Translations of Historical Documents

Sforza Letters of 1462 and 1466

These two critically important Sforza letters of 1462 and 1466 were initially published with the English translations by Vincent Ilardi, "Eyeglasses and Concave Lenses in Fifteenth-Century Florence and Milan: New Documents," Renaissance Quarterly, XXIX (1976/3), pp. 341-66. The following translations have been slightly revised by the author.

	Letter dated October 21, 1462 sent by Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan to his resident ambassador in Florence, Nicodemo Tranchedini da Pontremoli.
	Three months after the death of Francesco Sforza, his son and successor, Galeazzo Maria, wrote on June 13, 1466, to the same ambassador requesting two hundred pairs of eyeglasses.

Minguet broadsheet of 1763

Pablo Minguet é Irol, (born about 1700 Madrid, Spain, died after 1775) Spanish writer, philosopher, engraver and publisher, who published a series of popular manuals on subjects ranging from religion to magic tricks. His writings urged an appreciation of the Fine Arts by the broader public. The famous Cologne-based Minguet Quartet is named after him. This specific broadsheet from the year 1763 was published in Madrid in a magazine (pamphlet) consisting of approximately 20 pages.

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