Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 752
[Part 1]
General information
| Folios | 1362 frontend papers2 backend papers |
| Folio notes: | The foliation erroneously jumps from 99 to 200. |
| Language | Language object (46) |
| Approx. date | c. 1220 |
| Date notes | Lancelot-Graal Project gives c.1220. Micha (1960, 167) gives 'fin du XIIIe siècle'. |
| Place(s) of production | ChampagneStones (Champagne, attr. to England) |
| First words of second recto folio | ioie [et] qu[ant] il furent |
| First words of last recto folio | [damaged] |
| Incipit | [f. 1ra] te poot tenir ce il esgarde Si / uoit deuant la porte les .ii. ch(evalie)rs / qui gardoient nuit e ior que / li rois artus nen fust menez e / quant il leuoient si le conoi[...] / edit chascuns uez ci le boen ch(evalie)r |
| Explicit | [f. 236vb] (et) nage iusqua la tor . si troeue un pe / nerret pendant a la fenestre . (et) ele cro / lle la corde del peneret . (et) lanc(elos) ne dorm / moit mie qui mult pansoit asa me / saise . (et) quant il sant la corde croler . si / se lieve . (et) uient an la fenestre . si met / sa teste hors . (et) cele la pele coiement . (et) / il demande que ce est . ie sui feit ele / une vr(ai)e amie qui me sui mise an a |
Material
| Material: | Material object (4) |
| Watermark: | |
| Condition: | Especially the first and last folios are worn and have been stained by humidity, but stained pages also occur in the body of the manuscript (e.g. ff. 60, 216). Folds sometimes occur in the parchment, particularly in the final quires. |
Structure
| Collation: | 1-168 |
| Quire structure: | The manuscript is built of regular quaternions. One or two quires have been lost at the beginning of the manuscript (the first extant quire is marked 'c'). The quires are bound in the wrong order; quire 5 should be located after quire 8. |
| Quire marks: | MSQuiremarkDisposition object (10) |
| Catchwords: | |
| Catchword disposition: | MSCatchwordDisposition object (9) |
Physical description
| General illustration: | Unillustrated. |
| General decoration: | The text is structured by means of pen-decorated initials (red and blue; height: 2 lines). Initials mark the structure of the narrative ('Or dist li contes'), mark changes of speaker, or are linked to temporal markers. Special attention is given to the start of the Second voyage to Sorelois (f. 4va), where four lines have been left blank and the passage opens with a large and more lavishly decorated initial 'L'. Little space has been left for the initials, causing them to protrude into the margins. Very frequent use of initials at the beginning of the copy. As from f. 24v they become more rare (mostly linked to 'li contes'). No line fillers. |
| Evidence of readership: | At the top of f. 1r old shelfnumbers have been noted down: Batuz? 256 and reg. 7173 (superscript 2?). On f. 32vb in a modern hand: 'la suite fo 41'. On f. 33r, same hand: 'Suite du fo 67'; f. 40v: 'la suite fo 67'; f. 41r: 'Suite du fo 32'; f. 64v: 'Retourne au fo 33'; 'f. 65r: suite du fo'. On f. 209r a note comments on a 'grave lacune': Micha (1960, 186) identifies the episode as coinciding with Sommer IV, 152-3. |
| Foliations description: | Modern foliation in arabic numerals in the upper right-hand corner of the recto. This foliation erroneously jumps from 99 to 200. There is another, older foliation, also in arabic numerals, located at the centre of the bottom margin of the recto side. According to the older foliation 9 folios have been lost at the beginning of the manuscript. After folio 100 (new foliation: 91), this older foliation restarts at 1. |
Mise en page
| Description 1 | An intricate ruling pattern, designed to allow the initials to protrude within the margins. At either side of the text column, a narrow column is added (compare the majuscule columns in verse manuscripts). Hence, the space between the two text columns is divided in half. Horizontal throughlines at the top, middle and bottom of the text area. |
| Page sampled | 8r |
| Layout | MSLayout object (3) |
| Page dimensions | 315x220 (mm) |
| Justification | x (mm) |
| Columns | 216mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Lines | 36Line ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Rubrication | |
| Writing above top line? | False |
| Sample page layout: | |
Hand(s)
| Level of Execution: | Execution object (4) |
| Script | Script object (4) |
| Folio range | From 1ra to 236v |
| Date | None |
| Scribe description: | A Northern textualis rotundus with two-compartment 'a' of which the upper lobe is unclosed; this points towards the thirteenth century. 'a' extends slightly above the headline. The lower lobe of 'g' is open, which may be noteworthy for this type of script. Straight 's' is used almost exclusively in final position, which could confirm an early dating. However, the absence of the half-uncial vertical 'd' may situate the script at a slightly later date. No diacritical mark for 'i'. Noteworthy is the very frequent occurrence of long 'i' (j) after 'a' 'e' 'u' (f. 3r rejne), interchangeable with 'i' and in final position. Round 'r' occurs in final position. 't' and round 's' curl upwards at the end of the line. Exclusive use of the uncrossed tironian 'et' abbreviation, which again may point towards an earlier date. Other abbreviations include superscript vowels ('a', 'i'), the inverted 'c', nasal mark, 'p' with crossed descender and 'p' with a bow to the left of its descender. Punctuation with punctus and punctus elevatus. Marginal and interlinear additions, sometimes marked with '+'. Expungation and strikethrough (e.g. f. 2v). |
| Notes | JONAS locates the script in England. See also François Avril and Patricia Stirnemann, 'Manuscrits enluminés d'origine insulaire, VIIe-XXe siècle'. |
Provenance
| Description | French royal library. | |
| Date | 1814 to 1824 | |
| Place | Place object (9) | |
| Ownership | Person object (16) | |