THE DESCRIPTION OF THE WORLD, FORMER OWNERS OF Z The first owner of the book who seems to be known was Joseph Antenor SCALABRINI, 1694 - 8 April 1777, born at Ferrara and from 1743 a Canon and
Professor there, and a noted antiquary and a friend of MURATORI. His name
appears in Greek initials and in Latin at the foot of the title page (pl. 31). From him it seems to have passed to Cardinal Francesco Xaverio de ZELADA, 27 August 1717 - 19 December 1801, who, coming from a Spanish family, though born at Rome, was amongst the most prominent men of letters of his time in Italy, and had been "Librarian of the holy Church" (1778-1801) and Secretary of State to Pio VI (1789 - 1796). Part of Cardinal de ZELADA'S great library, which he is said to have bequeathed to the Casa di Gesti at Rome, was obtained by Cardinal Francisco III Antonio LORENZANA, 22 September 1728 - 17 April 1804, and conveyed by him to the already famous Cathedral Library at Toledo, of which city he had been the distinguished Archbishop from 1772 till 1800.1
It is worth while to recall, as BENEDETTO has done, that this interesting manuscript was described by BALDELLI-BONI, and it is astonishing that the inquiries which have now fortunately resulted in the rediscovery and printing of it were not made fifty years ago. The description referred to is as follows : cartaceo in 8. del Secolo XV. Contiene it Milione in latino. ` `Marci Pauli, de diversis hominum generibus, et diversitatibus regionum mundanarum . Comincia it pr. ologo : ` 'Domini, Imperatores Reges, Duces, Marchiones, Comites, Milites et Burgenses, et omnes qui vultis cognoscere diversa hominum genera, et diversarum regionum mundanarum diversitate, accipite hunc librum.'' Confrontando detto frammento colla traduzione di Fra Pipino, si ravisa essere questa di diverso autore . . . (Il Milione, 1827, tom. I. p. cxxxv). BALDELLI-BONI says in the same place that this with other books was bequeathed to the Toledo library by Cardinal de ZELADA himself.'
To the transcript made in 1795 and now kept in the Ambrosian Library at Milan (Y. 16o. p. sup.) the following note is prefixed :
1 See Antonio BOTTONI Cinque Secoli d'Universita å Ferrara, 1892, p. 197; G. MORONI Dizionario del Erudii one &c., vol. io3; TIPALDO Biografia Ital. Illustr., II., p. 224; Biografia Univers., LXV., p. 122; and notes kindly supplied to Sir Percival DAVID by Don Agustin GUISASOLA. ZELADA'S will in the Archiv. Comm. dei Filippini gives no books except some to the Collegio Romano. See also the Frontispiece of vol. II below.
2 Apparently good evidence is given by José FORADADA y CASTAN (Revista de Archivos &c., VII. 4, 25 Feb. 1877, "Resena Hist6rica de la Bibl. del Cabildo ... de Toledo", pp. 66, 67) that the collection of 154o manuscript and printed books was sent to Toledo by LORENZANA as a gift from ZELADA himself more than two years before the latter's death.
cf. also V. LAZARI Marco Polo, 1847, p. xxxiv : Una terza versione latina si conserva manoscritta a Toledo, nella Biblioteca di quella Cattedrale ; ma é opera del secolo XV.
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