Elaborate edition (Florence, 1827), by
arguments that have been illustrated and corroborated by learned men
since, that it was French.
That the work was originally written in some Italian dialect was a
natural presumption, and slight contemporary evidence can be alleged in
its favour; for Fra Pipino, in the Latin version of the work, executed
whilst Marco still lived, describes his task as a translation de
vulgari. And in one MS. copy of the same Friar Pipino's Chronicle,
existing in the library at Modena, he refers to the said version as made
"ex vulgari idiomate Lombardico." But though it may seem improbable that
at so early a date a Latin version should have been made at second hand, I
believe this to have been the case, and that some internal evidence also
is traceable that Pipino translated not from the original but from an
Italian version of the original.
The oldest MS. (it is supposed) in any Italian dialect is one in the
Magliabecchian Library at Florence, which is known in Italy as L'Ottima,
on account of the purity of its Tuscan, and as Della Crusca from its
being one of the authorities cited by that body in their Vocabulary.[2]
It bears on its face the following note in Italian:
