St. Antoninus Florentinus, Confessionale defecerunt scrutantes scrutino, in Latin, manuscript on vellum

84 leaves, 170mm. by 120mm., a few leaves missing from end, else complete, collation: i^{8, ii-viii10, ix6, horizontal catchwords, written space 102mm. by 75mm., double column, 36 lines in dark brown ink in a humanistic hand, rubrics, paragraph marks and numerous 2-line initials in red (those on fols. 1r and 24v also with penwork tracery in margin), one 6-line initial in red with simple line-drawn organic infill and elaborate penwork tracery into margins terminating in leaves, some staining to edges of occasional leaves and an ownership inscription erased from head of fol. 1r, else in good condition with few later additions and clean and wide margins, sixteenth-century binding of dark leather over wooden boards (reusing strips of a fourteenth-century text, perhaps canon law, as spine supports), tooled with chevrons enclosing a rustic knot-work design (perhaps later), traces of clasps, front board loose and spine now exposed and leather on back board slightly shrunk along spine}

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

text

Antoninus was born in Florence in 1389, and is reported to have been inclined to prayer and piety from early childhood, taking pleasure only in reading the lives of saints or conversing with pious persons. In his teenage years he felt inspired to join the Dominican order, but was forbidden from doing so by his father who insisted on the study of canon law instead, adding that he could take the habit when he had learnt the entirety of Gratian's Decretum by heart.  Antoninus set himself to the task, and at the age of sixteen he answered his examination on the whole of Gratian and promptly presented himself to the prior of Fiesoli. He subsequently held office over the great convent of the Minerva in Rome, and was prior at Naples, Cajeta, Cortona, Siena, Fiesoli, and Florence, as well as actively preaching throughout Italy and acting as an advisor to Pope Eugenius IV at the Council of Florence in 1439. On the death of the archbishop of Florence the election of a successor was referred to Eugenius IV, who is reported to have asked Antoninus' associate Fra Angelico (at the time working on a painting project in the Vatican), who suggested Antoninus. He was appointed while engaged in a visitation of his monasteries, but was extremely reluctant to accept an office that would keep him from his chosen life as a Dominican preacher, initially attempting to flee into hiding in Sardinia, and then petitioning the pope to be released of this burden. With his pleas to the pope falling on deaf ears, he turned to his influential Florentine friends for aid, including Cosmo de' Medici who wrote two letters to the pope: an official one endorsing Antoninus' plea to drop the nomination, and another secretly congratulating the pope on his choice. After being threatened with excommunication Antoninus took possession of his archbishopric in March 1446, but continued to act in accordance with his earlier life, shunning riches and fine robes, dividing his income between himself, the Church and the poor of the city, having the archiepiscopal flower gardens replanted with wheat for the poor, and refusing to own a horse or carriage, travelling everywhere instead on a rented donkey.  He died on the 2 May 1459 at the age of seventy, and was buried in the church of San Marco. Plans for his canonisation were immediately put into effect, and he was finally pronounced a saint in 1523.

The present text is that of his Confessionale defecerunt scrutantes scrutino, a popular work prepared for practical use by confessors, and it should be noted that as he did not die until 1459 the present manuscript may very well have been written during the life of the author; certainly this would explain why the incipit names him frater and archiepiscopus but not beatus or sanctus. The hand and decoration of this manuscript bears a striking resemblance to one recently acquired by the Bridwell Library (their MS 68, the same text) and detailed comparison of the two might provide evidence for a workshop, perhaps in Florence, 'publishing' the text within the life of the saint.