Gregorio Dati (1362-1436)

Sferamundi: in Italian ottava rima. Written in a rounded gothic hand, 32 lines to a page. Initial A on the first leaf in red and yellow, some headings in red. Illustrated with 8 astronomical figures in water-colour. A foliation has been supplied in pencil. Fol. 1 AL padre al filio: et ad spirito sancto/Per ogni secul sia gloria: et honore./ 18 Doue si nauicca e finisse qui/L asia magiore [sic] el fiume tanai.//Finis.//(Within an outlined scroll in red) Questa sie opera del fa. ri. na.

Farina has not been identified, but is presumably the name of the scribe. For a note on the contents of this poem, cf. entry for MS.230.

The Authorship of the work is disputed. The 1859 B.M. Catalogue assigns it to Leonardo Dati, and not to Gregorio [1362-1436] and this attribution was originally used in this catalogue record (though it also confused Leonardo di Stagio Dati with Leonardo de Piero Dati). However, the work is attributed to Leonardo's brother Gregorio in the G.K.W. and in Klebs and modern scholarship agrees the evidence is strongly in favour of crediting Gregorio with authorship. It was first printed at Florence in 1472, and there were a number of other 15th cent. editions.

The La Sfera Project is the home of numerous scholarly efforts concerning the work, including a list of all known manuscript versions.