Script is in a single 17th-century hand, possibly that of a French scribe, suggested by pen scribblings in French in Chapter 263. Many of the spaces for illustrations have been left blank; in most cases, the location of these spaces conforms with the illustration spaces in the Du Fresne edition of 1651. Eighteen of the spaces contain very informal drawings and scribblings in pen and pencil which have no relation to Leonardo's Trattato. They were added later by artists at the end of the 17th century, which, as Steinitz indicates, suggests that perhaps the present copy "was in use in an artist's workshop in the high baroque period, close to the schools of Bernini and Borromini." These drawings include sketches of figures, as well as ornaments and architectural decoration in pencil, some of them redrawn or partially redrawn in pen and ink. Fabriano paper, with watermark of a saint carrying a cross, similar to Briquet 7628. Binding is old [17th- or 18th-century?] tree-calf paper over paper boards; brown leather spine and corners; gilt spine title "Manoscritto." Pencilled notes on front and back pastedowns indicate former ownership of Sir Thomas Phillipps, and Los Angeles bookdealers Zeitlin & VerBrugge, respectively, the latter dated March 9, 1946. Provenance: From the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps; "Phillipps MS 21154" above text on recto of first leaf.Manuscript copy of selected chapters from Leonardo's Trattato della pittura, probably from the first printed edition in Italian of 1651, edited by Raphael Du Fresne. Text of the manuscript begins and ends as the first edition of 1651, with 365 chapters, captions, and numbers. The unique element of this copy is the addition of three sections which do not appear in any of the other handwritten copies or in the printed editions. For a complete transcription of these three added chapters of Belt MS 34, see Steinitz, Appendix 7, page 232.
