MANUSCRIPT DICTIONARY.

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Spanish-Italian manuscript dictionary. A rare example of Renaissance popular lexicographical production, comprising two sequences of an alphabetical Spanish-Italian wordlist. Compiled by an early Italian owner for his own use, the book is in a charming tall and narrow wallet-style binding, no doubt intended for carrying in a pocket.The vocabulary starts on leaf 6 and continues until the end, encompassing two different wordlists separated by a few blanks (ff. 35r-39r). The words are sorted alphabetically by the first two or three letters and arranged in two double columns per page (in all four columns, as each Spanish word has its Italian counterpart or a short definition to the right). The numerous changes of ink colour suggest the words were added progressively across a period of time. The choice of words does not denote a particular purpose or technical slant, the wordlist being a collection of useful everyday terms. They encompass subjects such as food, body parts, members of the family, all sorts of objects, and useful verbs.The first Spanish-Italian bilingual vocabulary, Vocabulario de las dos lenguas Toscana y Castellana, appeared in print in 1570, edited by Cristóbal de Las Casas. Before then, merchants, bankers or administrators compiled their own personalized manuscript wordlists in notebooks such as this.The first five leaves of the manuscript feature a series of unrelated texts, including: - f. 1r: a record of two payments dated ?1510 (date only partially legible)-

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