Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 368
[Part 1]
General information
| Folios | 281 |
| Language | Language object (3) |
| Approx. date | ?1300 to 1350 |
| Date notes | Harf-Lancner 2011, 211 'First half of the fourteenth century'. The script with two-compartment 'a' sometimes with open upper compartmen, sometimes with closed (sometimes single-compartment?) and straight 's'and round 's' in final position would suggest a date towards the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century. . |
| Place(s) of production | NormandyBusby 2002, 263 suggests that the connection with the Normans and the family of Tancrède de Hauteville may point towards an early owner or patron. |
| First words of second recto folio | [f. 2ra] D e g(ra)nt bien faite ert costum(ier)s |
| First words of last recto folio | [f. 280ra] A u point le b(ie)n mort labat ousablon |
| Incipit | [f. 1ra] A deu ren graces (et) merciz / De q(uan)q(ue) fai nen faiz ne(n) diz / De masante de marichece / |
| Explicit | [280rc] C hasc(un) de v(ous) donrai m(o)lt bo(n) loier / (Et) cil respo(n)t naiez soig(n) de plaid(er) / C heuauchez sire t(ro)p poez atarg(er) / |
Material
| Material: | Material object (4) |
| Watermark: | na |
| Condition: | Good to medium quality vellum. Some holes (e.g. f. 52; f. 272), many stitches (f. 3, f. 19, f. 28, f. 36, f. 42, f. 43, f. 45, f. 46, f. 47, f. 56, f. 60v, f. 91, f. 94, f. 100, f. 109, etc.) and a few irregularities in the parchment (e.g. f. 152 in the lower margin). Worn, especially the first folios, with part of the text effaced or faded (e.g. f. 96v at the end of a quire; f. 97v, f. 98r., f. 99r; f. 108r; f. 110v.; f. 143r). Stains f. 1 to f. 3 have effaced text in the outer column. Quires lost after f. 40, f. 88, f. 160; f. 274. Folios (entire quire?) lost after f. 120 and in the final two quires. Two bifolia lost between f. 162 and 163. f. 278 is mutilated |
Structure
| Collation: | 1-208 214 22-308 316 32-358 362 374 |
| Quire structure: | 1: 1-8, 2: 9-16, 3: 17-24, 4: 25-32, 5: 33-40, 6: 41-48, 7: 49-56, 8: 57-64, 9: 65-72, 10: 73-80, 11:81-88, 12: 89-96, 13: 97-104, 14: 105-112, 15: 113-120, 16: 121-128, 17: 129-136, 18: 137-144, 19: 145-152, 20: 153-160, 21: 161-164, 22: 165-172, 23: 173-180, 24: 181-188, 25: 189-196; 26: 197-204, 27: 205-212, 28: 213-221, 29: 222-229, 30: 230-236, 31: 237-242, 32: 243-250, 33: 251-258, 34: 259-266, 35: 267-274, 36: 275-276, 37:277-280 Lacuna after f. 40? 1 quire? Lacuna after f. 88: 1 quire Lacuna after f. 120 ('Mort Alixandre', IV, 26 verse 14) indicated: 2 folios (600 verses, originally also a vengeance text, entire quire missing?) Two bifolia lost between f. 162 and 163. |
| Quire marks: | MSQuiremarkDisposition object (21) |
| Catchwords: | |
| Catchword disposition: | MSCatchwordDisposition object (10) |
Physical description
| General description: | Fuerre de Gadres f. 51vc One quire is missing at the end of the 'Roman d'Alexandre' (f. 88). The text ends after the fourth verse of III, 399. f. 116rc ' E X P L I CI T' (in the Voeux du Paon?') f. 119rc Mort Alixandre' f. 189 to f. 196: change in mise en page (particularly justification) |
| General illustration: | none |
| General decoration: | Each text starts with a pen-decorated puzzle initial (height: 5 lines, f. 1ra, f. 40ra, f. 89ra, f. 119rc; f. 120ra; f. 140ra; f. 173ra; f. 183va; f. 189vc; f. 218rc; f. 231bisc; f. 259rb) The text is further subdivided by means of plain initials (height: 2 lines), alternating between red and blue, some with flourishings in red (blue initials, stops after f. 40r; starts again in the 'Voeux du Paon', f. 89r; stops at f. 105; starts f. 121 'Chanson des Saisnes', stops f. 237r) or purple (red initials, although this stops rather quickly after f. 9r; starts again in the 'Voeux du Paon', f. 89r; stops at f. 105; starts f. 121 'Chanson des Saisnes'; stops f. 181). The 'Roman d'Alexandre' also has a rubricated incipit 'Ci (com)me(n)ce li romans de alixandre' (f. 41ra) and 'Ci (com)mence les enfances vivienz (etc.)' 9f. 175), 'C i (com)mence la ch(euale)rie v(i)v(ien) (etc.)'; f. 189vc 'C i co(m)mence la bataille darleschans / Et la grant destructions; f. 218rc 'C i (com)nence la batalie de lo(qui)f(er) et de v(i)v(ien) et / coment v(i)v(ien) le conquist; f. 231bisrc ('Ci (com)mence li moinage Renuar'); f. 259rb ('Ysore deuant paris'). The 'Chanson de Saisnes' is concluded with a rubricated explicit (f. 139vc 'E xplicit li romai(n)s de guiteclin de / Sai(n)soingne'). Occasionally paragraph signs in brown ink in the margin (e.g. f. 19ra). No indication of larger subdivisions within the 'Roman d'Alexandre' except for the mort which is separated from the rest of the poem by the 'Voeux du Paon'. |
| Evidence of readership: | f. 1r: in the upper left corner 'Bloys' (referring to the royal library) and ancient shelfmarks '532' and '6985'. f. 43va: maniculum 'N e doit t(er)re tenir iones ho(m) recreus' (right before I, 34). f. 46va: maniculum 'A lix(andre) cheuauche q(ui) p(aras) (con)querre veille (I, 76) f. 186v: in the margin: 'damedex' f. 279r: lower margin annotation in Latin (mid 14th c): ?Sce? /cum ad lat(ri)na(m) venisti da?t/c/?’e p(ri)mam/ /ve(n)trem purgo meu(m) (et) com(???)oro deu(m) / in sebastian(us) d?.?e |
| Foliations description: | Modern foliation in arabic numerals in the upper right corner of the recto. Number 217 was initially left out. F. 216 is now indicated as 216-217. Two folios have been numbered 231: f. 231 and 231bis |
Mise en page
| Description 1 | Separate column for the majuscule letters at the beginning of the verseline. |
| Page sampled | f. 14r |
| Layout | None |
| Page dimensions | 402x315 (mm) |
| Justification | 340x263 (mm) |
| Columns | 35mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Lines | 50Line ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Rubrication | Red ink is used for initials and pen-decoration. Occasionally (e.g. f. 40) also a title in red ink. Individual highlighting of majuscule letters at the beginning of the verseline. |
| Writing above top line? | False |
| Sample page layout: | |
| Description 2 | f. 189-196 |
| Page sampled | f. 189r |
| Layout | None |
| Page dimensions | 402x315 (mm) |
| Justification | 325x265 (mm) |
| Columns | 3mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (6) |
| Lines | 50Line ruling present in Colours object (6) |
| Rubrication | |
| 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. 280ra |
| Date | c. 1300 to 1350 |
| Scribe description: | Northern textualis with multiple types of two-compartment 'a' (with open and closed upper compartment, some evidence of single-compartment 'a'?), primarily round 's' in final position, but also straight 's' in the same position. Use of 'v' in initial position, 3-like 'z'. Abbreviations include 'com'-abbreviation, -'us' abbreviation, superscript letters , 'p' with crossed descender, 'p' with curl through descender, nasal bar, s-like apostrophe, crossed tironian 'et', 'est' abbreviation. |
| Notes | |