 May 1844, n. 1154. The manuscript was in the collection of Prof. Manuel John Johnson (1805-59) of the Oxford Observatory, when it was seen and described by G. F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain (London 1854) 3:116-18; Johnson sale, Sotheby's, 27 May 1862, lot 37 to the dealer Toovey. It appears as property of Stephen Ram in the catalogue of the London bookseller Phillips, 17 December 1862, n. 92; P. Deschamps; Baron S. de la Roche Lacarelle, whose red morocco ex libris is on the front pastedown; his sale, Paris, 1888, n. 21 to Morgand. Belonged to the Count R. de Lignerolles; his sale, Paris, Porquet, 1894, vol. 1, n. 14 to the Marquis d'Albon; the entry from this catalogue is printed by Dorez, op. cit., 49-50; Dorez makes reference to the "Album" of plates for the Lignerolles sale, including one of this manuscript (not available to us). Belonged to Robert Hoe: Bierstadt (1895) p. 34 , with a plate of f. 35; Cat. (1909) pp. 118-20 ; his sale, Anderson, New York, 1912, pt. III, n. 2078, with a plate of f. 56v, to G. D. Smith. Source and date of acquisition by Henry E. Huntington unknown.
