Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 24365

[part 1]

General information

Folios	188
Language	Language object (43)
Approx. date	c. 1320
Date notes	Harf-Lancner 211 'first quarter of the 14th century). Based on the illustration (according to F. Avril 'Fauvel Master' and 'Sub-Fauvel Master') a dating c. 1320 to 1325 seems justified.
Place(s) of production	Paris Based on the illustration. The text on the parchment guardleaves (Pierre Avogadri, bishop of Sisteron) and annotations in Provençal (f. 66r and f. 72r) have suggested a localisation in the South of France.
First words of second recto folio	[f. 2ra] P ource de bon seigneur nest pastost recou(re)e
First words of last recto folio	[f. 187ra] B ongreeus on mangre feismes reculer
Incipit	[f. 1ra] QUI vers de riche istoire / ueut entendre et oir . / pour prendre bon exa(m)ple / de prouece acueillir / D e (con)noistre reison damer . (et) de hair / D e ses amis garder et chiereme(n)t tenir / D e anemis greu(er) . (con)nen puisse eslargir / D es ledures vengier . (et) des bo(n)s fes merir /
Explicit	[f. 187vb] S a gent le petit p(ar)tis (et) p(ar) ordre se?..?ia / V ers la g(ra)nt babyloine ou le i lenpoisona / L az dola(n)t quel domage q(ua)nt il si tost fuia / C ar puis q(ue) li urais diex le siecle (com)menca / T iex princes ne nasqui . ne James ne fera / E X P L I C I T

Related MS

RelationshipType object (10)	Manuscript object (474)

Material

Material:	Material object (4)
Watermark:	na
Condition:	Medium to lower quality parchment with many holes (f. 18, f. 23, f. 25, f. 31, f. 52, f. 58, f. 76, f. 77, f. 84, f. 122, f. 136 etc.), stitches (f. 12, f. 24, f. 25, f. 31, f. 43, f. 47, f. 52, f. 53, f. 58, f. 60, f. 61, etc.) and instances in which the edges of skin and leaf coincide (f. 26, f. 37, f. 39, f. 41, f. 51, f. 63, etc.). The manuscript is generally in good condition. The final page has been smeared with a (chemical) substance, presumably to render it better legible.

Structure

Collation:	1-23⁸ 24⁴
Quire structure:	The manuscript consists of regular quaternions. The final quire (f. 184 to f. 187) is a binion. Establishing the quire structure may be confusing since the foliation of the manuscript is erroneous (at the transition of the 'Venjance' to the 'Voeux', f. 136 appears twice).
Quire marks:	MSQuiremarkDisposition object (41)
Catchwords:
Catchword disposition:	MSCatchwordDisposition object (10)

Physical description

General description:	Line left blank in the middle of a laisse f. 12rb. The verso of f. 136 has been left blank. The 'Voeux du Paon' starts in a new quire on f. 136bis.
No. of illustrations:	11
General illustration:	The manuscript opens with a frontispiece consisting of a two-column miniature (height: 10 lines) with a fine blue and red border framed in goldlead, decorative vine at the corners. The first image shows Alexander's birth, his mother lying down, Alexander being cradled by a midwife. The second image portrays how the young child is presented to his mother (or father?) by two ladies in waiting. The figures are tall and slender, with curled hair and long dress, the folds of which are suggested by lines in ink and shadowing. The vents are depicted against blue and scarlet diaper backgrounds. The miniature is followed by a scarlet initial, decorated with white flourishings against a blue field. The eye of the letter is decorated with blue branches ending in red leaves on a gilt background. The initial extends into a L-border consisting of red and blue branches decorated with white flourishings and goldleaf ending in ivy leaves. The border is inhabited by two birds. Miniature (height: 12 lines) followed by a decorated initial at f. 21ra (II,1), f. 44vb (II, 110), f. 52vb (III, 30), f. 67va (III, 172), f. 86ra (III, 352), f. 97ra (after III, 457, before the 'Prise de Defur'), f. 111ra (IV,1), f. 123 (after IV, 74, before the 'Venjance', the initial accompanying this miniature extends into a border), f. 136bis (new, quire, at the opening of the 'Voeux du Paon'), f. 160v (before 'Ainsi fu li paons a sa mort (con)ioiz', shooting of the peacock, no decorated initial)
General decoration:	The text is further structured by means of pen-decorated initials (height: 2 lines), alternating between blue and red with flourishings in the contrasting colour.
Evidence of readership:	f. 1ra: ancient shelfmark '420'. Added in the bottom margin: arms of St. Victor 'Jh(esu)s ..M(aria)..S. Victor. S(anctus) augustin(us)' 'Cest liure est de saint victor les paris / Qui le trouuera si lui rende po(ur) lamo(ur) de dieu' (15th c?). f. 23v: nota 'Nus ne doit pourete ledeme(n)t reprouu(er) / Mes poures ho(m) esr vils sel deuroit o(n) tuer f. 30rb: notes in the margin (17th c?) f. 33v: notes in the margin (17th c?) f. 34r: notes in the margin (17th c?) f. 49r: note at mention of 'lambert li cors de chasteau dun' (17th c.?) f. 64va: maniculum 'Q(ui)l trouua vne pierre du te(m)ps ancienor' f. 65rb: passage marked f. 65va: maniculum 'Q(ua)nt li rois fu remez' (III, 156) f. 66ra: maniculum 'E nmi ot .i. perro(n) qui plus fu dur dacier' f. 66rb: column marked. 15th c. annotation 'Ay si par / la de la ual / de Joan de ?ai?auda uilla f. 67ra: 'Nota dels viella(r)s' f. 67rb: 'No(ta) de la fontay / ne' (passage marked) f. 68rb: No(ta) 'D autre part de la riue' f. 68ra: 'No(ta) del fuer' f. 69va: 'No(ta) dels pou / selles' (III, 191) f. 71ra: 'No(ta) de les ay / uies' f. 72ra: 'Nota dels albres ardins' f. 72va: 'No(ta) ?.? dyent / ?.? albre de la / mere dalix(andre)' f. 106va: 'nota' (other hand than the previous?) 'Frere dist li bo(n)s ho(m) ama reiso(n) ente(n)t' f. 107va: 'nota' (cf. 106va) 'Alix(andre) q(ui) ert au pie de la mo(n)taigne f. 109rb: 'sentence veritable' (17th c?) 'Seign(eur) poesr des homes durable la puissa(n)ce / L i orguels de ce siecle ira defaillance' f. 111v: (cf. 66rb and following) 'Aysi acomese la mort alyx(andre)' f. 112ra: Aysy es le no / m la ?me?ll / et de alix(andre) f. 112v: 'ay si acome(n)se / le testament / de alix(andre)' f. 113va: 'no(ta) de france edenglatera' f. 173ra: note in the lower margin referring to a blank in the text: 'default par auenture / targe' f. 187vb: 'Hic liber est sancti victorie parisien(sis) / inueniens quis . ei reddat amore dei' f. 187vb: lower margin 'qut(er)no xxve' (if this is indeed the case, one quire has been lost).
Foliations description:	Foliation in arabic numerals (15th c.?) in the upper right corner of the recto. Number 136 appears twice: once at the end of the 'Venjance'; a second time at the beginning of the 'Voeux du Paon'.

Mise en page

Description 1	Separate column for the majuscule letters at the beginning of the verseline
Page sampled	f. 2r
Layout	None
Page dimensions	298x200 (mm)
Justification	213x149 (mm)
Columns	2 5mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) )
Lines	40 Line ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) )
Rubrication	Red ink is only used for pen-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. 187vb
Date	c. 1320
Scribe description:	Northern textualis with two-compartment 'a' the upper compartment of which is closed (double-bow 'a'). Limb of 'h' curls beneath the baseline. Round 's' in final position. Use of 'v' in initial position. Abbreviations include nasal bar, s-like apostrophe, 'p' with crossed descender, 'com'-abbreviation, crossed tironian 'et'.
Notes	Corrections in the margin (f. 22r)