Pietro Ippolito da Luni (Latin: Petrus Hippolytus Lunensis) was the royal scribe (librarius regius) of the Kingdom of Naples from 1472 to 1492.[1] He was a native of the Lunigiana.[2]
In 1473, Ippolito copied manuscripts 692 and 408 of the of the University of Valencia. Both were illuminated by Cola Rapicano and ended up in the library of Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria.[3] In 1491–1493, in collaboration with the illuminator, Ippolito copied Harley 3481 and Harley 3482 of the British Library and Est. lat. 469 of the Biblioteca Estense for King Ferdinand I.[4]
Besides his work for the royal court, Ippolito copied manuscripts for several members of the Carafa family. He copied the manuscript Reg. lat. 812 for Count Diomede Carafa; Vat. lat. 7230 for the count's son, Giovan Tommaso Carafa; Vat. lat. 3551 for Cardinal Oliviero Carafa; and Vat. lat. 3297 for the cardinal's nephew, Bernardino Carafa. All these manuscripts are now in the Vatican Library.[5]
In addition to a copyist, Ippolito was a scholar and translator. He sometimes engaged in sophisticated textual criticism. According to his notice, he edited the text of Marsilio Ficino's translations of Plato in Harley 3481.[4] A similar note appears in Reg. lat. 1792.[6]
Between about 1491 and 1492, Ippolito created an anthology of philosophical sayings drawn from works he had copied, translating them from Latin into Tuscan. Entitled Auree Sententie e Proverbi Platonici, this anthology is founded in Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale, XII E 32, where it is illustrated by Felice. It may be a presentation copy for an unknown patron.[4] The manuscript XII E 31 contains a lapidarium translated by Ippolito for the courtier Aloysio Corellio.[2]