Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 753

[Part 1]

General information

Folios	405
Language	Language object (3)
Approx. date	c. 1460
Date notes	based on the watermark.
Place(s) of production	{unspecified} The watermarks may suggest a location in the East of France (Belfort) or West of Germany (Marburg)
First words of second recto folio	[f. 2r] fors de la cite de ?h?oorges
First words of last recto folio	[f. 405r] pour ce quil ne vouloit
Incipit	[f. 1r] EN LA MAR / che de gaule . et de / la petite bretai(n)gne / auoit deux Rois a(n)cie(n)ne / me(n)t quj estoient fre(re)s / germains . et auoient / a fe(m)mes deux serors / germai(n)nes . lung / des deux Rois auoit / no(m) le Roy ban de be / nuic . et lautre Roy / auoit no(m) boort de / gaunes . le Roy ban estoit viez ho(m)me . et sa fe(m)me / estoit juesne . et belle trop a m(er)ueilles [...]
Explicit	[f. 405r] [...] Sy se taist ly conte / et de luy (et) destors que plus ne(n) porolle a / ceste fois . Ains retorne a galehault et a / son compaigno(n) qui molt menoie(n)t belle vie / se ilz eussent auec eulx les choses que ilz / plus amoient //

Material

Material:	Material object (1)
Watermark:	Ox head with eyes and nose, above a vertical line with star (X) at the top (between chainline 2 and 3, height, c. 77mmm, width c. 22 mm). Very similar to Briquet n. 14.183. Filigranes, vol. 4, 721 mentions two occurences: Belfort, 1458 and Marbourg, 1459.
Condition:	Good conditions. Wormholes in the final flyleaves. F. 277 and 291 torn.

Structure

Collation:	111 2-1626 1716
Quire structure:	The first quire comprising the 7 flyleaves at the front and the first four folios of text consists of 11 folios. Possibly one folio was lost at the front. The following quires (2-16) are exceptionally voluminous, with thirteen bifolia each. The final quire consists of sixteen folios, eight folios of text and eight final flyleaves.
Quire marks:	MSQuiremarkDisposition object (27)
Catchwords:
Catchword disposition:	MSCatchwordDisposition object (13)

Physical description

General illustration:	Two folios (f. 144v and f. 282v-283r) have been left blank. Noted on f. 144 v. 'deux chlr en painture'.
General decoration:	The manuscript opens with an exceptionally large puzzle initial (height: 12 lines) in red and black, decorated with pen-flourishings in brown and red ink. The folio is decorated with an L-frame ornamented with ivy and thorns in red ink. Further subdivisions are made by means of puzzle-initials (red and black, height 8 to 12 lines), decorated with foliated patterns in black ink. Generally, these initials have been painted on a yellow field. Sometimes they are accompanied by a decorative list framing the text. Paragraphs are indicated by means of plain initials (height: 2 lines) in red ink. The first words of chapters and paragraphs are written in display script. Line-fillers (strokes and dots) in red ink. Characteristic is the mask-decoration accompanying initials, litterae notabiliores and litterae elongatae (e.g. f. 296, f. 321 v., f. 381, f. 391).
Evidence of readership:	f. 78r: nota (just before the paragraph ' Pour ce seugneurs vous monstre je . que vous vouldrois faire' in the chapter 'Or dist ly contes que a leure que le roy claudas ot pris les deux leuriez en lieu des deux enfans' f. 234v: cross (before chapter: 'Mout ffirent darmes cel / luy jours les gens de roy artus et les galahout. mais celluy aux armes vermeulles vainquit tout.) f. 235v: cross (before 'et le roy reprant sa parolle et dit beaul maistre conseilles moy pour dieu car trop en ay grant mestier' in the same chapter) final flyleaf v.: annotation 'Ancien(ne) cheualerie' (18th c?)'
Foliations description:	Modern foliation in black ink in the upper right-hand corner of the recto.

Mise en page

Description 1
Page sampled	5r
Layout	None
Page dimensions	282x210 (mm)
Justification	210x150 (mm)
Columns	1 namm between columns
Lines	29
Rubrication	Used for decoration, initials and line-fillers.
Writing above top line?	False
Sample page layout:

Hand(s)

Level of Execution:	Execution object (4)
Script	Script object (7)
Folio range	From f. 1r to f. 405r
Date	1400 to 1500
Scribe description:	Cursiva bastarda leaning towards the currens level. Use of capital 'R' in initial position. Abbreviations include nasal bar, tironian note, 'p' with bar through descender.
Notes