Maxims, Songs & Poems: Miscellaneous Notes in Renaissance Books

Although printed in Naples in 1476, we can be sure that this Bible arrived in England only a few years later on account of the presence in it of decorated initials (with dentate pen-flourishing) in a style typical of English artists at that time. That this copy was in the possession of English owners is evident in a heavily inked-out but still visible inscription of the name of a Norfolk family, ‘popye’, to be seen here in the right hand leaf on display. A further note at the end of the book reveals that the copy was once owned by Dorothy Cowper, widow of William Cowper Esquire who owned land in Lincolnshire and south Buckinghamshire. She later married the Cambridge lawyer George Freville who not only became owner of the lands her first husband bequeathed to her, but also of this Bible as asserted by him in this note.

Title: Biblia Latina (Naples, 1476)
Shelfmark: C.4.11 (catalogue record)

C.4.11