Stamp. Ross. 2103

The Psalterium Graeco Latinum was printed by Bonaccorso Pisano in 1481. A printer and publisher of ancient Greek and Latin works, Pisano was one of the first to promote the use of Greek typographic characters, particularly in the city of Milan, which would become a flourishing centre for Greek printing. In the 15th century, Milan’s printing industry produced around 1000 editions, mostly of works by classical and religious authors. This figure is most striking because of the small number of printers actually working in Milan, who nevertheless produced a large number of works for a broad market. This psalter is the only edition in Greek characters produced by Pisano’s workshop. The bilingual text (Greek with a parallel Latin translation) was edited by Giovanni Crastone, an intellectual known for his extraordinary knowledge of Greek and a major proponent of the study of Greek culture. The volume opens with a letter dedicated by Crastone to the bishop of Bergamo, Ludovico Donati. The text follows, printed in two columns of 29 lines, with the first column in Greek and the second in Latin. The final printed page contains the colophon in Latin.

 

Psalterium Romanum [Greco e Latino]. Impressum Mediolani : [Bonus Accursius], die 20 septembris 1481. [182] c. ; 4°

BAVI P-508+; ISTC ip1035000; GW M36246

Copia BAV Stamp.Ross.2103: La copia appartiene al fondo Rossiano, fondo entrato in Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana nel 1922, come testimonia anche la tipica legatura della collezione. E’ una rilegatura  in piena pelle con impressioni a secco e dorate e sul risguardo anteriore è presente lo stemma della famiglia De Rossi-Borbone. Le iniziali della prima pagina del salterio sono decorate a penna in blu e rosso. Su tutto il volume, nel margine inferiore sono presenti note manoscritte in ebraico, mentre a lato sono presenti annotazioni al testo.