Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 12600
Li Romans de Troye (explicit)
General information
| Folios | 186 |
| Language | Language object (3) |
| Approx. date | ?1275 to 1300 |
| Date notes | Based on the script and decoration (f. 1r miniature, historiated initial and border decoration; elaborate decoration of pen-decorated initials). Northern textualis with double-compartment 'a' with open upper compartment; both straight and round 's' in final position with a preference for straight 's'. |
| Place(s) of production | Based on the decoration, possibly Northern France. |
| First words of second recto folio | [f. 2ra] L es trez de paile (et) de samiz / |
| First words of last recto folio | [f. 186ra] A engigniez (et) sormontez / |
| Incipit | [f. 1ra] S Alemons nos / enseingne (et) dit / Et si list len / en son escrit / Qe nus ne doit / son sens celer / Ainz le doit len / si demonstrer / Q e len iait preu (et) honor / E insint firent nostre ancessor / S e cil qui trouerent les pars / (et) les granz liures des .vij. ars / N e feussent tous uraiement / A last alast li siecles a noient / C ome autre beste beste qui uoit mie / Q e fust sauoir qe fust folie / N e senst len qe lesgarder / N e lun de lautre deuiser / R emembrez seront en toz tens / (et) cogneu par lor granz sens / E science qui est teue / E st tost oubliee (et) perdue / Q ui seit sil nenseigne ou ne dit / N e puet muer qui nentroblit / E science qui est oie / G erme et florist (et) fructefie / |
| Explicit | [f. 186vb] C i ferons fin bien est mesure / Auques tient nostre liures (et) dure / C e que dist dayres (et) dithis / C el uos ai si retreit (et) mis / Q ue se plesoit aus iogleors / Q ui de ce sont acuseors / Q autres ont fez (et) reprenanz / (et) a toz bienz sont (con)trestanz / (et) qe ia rien naura honor / Q uil nen aient ire (et) dolor / C il se porroient m(ou)lt bien tere / D e loeure blamer (et) retrere / C ar tielz i uoldroit afetier / Q ui tost i porroit empirier / C elui gart dex (et) tiegne (et) uoie / Q ui en bien chance (et) monteploie // I ci faut li Romans de troye // |
Material
| Material: | Material object (4) |
| Watermark: | |
| Condition: | Good quality vellum. In good condition. Some wear and tear on the first folio. Faces of the miniatures have either been scratched or never filled in. Folio 3r has been restored (lower corner). Crudely stitched f. 128. |
Structure
| Collation: | 1-238(ff. 1-184) 242(ff. 185-86) |
| Quire structure: | The manuscript is made up of regular quaternions, except for the last quire which is a bifolium. |
| Quire marks: | MSQuiremarkDisposition object (58) |
| Catchwords: | |
| Catchword disposition: | MSCatchwordDisposition object (20) |
Physical description
| No. of illustrations: | 2 |
| General illustration: | The manuscript opens with a single-column miniature (height: 10 lines) framed in blue and pink bars, decorated with white flourishings. Gilt quadrangles in the four corners. The scene, depicting the siege of a city by three figures, two large and one small, is painted on a red background (probably once gilt). The figures, tall and straight, wear mail and blue and red tunics, the folds of which are accentuated in black ink. Heads are round. The image is followed by a historiated initial (height: 8 lines), blue, with white flourishings, on a red field decorated with goldleaf. The eye of the letter is gilt. The painting represents a king, probably Solomon, in a red tunic with a blue mantle, seated and holding a sceptre. The letter extends into an L-border made up of blue and red baguettes, decorated with golden balls. |
| General decoration: | Major sections of the text are indicated by foliate initials (height: 4-6 lines) alternating between blue and pink decorated with white flourishings on a field of the contrasting colour with similar decoration. Additional decoration of dragon’s heads and goldleaf. The text is further subdived by means of pen-decorated initials (height: 2 lines), alternating between blue and red with flourishings in the contrasting colours. More frequently than not these letters are accompanied by j-borders in blue and red, framing the left side of the column. |
| Evidence of readership: | Late 14th- or 15th-c. annotations throughout the manuscript: f. 12r: Johannes dei gracia francor(um) rex ?b/?ai?ll?y (second half 14th , beginning of the fifteenth century). (referring to John II?); f. 57r: in the upper margin: 'Johanes dey gracia Rex'; f. 66v: lower margin :'??F/S??ai??nc?? mentie|n'; f. 74v: annotation in the upper margin 'Benedit(us) qui venit in nomi(n)e domi(n)i'; f. 95r: annotation in the upper margin ‘Il Touls ceul’; f. 110v: annotation in the lower margin (erased); f. 119r: annotation in the upper margin: ‘A mon chier (et) bon amy’; f. 129va: annotation in the lower margin: ‘Apres le paiement’; f. 129vb: ‘le paiem(en)t'. Below: 'Simple humilem(en)t p(ar) ??lauagois??'; f. 138va: annotation in the lower margin (erased); f. 143v: annotation in the lower margin. ‘?u(?)? Simple p(ar)olle’; f. 154r: annotation in the lower margin ‘damy’; f. 160v: annotation in the lower margin ‘?.? Co?mi?s destraingnaice(?.?) en figure p(re)sent (et) auenir'; f. 177r: annotation in the lower margin ‘Karollus dey gra(cia)’ (referring to Charles V, VI, VII?); f. 185r: annotation in the lower margin ‘Ame(n) dico’; f. 186v: annotations in the lower margin, one of which thoroughly erased. The other partially legible under UV referring to 'mon Roman de Troies' 'lan de grace mccc lxx(?x?)' signed 'Loys sallon'. |
| Foliations description: | Modern foliation in arabic numerals (black ink) in the upper right corner of the recto. 15th-c. foliation centered in the upper margin. Skips ff. 83-88 (up to 111 = cent .I.). |
Mise en page
| Description 1 | Double horizontal throughlines at a distance of the top (at 20mm) and bottom (at 30mm) of the justification. Separate columns for the majuscule letters at the beginning of the verseline. |
| Page sampled | f. 84r |
| Layout | MSLayout object (4) |
| Page dimensions | 335x220 (mm) |
| Justification | 225x155 (mm) |
| Columns | 2mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Lines | 40Line ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Rubrication | Red ink is only used for decorated initials. |
| 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. 186vb |
| Date | c. 1275 to 1300 |
| Scribe description: | Northern textualis with double-compartment ‘a’, the upper compartment of which is open. The ascenders of ‘b’, ‘h’ and ‘h’ are clubbed. Broad round ‘d’ with short ascender. Tongued ‘e’ in final position. Limb of ‘h’ is round and turns to the left under the baseline. I-longa is used at the end of a minim group, particularly in the case of numerals. Diacritic on ‘i’ in minim group. Use of straight ‘s’ and long ‘s’ in final position. Occasional use of ‘v’ in initial position. Diacritical dot on ‘y’. 3-like ‘z’. Relatively low degree of common abbreviations including crossed tironian note, apostrophe, 2-like ‘com’-abbreviation. Biting of ‘de’ ‘do’ ‘po’ ‘or’. Particularly noteworthy is that the lines of the b-column close with a period at the end of the line. |
| Notes | |