Most of the page is taken up with the following notes:
Anno Duigesimo quito supaza | milisimu ad nonu. Calendes | Iulais Solerti opera petri | iacobi pbzi Incole pagi sancti | Printed Nicola
The last line is in pencil, and refers to Matthew Pilkington’s
Gentleman’s and Connoisseur’s Dictionary of Painters, from which Turner took notes, probably from the revised 1798 edition, on folios 5 verso (
D07364), 6 recto (
D07365), and 27 verso (
D07397).
Maurice Davies has identified the source of the main inscription as the sixth, unnumbered page from the end of Viator (Jean Pélerin),
De Artificiali Perspectiva, Toul 1505.
1 Turner is attempting to transcribe part of the Latin colophon, set in a heavy Gothic font: ‘Impressum Tulli. Anno catholice veritas Duig¿tisimo quito supza Milesimu: Ad nonu Calendes Julias, solerti opera petri iacobi pbzi/Incole pagi Sancti Nicolai.’
2 Davies has observed that Turner had difficulty identifying his source, as in Turner’s words the copy he consulted at the British Museum (since transferred to the British Library, London) ‘has no title page’.
3 He attempted to translate the colophon on folio 27 recto (
D07396), where he also copied a diagram from the book. There are further notes from the same source on folios 26 verso (
D07395) and 44 recto (
D07429).
