The Trivulziano Codex 642 is a paper volume written in the early 1500s possibly in Milan for personal reading. Following a series of humanistic writings without an original title (added at a later date in another hand), one reads Dante’s Monarchy, a work condemned by the church and therefore copied with prudence, for reasons of study. Upon reading it is evident that the scribe commissioned with copying the text was instructed to pay particular attention to textual accuracy. During the transcription he omitted the words that were most difficult to read, and went over the entire work again making corrections and integrating the missing parts, possibly referring to another copy. Thanks to the accuracy of this work and the quality of the copy used, this codex is one of the best examples of the Monarchy and was a crucial source for the reconstruction of the author’s original texts.
 

Leaf through the manuscript