Details

Subjects:

Descartes, René, 1596-1650.
Gassendi, Pierre, 1592-1655.
Aristotle -- Criticism and interpretation -- Early works to 1800.
Aristotle. Physics -- Early works to 1800.
Aristotle.
Physics -- Early works to 1800.
Physics.
Physical sciences -- Early works to 1800.
Physical sciences.
Criticism and interpretation.

Form/Genre:

Codices.
Commentaries.
Treatises.
Manuscripts, Latin.
Manuscripts, European.

Language:

Latin, with some Greek words (for example, f. 9r, 151r, 161r).

Summary:

Scientific work of natural philosophy, first treating general topics like first, second, and final causality, then moving on to specific investigations, such as heaviness and lightness, magnetism, heavenly bodies, and the rainbow. Russo frequently criticizes Aristotle and his scholastic followers, preferring René Descartes and Pierre Gassendi. He chides Christian philosophers for rejecting the scientific reasonings of Epicurus (f. 200r), whose atomic theory he accepts. The more scientific sections of this book include frequent diagrams. According to the author, the text was composed at age 17, when he was taught by D. Iosephus Bonicorus (f. 96r). The author recognizes that bodies of different mass fall at the same rate, a 17th-century concept, and mentions the telescope, which was not invented until 1608 nor named until 1611. Moreover, his principal guides, Descartes and Gassendi, both published in the first half of the 17th century. A table of contents follows the work.

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title from title page (f. 2r).
Collation: Paper, 288; 1²( -1) 2¹⁴ 3-5¹² 6¹⁴( -3) 7¹⁶( -16) 8¹⁴( -13, 14) 9¹⁶( -6,7) 10⁸ 11-19¹² 20¹⁰ 21¹² 22⁸ 23-25¹² 26²( -2); [ii], 1-2, 4-78, [79-284], [iv], contemporary foliation in ink, upper right recto, with the same number often written on the upper left verso; [1-288], modern foliation in pencil, lower right recto. References in this record are to modern foliation.
Layout: Written in approximately 20 long lines, with catchwords at the bottom of almost every recto and verso.
Script: Written in a cursive script.
Watermark: Unidentifiable mark depicting three circles arranged vertically, each containing a different variation on the fleur de lis, with a crown on top.
Decoration: Numerous detailed mathematical and scientific diagrams (for example, f. 159v, 275r); elaborate pen flourishes on title pages, forming the shapes of birds (f. 97r, 198r) and floral or leafy designs (f. 2r, 3r, 4r, 52r); red coloring in a picture of a candle flame (f. 258r).
Binding: Contemporary vellum (Zacour-Hirsch).
Origin: Written in Italy during the 17th century (Zacour-Hirsch), after 1611.

Cited in:

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800, Supplement B. Library Chronicle 45 (1981), p. 9 (Ms. Latin 273).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1167

Contributor:

Bonicorus, D. Iosephus.

OCLC:

227037215