Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 1610
[Part 1]
» Full parent manuscript detail
General information
| Folios | 181 |
| Language | Language object (46) |
| Approx. date | 5-1264 |
| Date notes | The date of May 1264 is given on f. 181rb: 'C ist romanz fut escriz an l an nostre seignor mil (et) dos cenz (et) sexante (et) .iiij. anz o mois de may' |
| Place(s) of production | ParisBourgogne or Lorraine (Jung 1996, 214). More recently, Elizabeth Morrison has argued for a Parisian origin of the manuscript, partly because of its presumed presence in Capetian circles in the 1270s. |
| First words of second recto folio | [f.2r] C on medea por son sauoír / |
| First words of last recto folio | [f.181r] E n acae len ont porte / |
| Incipit | [f.1ra] S alemons nos enseigne (et) dit / (Et) si list on en son escrit / Q(ue) nus ne doit son sens celer / Quiz le doit ensint demostrer / Q ue il ioit prou (et) honor / Q uar si firent li encesor / |
| Explicit | [f.181rb] C elui gart dex (et) tienge (et) uoíe / Q(u)i bíen sauance (et) monteploíe//A M E N C i faut li bons romanz de troíe / C elui doínt dex hanor (et) ioie / Q(u)i uolentier lescotera / (Et) le romant ne blamera //C ist romanz fut escriz an / l an nostre seignor mil / (et) dos cenz (et) sexante / (et) .iiij. anz o mois de may |
Material
| Material: | Material object (4) |
| Watermark: | |
| Condition: | Good to medium quality vellum, with holes (ff. 30, 42, 47, 61, 82, 89, 160), stitches (ff. 76, 82, 90) and irregularities (ff. 94 and 160), also in the writing space. Generally in good condition. One folio missing before f. 27. Two folios have been lost between ff. 94 and 95. |
Structure
| Collation: | 1-28(ff. 1-16) 32(ff. 17-18) 48(ff. 19-26) 57(ff. 27-33) 6-108(ff. 34-73) 116(ff.74-79) 128(ff. 80-87) 13-147(ff. 88-101) 15-208(ff.102-49) 2110 (ff.150-59) 22-238(ff. 160-75) 246 (ff. 176-81) |
| Quire structure: | Originally, the manuscript was made up of quaternions except for quires 11 and 24, which are ternions. Folios were lost before f. 27, and in between ff. 94 and 95, resulting in three irregular quires of seven folios. Bifolia with full-page miniatures on the inner side, were inserted between ff. 16 and 19 and in the middle of quire 21, which makes the latter a quinternion. Two of these bifolia with large miniatures were removed, probably around 1850 (Jung 1996, 215), and are now in the Dutch 's-Heerenberg collection. |
| Quire marks: | MSQuiremarkDisposition object (30)MSQuiremarkDisposition object (57) |
| Catchwords: | |
| Catchword disposition: | MSCatchwordDisposition object (4) |
Physical description
| No. of illustrations: | 38 |
| General illustration: | The manuscript opens with a single-column miniature (height: 10 lines), framed in a border of red and blue bars, decorated with white flourishings. The image represents the presentation of a book by two standing figures in long dress, to a king who is seated. The folds are accentuated with strokes of black ink and shading. Faces are pale, with blank expressions. Hair is curled. Main colours are blue, red and green. The background is goldleaf. The painting is followed by a large, gilt initial on a field of blue and red, decorated with white flourishing. Additional illustrations appear within the text, generally smaller and followed by similar initials (height: 3-4 lines). At least four bifolia with full-page paintings on the inner side were added either in between quires (e.g. ff. 17-18) or in the middle of a quire (e.g. ff. 154-55). These images are framed in blue and red bars decorated with geometrical patterns in white. They represent multiple time-frames in two or three registers. The images have gilt background and some are framed in gothic architecture (arches). In addtion to blue and red, the painter has used green and orange. Two of these bifolia have been removed, probably c. 1850, and are now in the Dutch 's-Heerenberg collection. The pictorial cycle of the 'Roman de Troie' in this manuscript (as well as the Paris BnF f.fr. 783 and Montpellier copies) bares resemblances to that of the C and D cycles of the 'Histoire ancienne'. |
| General decoration: | The text is further subdivided by smaller, gilt initials (height: 2 lines) on fields of blue and red with white flourishings. The eye of the letter alternates between blue and red. |
| Evidence of readership: | On f. 1ra: old shelfmarks '1039' and '7624'; f. 181rb: annotation, 15th c. Difficult to read, even under UV. The note refers to the year 1408 and is signed 'Jayne : l?ie?'. Folio 181v: annotation, 15th c. This note has largely been erased and is difficult to read but appears to refer to a transaction on 19 May for the amount of 'xxii gros'. |
| Foliations description: | Modern foliation in roman numerals in the upper right-hand corner of the recto. |
Mise en page
| Description 1 | Separate columns for the majuscule letters at the beginning of the verseline and the justification of the intials. |
| Page sampled | f. 110r |
| Layout | MSLayout object (4) |
| Page dimensions | 240x175 (mm) |
| Justification | 200x135 (mm) |
| Columns | 25mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Lines | 42Line ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Rubrication | No 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. 181rb |
| Date | 1264 |
| Scribe description: | Northern textualis with double-compartment 'a', the upper compartment of which is open. Tongued 'e' in final position. 8-like 'g'. The limb of 'h' extends beyond the baseline curving to the left. No use of 'i' longa. Diacritic on 'i' in sequence of minims. The ascender of 'l' is forked or clubbed. Use of straight and round 's' in final position. No use of 'v'. 3-like 'z'. Abbreviations include crossed tironian note, apostrophe, 'com'-abbreviation, superscript vowels, 'p' with crossed descender, nasal bar. |
| Notes | |
Provenance
| Description | Circa 1274, the manuscript was used in Capetian circles for the illustration of the 'Grandes Chroniques de France' offered to Philip III. | |
| Date | c. 1274 | |
| Place | Place object (9) | |
| Ownership | Person object (55) | |