Why Miscellanies Matter. The Dal Verme Codex and the Practices of Writing in the Chancery of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan (1395-1402)

Abstract

The paper will examine a manuscript prepared during the signoria of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, between 1395 and 1402: the Dal Verme codex, a miscellany that contains a variety of short historical texts with abundant corrections, insertions, and marginal notes, produced by the Chancery of the Duke to celebrate the Visconti dynasty. Through a detailed analysis of the apparatus of marginal notes and the layers of different writings, it is possible to prove that the Dal Verme codex was a preparatory dossier structured on several levels, showing clearly distinct stages of preparation and various layers of interventions. It was a “construction kit” for the historical memory, and its palaeographic and codicological analysis shows how historical memory could be shaped, manipulated, and fabricated in order to justify ideological purposes and legitimate the Visconti dynasty and its policy. Through examining this extraordinary source, it is possible to focus on three relevant topics: the practices of writing history in the Chancery of a Renaissance state, the role of intellectuals and government officials at the service of the signoria, and the practice of study and edition of miscellanies of historical texts today.