The Yates Thompson MS 36 of Dante's Divine Comedy

One of the very greatest of the illuminated manuscripts of Dante's Divina Commedia is Yates Thompson MS 36, preserved in the British Library. In 1993 John Pope-Hennessy proposed a date for the manuscript of between 1444 and 1450, partly depending on the representations of the dome and cupola of Florence Cathedral, which was under construction during these years. This manuscript, which originated in Tuscany, has a very interesting provenance:

"Alfonso V, king of Aragon, Naples and Sicily (reigned 1416 to 1458): his arms (f. 1r). Ferdinand (Fernando de Aragón), Duke of Calabria (b. 1488, d. 1550): his donation to the convent of San Miguel, Valencia in 1538. The monastery of San Miguel de los Reyes, Valencia, 1613: inscribed 'Ex commissione dominorum Inquisitorum Valentie vidi et expurgavi secundum expurgatorium novum Madriti 1612. et subscripsi die. 14. Septembris 1613. ego frater Antonius Oller' (f. 190v). Bought by Henry Yates Thompson from Señor Luis Mayans, Madrid, May 1901. Henry Yates Thompson (b. 1838, d. 1928), collector of illuminated manuscripts and newspaper proprietor: with his book-plate inscribed '[MS] CV / £blee.e.e [i.e. £1900.0.0] / [bought from] Harris / Madrid / May 29 / 1901' (inside upper cover). Bequeathed to the British Museum in 1941 by Mrs Yates Thompson."

In March 2014 a digital facsimile of Yates Thompson MS 36 was available from the British Library at this link.