Hamilton 390 is a collection of moral-didactic texts, including the Exemplum (folio 27r- 48r). The Exemplum is a series of animal descriptions used to provide examples of moral teachings; many of the animals are from the Physiologus, the bestiaries and similar texts.

The Exemplum is illustrated with drawings that show the animal demonstrating one or more of its properties, often with labels identifying characters or features. Most of the drawings of animal examples include additional drawings, usually featuring human figures acting out a scene that illustrates the moral of the fable. Many of the chapters do not show animals at all, with the illustration having only the human scenes.

Hamilton 390, while not being part of the Tuscan Bestiary genre itself, is thought to be an early link in the origin of the Italian bestiary. The two have strong correspondences in several of the animal and fable chapters.

This manuscript is designated with the code Ham.

Additional Descriptions

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Editions and Facsimiles

Printed editions

Maria Luisa Meneghetti, Roberto Tagliani, Il manoscritto Saibante-Hamilton 390, Edizione critica

Adolf Tobler, Lateinische Beispielsammlung mit Bildern

Digital facsimiles

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin