Manuscripts and Early Printed Documents from the Palatine Library

Universally known as Parma Ildefonsus, the codex is a copy of the treatise "De Virginitate Sanctae Mariae" written by S. Ildefonso who lived in Spain in the seventh century.

Made in the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny between 1090 and 1100, the Parma codex was copied from a Spanish transcript probably addressed to Bernardo de Sauvetat, monk of Cluny and related to the reconquer of the Iberian Peninsula.

The illustrative system is of exceptional complexity: all 222 pages are decorated with frames in gold, silver and purple, that enclose both texts and magnificent full-page miniatures.

The facsimile was published in 499 numbered copies thanks to the the authorization granted by the Palatine Library of Parma.

This is the last of the three editions printed in Parma in the age of the incunabula. The volume, part of the Palatine Library precious collection, was acquired under the direction of Paolo Maria, as evidenced by his introduction in Latin, where he provides some information on previous editions, describes the characteristics of the work and the images accompanying the text.

The incunabulum, restored by the Praglia Restoration Department in 1962, today has a modern binding with the recovery that preserve part of the 18th century blanket in spotted brown Moroccan.