Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 789
[Part 1]
General information
| Folios | 218 |
| Folio notes: | After the end of the 'Roman d'Alexandre' f. 103v-f. 104 have been left blank, allowing the 'Judas Machabée' to start in a new quire. |
| Language | Language object (44) |
| Approx. date | c. 1300 |
| Date notes | The colophon mentions '1280' colophon (f. 218) 'M il (et) .cc. (et) quatre vins / D e ce me faige drois deuins / F u lors p(ar)troues cis romans / T esmoi(n)s les eskeuins dormans'; the writing suggests a slightly later date at the end of the thirteenth, beginning of the fourteenth century. |
| Place(s) of production | TournaiBased on the illustration (in particular the frontispieces). |
| First words of second recto folio | [f. 2ra] P our bien prendre se beste son chierf ou so(n) sa(n)gl(er) / |
| First words of last recto folio | [f. 218ra] Quant paien les ont entendus |
| Incipit | [f. 1ra] QUui uers de / boine estore / ueut enten / dre (et) oir . / Pour prendre / boin essample de proueche / acueillir . / De (con)noistre / raison da / mer (et) de hair . / D es anemis greuer (et) abatre (et) matir / E t uers ses amis poures bie(n) se sache eslargir / D es laidures yengier (et) des biens fais merir / D e chant(er) q(ua)nt luis iert (et) a terme soufrir / |
| Explicit | [f. 218vb] (Et) se gautiers le co(m)mencha / P ierps duries des ior encha / R emist au p(ar)faire son vs / Q(ue) li premiers demetrius / O ccis son oncle antiochum / C ome mauuais en traison / E(t) porce q(ui)l nen fist menterre / O t de la bible la matere / E xplicit de Judas macabe . / E t de ses freres / M il (et) .cc. (et) quatre vins / D e ce me faige drois deuins / F u lors p(ar)troues cis romans / T esmoi(n)s les eskeuins dormans. // |
Material
| Material: | Material object (4) |
| Watermark: | na |
| Condition: | Good quality vellum with some holes (e.g. f. 159, f. 171, f. 180, f. 189), many stitches (e.g. f. 19, f. 42, f. 66, f. 80, f. 95, f. 118, f. 120, f. 127, f. 129, f. 152, f. 160, f. 166, f. 171, f. 189, f. 191, f. 193, f. 199) irregularities and some instances of the edges of the skin and leaf coinciding (e.g. f. 127, f. 171, f. 193, f. 207, f. 214). Generally in good condition. |
Structure
| Collation: | 1-258 262 27-288 |
| Quire structure: | The manuscript consists of regular quaternions. Quire 26 (f. 201-f. 202) is a binion, which allows the copy to finish in a regular quire of eight folios. Folio 103v and f. 104 have been left blank. Another hand takes over at the beginning of the 'Judas' (f. 105) which starts in a new quire. |
| Quire marks: | |
| Catchwords: | |
| Catchword disposition: | MSCatchwordDisposition object (10) |
Physical description
| General description: | Roman d'Alexandre: f. 1 to f. 95va Prise: f. 74ra Vengeance: f. 95va to f. 103rb ('E xplicit . ci fine alixandres') Roman de Judas Machabée: f. 104ra to f. 218rb |
| No. of illustrations: | 11 |
| General illustration: | The manuscript starts with a pink historiated initial (height: 12 lines) on a field of blue, decorated with white geometric patterns and framed in a finer goldleaf border with vineleaves at the corners. The miniature represents the birth of Alexander, his mother lying down in bed, the child carried by the midwife. The characters are tall and slender, waring long dress. The background is pink with a diaper pattern. The historiated initial extends into a L-border which consists of blue and pink bars decorated with goldleaf and inhabited by a hybrid figure (half spider, half man) shooting an arrow in the arse of another figure. The frame ends in three vine leaves coloured orange and green. The 'Roman de Judas Machabée' starts with a similar frontispiece, but the hitoriated initials is replaced by a miniature (height: 15 lines). The image, representing two time-frames from the romance, is framed in blue and pink bars decorated with white flourishings. A finer frame, goldleaf with vine at each corner, encompasses the scene. The miniature is followed by a rubricated title ('C hi coumence li ystoires . De Judas / M achabee . Et de ses freres .) and a decorated initial (height: 6 lines), blue on a field of pink, the eye ornameted with branches on a gilt background. The L-border is similar to that of the 'Alexandre' frontispiece, but is inhabited by a dog chasing a rabbit. The 'Roman d'Alexandre' is further illustrated with single-column miniatures incorporating the initial (eg. f. 22rb, height: 11 lines), single-column miniatures with decorative borders (e.g. f. 34rb) and historiated initials (e.g. f. 43vb, height: 9 lines; f. 49ra; f. 63ra; f. 74ra; f. 89ra; f. 95va) sometimes accompanied by a decorated border (f. 79rb). The miniature-with-initial marks laisse II,1 or the beginning of Branch II. The only 'real' miniature is located in a portion of text which has been inserted between II, 60 and II, 61 and depicts combat between Alexandre and Gadifer de Larris. The other historiated initials are situated after II,109, after III,16 , at III, 198; at III, 352; after III, 450 (beginning of the 'Prise de Defur'); IV,1 and at the beginning of the 'Vengeance'. No historiated initials or miniatures in the 'Judas'. |
| General decoration: | Each laisse starts with a decorated initial (height: 2 lines) in goldleaf on a field of pink and or blue with white flourishings. The colour of the eye of the letter alternates between pink and blue and is decorated with white flourishings. |
| Evidence of readership: | f. 1ra: 16th c.? note on the composition of the Roman d'Alexandre.; ancient shelfmarks Reg. 7190 (4) Batu 148. f. 1ra to f. 18rb: a medieval hand has noted the number next to each of the painted initials (1 to 150). f. 105r: note (18th c?) on the authorship of the 'Judas Machabée'; title added in modern hand. f. 218r: modern (18th c.?) notes: next to 'gaut(ier)s': 'noms des autheurs de ce romans', next to the colophon: 'cest co(m)posé car les poetes se no(m)moient trouuerres'. Contemporary (or 14th c.) note: 'Y a e(n) chest liure xi (xx) fuelles (et) iiii . Et si y a xiiij (cc) (et) iiii(xx) (et) iiij lettres dor'. 'Pertinet nicolao gilles d(omi)ni n(ost)ri Regis / notario (et) secretario eiusq(ue) In camera / comptor(um) clerico Et emit turonis a / Johanne dusseau belliJoci p(ro)pe loch(ias) / In mense Januari an(no) m(o) cccc octuag(esi)mo / tertio' f. 218v: notes 15th c.) 'Glorieuse uieng royne enqui p(ar)la vertuz' 'A mon treshonnore seigneur' 'Dusseau' 'Alauenture va gauuaing' 'Laboine' Some of the corrections/additions in the 'Judas' (e.g. f. 178v; f. 179r; f. 187v. f. 188v.; f. 190r., f. 192r., f. 204v., f. 207, f. 214v.) are possibly later, since the script combines cursive features (looped 'l', 'b') with textualis features (two-compartment 'a' with open upper compartment). Mid-14th c.? |
| Foliations description: | Modern foliation in arabic numerals in the upper right corner of the recto. |
Mise en page
| Description 1 | Different mise en page for the 'Alexandre' and the 'Judas Machabée' because of the different metric form. This is the mise en page for the 'Alexandre'. Separate column for the majuscule letters at the beginning of the verseline. |
| Page sampled | f. 4r |
| Layout | None |
| Page dimensions | 327x235 (mm) |
| Justification | 225x152 (mm) |
| Columns | 220mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Lines | 46Line ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Rubrication | None |
| Writing above top line? | False |
| Sample page layout: | |
| Description 2 | This is the mise en page for the 'Judas'. |
| Page sampled | f. 107r |
| Layout | None |
| Page dimensions | 326x235 (mm) |
| Justification | 229x156 (mm) |
| Columns | 218mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Lines | 52Line ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Rubrication | One rubricated title at the beginning of the 'Judas Machebée'. |
| 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. 8vb |
| Date | c. 1300 |
| Scribe description: | This hand has two-compartment 'a' with closed upper compartment and round 's' in final position. |
| Notes | Remarkably, the change of hand does not occur simultaneously with a change of quire. |
| Level of Execution: | Execution object (4) |
| Script | None |
| Folio range | From f. 9ra to f. 90v |
| Date | c. 1300 |
| Scribe description: | This hand has two-compartment 'a' with open upper compartment, straight 's' in final position. |
| Notes | Corrections in the margin |
| Level of Execution: | Execution object (4) |
| Script | Script object (4) |
| Folio range | From f. 90v to f. 103r |
| Date | c. 1300 |
| Scribe description: | This hand has two-compartment 'a' with open upper compartment, straight 's' in final position but occasionally also round 's', a curling hairline at the end of the limb of 'h' and 'n' curving beneath the baseline in final position. |
| Notes | |
| Level of Execution: | Execution object (4) |
| Script | Script object (4) |
| Folio range | From f. 105r to f. 218rb |
| Date | c. 1300 |
| Scribe description: | This hand has two-compartment 'a' with open upper compartment, predominantly round 's' in final position and exclusively round 's' at the end of the verseline. |
| Notes | |