London, British Library, Royal 20 D II
Li romanz de Tristran et d'Iseult la b[l]onde de Cornoalle (explicit)
» Full parent manuscript detail
General information
| Folios | 3141 frontend papers |
| Folio notes: | On f. 1r are prognosticatory verses attributed to Ezekiel (incipit: 'En terre de labour et de p(ro)mission'); and on f. 1v a 15th-c. rondeau (incipit: 'De bíen seruír a mo(n) pouoír'). |
| Language | Language object (3) |
| Approx. date | c. 1300 |
| Date notes | 'c. 1300' (BL Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts); 'ca 1287-1291', on art historical grounds (Folda 1976, 197); 'beginning of the XIVth cent.' (Ward 1883, 361; cf. Vinaver 1925, 49; Bogdanow 1966, 282). |
| Place(s) of production | Paris'Paris' (Fulda 1976, 197); cf. BL Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts. Ward (1883, 361) suggested it was copied in the Netherlands (cf. Vinaver 1925, 49). |
| First words of second recto folio | [f. 3ra] aadret certes sire ch(eualie)r aioster uos (con) / |
| First words of last recto folio | [f. 315ra] ??...?? |
| Incipit | [f. 2ra] OR dit licontes / que q(ua)nt lirois / marc ot abatu / monsengnor y(uain) / asblances meí / ns eínsí come ie / uos ai conte (et) fu / montez il se míst / ??...?? |
| Explicit | [f. 315rb] (et) porcele dolor / porterent tuít li ch(eualie)rs dela table reo / nde .j. an antíer robe noires (et) de la fu / rent trouees aporter premíerem(en)t / robes noires explicít // Cifaut liromanz de trístran (et) / Diseult Labonde Decornoalle . // |
Material
| Material: | Material object (4) |
| Watermark: | |
| Condition: | Middling quality parchment, with numerous stitched tears (e.g. f. 3) and small holes (f. 10), often (but by no means always) in the margins. Many folios are short at the base (e.g. ff. 21-22). The corners of leaves are in many cases folded or torn, and there are a large number of parchment repairs. Folio 2r is particularly worn, with damage to the text and initial. |
Structure
| Collation: | 1-98 1010 118 1210 13-238 242 25-268 277 287? 29-388 3910 404 |
| Quire structure: | Chiefly regular quaternions, but quires 10, 12 and 39 are quinions, quire 40 is a binion, and quire 24 is a bifolium. Quire 27 is a quaternion that has lost its 2nd leaf; quire 28 may be a quaternion that has lost its 7th leaf. |
| Quire marks: | MSQuiremarkDisposition object (79) |
| Catchwords: | |
| Catchword disposition: | MSCatchwordDisposition object (4) |
Physical description
| No. of illustrations: | 60 |
| General illustration: | 60 historiated initials (height: 6 to 8 lines) in colours and gold. These are in the style of the Paris-Acre Master according to Folda (2005, 525). |
| General decoration: | There are three large decorated initials (height: 8 lines), on ff. 123ra, 139vb, and 146va, with gold grounds, foliate and zoomorphic infill, and partial bar borders. Paragraphs begin with champie initials (height: 3 lines): gold letters against pink and blue grounds with white filigree. The stanzas of the lai on f. 171rb-va are marked with gold initials (height: 1 lines), with blue flourishing. Guide letters are often visible in the margin. |
| Evidence of readership: | Beneath the explicit on f. 315rb in a 14th-c. cursive (now barely legible): 'Vochi le liure de Regnaut de Faiel'. On ff. 1v, 112v, 113r, and 315v: the names and mottoes of several 15th-c. owners, including Elizabeth Kirkeby, Admiral Prigent de Coëtivy, Gorge Nessefeld, and Charles de Hermanville. |
| Foliations description: | Medieval foliation (roman numerals in brown ink in the lower margin of recto sides) visible till f. 93 (with duplication of f. 80). Modern foliation in pencil in the upper right corner of recto sides. |
Mise en page
| Description 1 | |
| Page sampled | f. 58r |
| Layout | MSLayout object (3) |
| Page dimensions | 331x228 (mm) |
| Justification | 264x159 (mm) |
| Columns | 217mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (5) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Lines | 46Line ruling present in Colours object (5) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Rubrication | none |
| Writing above top line? | False |
| Sample page layout: | |
Hand(s)
| Level of Execution: | Execution object (4) |
| Script | Script object (4) |
| Folio range | From 2ra to 315rb |
| Date | c. 1300 |
| Scribe description: | A small, angular book hand in black ink, with the following characteristics: two-compartment 'a' (open upper bow); 'r' with a markedly straight bar; round 's' in final position; lack of 'v' in initial position; 3-shaped 'z'; crossed tironian 'et'. |
| Notes | |
Provenance
| Description | 'Cest liure cy est a Gorge Nessefeld' (f. 1v). | |
| Date | ?1420 to 1440 | |
| Place | Place object (157) | |
| Ownership | Person object (89) | |
| Description | Name and devices of Prigent de Coëtivy on f. 1v. | |
| Date | ?1420 to 1450 | |
| Place | Place object (157) | |
| Ownership | Person object (21) | |
| Description | Name and motto of Elizabeth Kirkeby on ff. 1v, 112v, 113r and 315v. | |
| Date | c. 1490 | |
| Place | Place object (8) | |
| Ownership | Person object (90) | |