Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 24394
[Part 1]
General information
| Folios | 288 |
| Folio notes: | Folio. 107v at the end of the 'Estoire' has been left blank. Incomplete at the end. |
| Language | Language object (44) |
| Approx. date | c. 1275 to 1285 |
| Date notes | Date suggested by the Lancelot-Graal project. Arthurian Fiction has 1280-1290. Jonas gives c. 1285. |
| Place(s) of production | Saint-OmerStones 2013, 69. The Lancelot-Graal project gives 'Saint-Omer or Thérouanne'. Arthurian Fiction suggests Thérouanne or Cambrai. |
| First words of second recto folio | [f. 2ra] et les nous de tous ke apaines osaisse / |
| First words of last recto folio | [f. 287ra] ?.? ap(ar)eillies de faire . vous me uireres fait / |
| Incipit | [f. 1ra] CHil ki se tient et juge au plus petit / et au plus pecheor de tous mande / salus el comencheme(n)t de ceste estoire et a / tous ceaus <-ceaus> ki leur cuers ont et leur / creanche en la sainte trinite . ce est el pere / ce est el fil . che est el saint esperit . el pere / |
| Explicit | [f. 287vb] [...] car te ?..? / auoit pouce auroine g(ra)nt pooir de gent / amene q(ui)l li tolirent sacite de benoyc e?.? / toute sa t(er)re si q(ui)l ne li remest ne castel n?.? / cite fors seuleui(n)t le castel de trebes ?...? / roine helayneestoit et ba?n...?celait fo?.? / |
Material
| Material: | Material object (4) |
| Watermark: | |
| Condition: | Fair quality vellum, some irregularies (e.g. ff. 34, 59, 63, 150, 225) and holes (e.g. ff. 75, 132, 134, 236, 257) in the writing space. Generally in good condition. The first and last folios are heavily worn which may suggest that the quires were kept without proper binding for some time. |
Structure
| Collation: | 1-368 |
| Quire structure: | The MS is made up of regular quaternions. Quire(s) missing at the end. The quire marks are later (15th c.) additions, indicating that the manuscript was probably rebound at this time. |
| Quire marks: | MSQuiremarkDisposition object (39) |
| Catchwords: | |
| Catchword disposition: | MSCatchwordDisposition object (10) |
Physical description
| No. of illustrations: | 71 |
| General illustration: | The text opens with a single-column miniature (height: 10 lines) in a broad frame of scarlet and blue bars with white flourisings. Red quadrangles at the corners. The frame is traced in black ink. The image portrays Christ (standing on the right) handing the book of the Grail to the hermit (seated at the right). The characters are tall and slender, wearing long dress, the folds of which are suggested in black ink. The hair is curled, their complexion pale. The main colours are scarlet and blue. The gilt background has peeled off leaving a dark grey layer of gesso. The first folio is further decorated with a full-border composed of blue and scarlet baguettes decorated with goldleaf, supporting hybrid characters and a dragon. The 'Merlin' opens in a similar fashion. The miniature shows Christ confronting a group of demons. IThe margins support dragons, two men fighting with daggers and a man pointing an arrow at another man at the top of the page. The text is further illustrated with similar single-column miniatures, without marginal decorations. Some of these miniatures have some simple elements of decor (trees, e.g. f. 11ra) or architecture (e.g. f. 33rb). On f. 60vb a miniature has been added in stead of a decorated initial ('C'). |
| General decoration: | Major subdivisions are marked by large, decorated initials (height: 4 to 6 lines) in goldleaf on fields of scarlet and/or blue. The eye of the letters if painted scarlet or blue and decorated with white flourishings. The text is further structured by similar decorated initials of smaller size (height: 2 lines) |
| Evidence of readership: | Maniculae and no(t)a on ff. 90r, 96r, 97v. |
| Foliations description: | Modern foliation in arabic numerals (black ink) in the upper right corner of the recto. Folionumber 186 occurs twice. |
Mise en page
| Description 1 | |
| Page sampled | f. 23r |
| Layout | MSLayout object (3) |
| Page dimensions | 318x220 (mm) |
| Justification | 250x171 (mm) |
| Columns | 27mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Lines | 40Line ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Rubrication | No tituli in red ink. |
| Writing above top line? | False |
| Sample page layout: | |
Hand(s)
| Level of Execution: | Execution object (4) |
| Script | Script object (4) |
| Folio range | From f. 1ra to f. 288vb |
| Date | c. 1275 to 1300 |
| Scribe description: | Slightly fractured Northern textualis with two-compartment 'a' the upper compartment of which is closed, ascenders of 'b', 'h', 'l' and 'k' are clubbed or forked, 'e' with tongue, 'i'-longae used in initial position, the limb of 'h' descends remarkably far below the baseline and curves to the left, straight 's' in final position, little or no use of 'v'. Fusion of 'o' and round 'r', of 'd' and 'e'. Abbreviations include nasal mark, also used for (q)ue, apostrophe, 'p' with crossed descender, superscript vowels, 'com-' and '-us' abbreviation, 'et' is written in full. No indication of word-separation. Punctuation is limited to punctus. |
| Notes | f. 57v: in the lower margin lamb(er)t. This does not seem to be a correction, neither is it a catchword. Name of the scribe? |