Interesting facts from the manuscript collections of the BUWr – springtime is ahead of us, let’s take care of our health and wellness
Libellus de conservation sanitates by the humanist Benedict Reguardatus of Nursia (1398-1469), also known as Mała księga o zachowaniu zdrowia (The Little Book on Health Preservation), is a manuscript guide to a healthy lifestyle kept in the collections of the University Library in Wrocław under the signature III Q 19.
The work was created in Italy between 1435 and 1438, and the Wrocław copy dates back to 1468, made in Milan at the request of Cicco Simonetta (1410-1480) for the King of France Louis XI. Therefore, it is adorned with the coats of arms of the French monarch with lilies. The manuscript is characterised by elegant humanistic script. The treatise does not contain illustrations, but the illuminated initial depicting the author at the lecturn with a book, surrounded by a golden glow. This exquisite initial constitute the skill of the illuminator known as “il maestro d´Ippolita” and the liking of the European elite of the 15th century. Additionally, since Benedict Reduardatus, as a physician of the Sforza, lived at the court in Milan, just like the illuminator, we may have here the only portrait of this humanist painted by someone who knew him.
For more, we invite you to the Digital Library of the University of Wrocław: Miniatures:: RKP III Q 19 29809 (uni.wroc.pl)
Translated by Karolina Łodyga (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
