lower inner angle of the last page of each quire by a letter (A-T) which
is repeated at the point directly facing it on the first page of the next
quire. Leaves four to seven of the first quire and all of quires three to
eight, a total of sixty-four leaves, have 28 lines to the page, the rest
27 lines. Ruled on one side only with a hard point. Leaf 10-1/2 × 7 in.,
text-page 7 × 3-3/4 in.

Written in regular Italian minuscules of the 15th century, formed on the
models of the 11th and 12th centuries.

The subject of the memoir is the distinguished Venetian Admiral Carlo
Zeno (1334-1418), brother of Nicolo and Antonio, reputed discoverers of
America. His biographer, Jacopo Zeno (1417-1481), Bishop of Feltre and
Belluno, and later of Padua, was his grandson. The work is dedicated to
Pius II. in honor of his recent elevation to the papal throne, and since
this is evidently the dedication copy, the accession of Enea Silvio
Piccolomini in August, 1458, fixes approximately the date of the MS. In
April, 1460, Jacopo Zeno was translated to the see of Padua.

The execution and the decoration of the MS. are in keeping with its
special use. The gratulatory preface occupying ten pages is introduced
by the following heading in letters of burnished gold:

IN LIBROS VITÆ MORVM RERVMQ: GESTARVM CAROLI ZENI VENETI. AD PIVM
SECVNDVM PONTIFICEM MAXIMVM. IACOBI FELTRENSIS ET BELLVNENSIS
ANTISTITIS PRAEFATIO: [G]LORIOSA.... The ornamentation of the ten-line
illuminated initial G is of the interlaced style, and a border of
similar pattern surrounds the entire page, enclosing on the front margin
vignettes--a vase, two rabbits and a stork--and at the foot the
Piccolomini arms, supported by kneeling angels and surmounted by the