Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 2181
[Part 1]
General information
| Folios | 177 |
| Folio notes: | |
| Language | Language object (3) |
| Approx. date | ?1200 to 1250 |
| Date notes | Careri et al. 2001, 7); 'XIIIe siècle' (Jung 1996, 226). The text is written above the uppermost line, which suggests a date before c. 1230. |
| Place(s) of production | Normandy, Northern FranceNorth-western France, possibly Normandy. |
| First words of second recto folio | [f. 2ra] e t tote Troie en ícels anz |
| First words of last recto folio | [f. 177ra] S es deus filz li auez toleiz [ = Ed. Constans, l. 29445] |
| Incipit | [f. 1ra] Salemons n[...] / enseigne e dit |
| Explicit | [f. 177vb] [...] menelax quidot |
Material
| Material: | Material object (4) |
| Watermark: | |
| Condition: | Good to medium quality vellum. The end of the manuscript is in poor condition, in particular quire 22, and a further quire containing the end of the romance is missing. On the basis of the length of Constans' edition, Jung (1996, 226) observes that at least five folios are missing. Modern restoration at ff. 98, 99, 169-76, and recent addition of the paper guardleaves (not recorded in Jung 1996). Only a few holes in the parchment (e.g. f. 127). Tears, esp. in the margins. |
Structure
| Collation: | 1-148 (ff. 1-112) 158+1 (ff. 113-21) 16-228 (ff. 122-77) |
| Quire structure: | Quaternions. Quire 15 contains nine folios (ff. 113-21), but f. 117 was added later into the middle of the quire (Jung 1996, 226). |
| Quire marks: | MSQuiremarkDisposition object (9) |
| Catchwords: | |
| Catchword disposition: | MSCatchwordDisposition object (12) |
Physical description
| General description: | Manuscript of small format and with modest decoration, but carefully manufactured at all levels. |
| General illustration: | none |
| General decoration: | 28 initials (blue with red pen flourishes, height: 4 lines, listed in Jung (1996, 228-30), who also remarks that they stop after f. 147va). Small initials, red and blue (height: 2 lines). Sometimes the ascenders and descenders of the initials intrude into the small column between the verse initials and the text. Ruby notes that the way in which the couplets have been laid out, with each first line initial placed to the left of the main column of text, constitutes a deliberately archaic layout, reminiscent of the work of earlier, Anglo-Norman scribes. This impression of deliberate archaism is reinforced by the use of simple initials, alternating red and blue, of 12th-c. style (Careri et al 2001, 7-10). |
| Evidence of readership: | Folio 11v: annotation in the outer margin; f. 22r: annotation in the lower margin; f. 29v: annotation in the lower margin; f. 43r: annotation in the upper margin; f. 64v: annotations in the margins; f. 119v: annotation in the outer margin. Folio 128v: note in Latin (referring to a hymn?): 'S(an)c(t)i sp(iritu)s adsit nobis gra(t)ia' (13th c.). At f. 81v: acknowledgment of debt between a debtor, Guillot Rougeoul, and a creditor, Guillaume le Maczon, dated 1376 (Careri et al. 2001, 7). The description on Gallica adds that 'Mas Latrie évoque le partage des biens d’un Guillaume le Maczon en 1402, père de Robert le Maczon, chancelier du dauphin Charlesde 1416 à 1421'. At f. 129v, it is possible to read: 'Diegonus servus servorum Dei venerabilis'. At f. 169v: 'Ceest romans [...] est Joh(an) delametayrie [...]'. Frequent marginal annotations concerning the contents of the text (15th c.). Alphabets in the margins (e.g. f. 140). |
| Foliations description: | Two foliations in arabic numerals (an older one in ink and a recent one in pencil) in the upper right corner of the recto of each folio. |
Mise en page
| Description 1 | It is the smallest of the extant manuscripts of the 'Roman de Troie' (for a detailed description, see Careri et al. 2001, 7-9). Careri et al. also observe that the 'mise en page' of this manuscript corresponds 'aux caractéristiques formelles de la copie romanesque du XIIe siècle' (2001, p. xviii). |
| Page sampled | f. 125r (Careri et al. 2001, 7) |
| Layout | MSLayout object (4) |
| Page dimensions | 224x158 (mm) |
| Justification | 164x96 (mm) |
| Columns | 2 4mm 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 | |
| Writing above top line? | True |
| Sample page layout: | |
Hand(s)
| Level of Execution: | Execution object (4) |
| Script | Script object (4) |
| Folio range | From 1r to 177v |
| Date | 1200 to 1250 |
| Scribe description: | Regular and elegant hand, vertical, 'brisée'. Ascenders usually decorated by a short sloping stroke added at the top, always uncial, round 'd'. Tongued 'e'. Lobe of 'g' extends below the baseline and is closed. No use of 'i' longa. Diacritic on 'i' in minim group. The ascender of 'l' is clubbed. Minims of 'm' and 'n' do not extend beyond the baseline. Use of straight and round 's' in final position may suggest a date closer to the middle of the 13th c. Particular use of superscript 's' at the end of the verseline. Ascender of 't' does not extend above the headstroke. No use of 'v'. Abbreviations include superscript vowels, 'p' with crossed descender, nasal bar (also for 'que'), crossed tironian note. Noteworthy use of a sort of semicolon (;) to abbreviate 'est' (e.g. f. 124rb, l. 2), cf. Careri et al. 2001, p. 9. |
| Notes | |
Provenance
| Description | At the top margin of f. 169v: "ceest romans […] est Joh[an] de la Metayrie (et) [...]" | |
| Date | ?1400 to 1500 | |
| Place | Place object (3) | |
| Ownership | Person object (42) | |
| Description | The description on Gallica observes that 'La Librairie du Louvre comprenait, d’après les inventaires qui furent faits entre 1380 et 1424, six exemplaires du Roman de Troie. Le volume est cité dans les inventaires successifs entre 1380 et 1424.' | |
| Date | ?1380 to 1424 | |
| Place | Place object (9) | |
| Ownership | Person object (41) | |