L’arte del navegare (The Art of Seafaring)

L’arte del navegare (The Art of Seafaring)

This manuscript is the sole surviving copy of the anonymous L’arte del navegare, a wide-ranging original treatise in four parts on navigation and the operation of seagoing vessels. The author dedicates the work to the Senate of the Venetian Republic and to the Doge of Venice, Cristoforo Moro (r. 1462–71), for whom this manuscript was a presentation copy. The unknown author benefited from an excellent humanist education, as the preface includes references to a diverse array of authorities, such as famous Greek philosophers, as well as Arab and medieval thinkers. Book I presents an account of the whole habitable world known to the author, at the dawn of the age of exploration. Book II deals with ship designs and the role of various officers on board. Book III discusses meteorology and astronomy as they relate to navigation. Book IV is dedicated to cartography, acting as a verbal portolan chart.

1464–65

Manuscript on parchment and paper, 84 fols.

University of Pennsylvania, Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection, LJS 473

Venice?, Italy