Boston Public Library returns 14th-century manuscript to Italy

In the US, the Boston Public Library has returned a manuscript written in the 14th century to Italy, reports the Boston Globe.

Two other items were also repatriated to Italy: a book that was part of a collection of a 16th-century Sicilian cardinal, and an ‘ornately adorned page’ from a similar manuscript, worth a total of US$110,000 (A$147,200) for the three items.

The manuscript was found during an electronic cataloging project in the library’s medieval holdings. It was found with its pages out of order, missing its original wood-and-leather cover, and with chapter numbers scraped away, which indicated someone ‘had taken pains to obscure the provenance of the manuscript’.

The library acquired the manuscript in the 1960s.

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