Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 1430
[Part 1]
General information
| Folios | 287 |
| Folio notes: | One quire lost after f. 108. One folio lost after f. 140. Two bifolia (Micha 1960, 174: 5 or 6 folios) missing between ff. 197 and 198. |
| Language | Language object (3) |
| Approx. date | 1215 to 1225 |
| Date notes | Dated suggested by Careri et al. 2001, 119. Micha 1960, 174 and the Lancelot-Graal project suggest mid-13th c. |
| Place(s) of production | ChampagnePlace suggested by Careri et al. 2001. The Lancelot-Graal project surmises that the MS may be Cistercian and refers to the style of the pen-flourishing resembling that used in the Cistercian abbey of Pontigny (Burgundy). |
| First words of second recto folio | [f. 2ra]ture ce nest une chose cun ch(eualie)rs ne deus / |
| First words of last recto folio | [f. 287ra] si cheu morz . boorz sailli sus / |
| Incipit | [f. 1ra] nois negéé. (et) si li ont aparelléé a sa che / ual(er)ie robe blanche de samit . cote (et) mantel . / si es[toit] li manteau forre d(er)mine porce q(ue) rien / ni estoit qui blanc ne fust (et) la cote fut for / re [...] blanc cendal / |
| Explicit | [faded] |
Material
| Material: | Material object (4) |
| Watermark: | |
| Condition: | Vellum of fair quality, some stitches (f. 287). The first and last folios are badly worn, also ff. 177v-178r and ff. 195r-196v. |
Structure
| Collation: | 1-118124 13-188 198-120-258268-427-358 |
| Quire structure: | The final verso page of the first quire (f. 8v) is marked 'VII'. Six quires (probably regular quaternions) or circa 48 folios have been lost at the beginning of the copy. A posterior set of quiremarks written in crayon survives at the end of most quires (f. 16v: ii, 24,iii, 40, v, 48, vi, ). These quiremarks are probably posterior to the rebinding of the MS. The MS consists of regular quaternions except for quire 12 which is a binion. Folios are missing in quire 19 (one folio) and quire 26 (probably two bifolia). Between f. 108 and f. 109 one quire (probably a quaternion) is missing. |
| Quire marks: | MSQuiremarkDisposition object (11) |
| Catchwords: | |
| Catchword disposition: | MSCatchwordDisposition object (9) |
Physical description
| General illustration: | Not illustrated. |
| General decoration: | The text is structured by puzzle initials (height: six lines) in red blue and green decorated with floral motifs. Exceptionally large puzzle initials with flourishes occur at ff. 84r. and 87r. The decoration of these initials extends into the upper margin. At a lower level, we find pen-decorated initials (height: 2 lines), in red and blue with flourishings in the contrasting colour and plain initials (height: 1 line) in the text, also in red and blue decorated in the contrasting colour. Paragraph marks, some with characteristic palm flourishes, are exclusively used to indicate text overrun. Guide letters in the margins. |
| Evidence of readership: | On f. 1r: modern hand has added title 'hystoire du Roy Artus, & de la table ronde'; former shelfmarks 1279 and 7524. Erased M [.] CCXCI[.]. At the bottom of the page faded annotation 'Deul q’ le my'. On f. 17r: upper margin,(littera cursiva) 'la plus belle du monde'. On f. 31r: upper margin, (littera cursiva) 'ome’? ‘homo’ On f. 50v: lower margin 'Ce dit li contes' (littera cursiva or hybrida, 15th c.) This is the beginning of the paragraph starting at the top of the page. The lower part of the b column on f. 92rb has not been entirely filled although the vellum is not faulty. Only three lines of writing on 92v. The rest of the page has been left blank. This is possibly due to a change of scribe (see also: hands). Many annotations on the otherwise blank page. 'Lan mil cccc xxix fut marie pi(er)re Amboise', 'Meri dambyse', 'Se lonc ma puissance Aly??am??e', 'Bien pleindre me doy', 'P(ier)re de sanz', 'A mon fr??e??yre charles damboyse', 'A mon tres leal amy', 'Wane??.?? le driecht', 'Tout se paesse', 'A Fery P(ier)re', 'Duel q(ui) le my’en', 'A mon tres leal amy sanz'. On f. 93vb, in the middle of the column, a cursive hand has filled a blank ‘et dis q(ue) ge <+sa ??seseraye??> / (et) ele se deffendre’. On f. 109r, in the lower margin: annotation in cursive hand: 'avest ce mersy suy venu / pour aque??rir?? le non damy'. On f. 114r, in the lower margin: faded annotation in cursive hand. On f. 127r, in the lower margin: lower margin: drawing of a horse. On f. 127v, in the lower margin: written in a cursive hand: 'Lors vint avant ung ch(eva)l(ie)r'. These are the first words of the paragraph starting at the top of this page. On f. 128r, in the lower margin: annotation in cursive hand. 'Sire fait Je'. On f. 152v: faded annotation, lower left corner (illegible, even under UV). On f. 172r: faded annotation, upper margin (illegible, even under UV) On f. 197v: lower margin (lacune de plusieurs feuillets) This is in the middle of a quire, so probably 2 or 4 folia, rather than the 5 or 6 suggested by Micha 1960, 174. On f. 212r, in the upper margin: annotation in cursive hand ??un moin e??cc??e bona ??...?? de / fr(ate)r guill(ermu)s morelli de ordi(n)e frat(ru)m mi(n)or(um)'. On f. 274r: annotation in the upper margin (cursive hand). fr(ater?) guill(elmu)s monelli de ordi(n)e fratrum mino(rum) On f. 287v: annotation in the lower margin (cursive hand) |
| Foliations description: | Foliation in ink, in a modern hand in arabic numerals in the top right corner of the recto side of the folio (1-287). |
Mise en page
| Description 1 | Two columns. The intercolumn space is divided in two. No additional columns at the outer sides. The writing space and baselines have been ruled with horizontal and vertical throughlines. The number of lines in each column varies. (Micha 1960, 174). As from f. 79v the writing becomes more compressed, e.g. f. 82 has 41 lines. |
| Page sampled | 52v |
| Layout | None |
| Page dimensions | 296x200 (mm) |
| Justification | 210x170 (mm) |
| Columns | 214mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Lines | 32Line ruling present in Colours object (4) (RulingMaterials object (3) ) |
| Rubrication | No tituli in red ink. |
| Writing above top line? | True |
| Sample page layout: | |
Hand(s)
| Level of Execution: | Execution object (4) |
| Script | Script object (4) |
| Folio range | From 1ra to 287v |
| Date | 1215 to 1220 |
| Scribe description: | Northern textualis (rotundus) with two-compartment 'a' the upper bow of which is not closed. Exclusive use of uncial 'd.' Long 's' in final position. Tongued 'e'. In initial position uncial 'd' extends in the outer margin. The descender of 'q' curves towards the right. 'z' has the form of a figure '2'. 'i' in some instances has a diacritic and so does 'e'. General abbreviation sign is a horizontal stroke, used for q(ue) and abbreviations with nasal consonants com(en)t. Tironian 'et' appears in two formscrossed and uncrossed. Other abbreviations include crossed consonants ('h', 'l'), 'p' with crossed descender, 'p' with curved descender, superscript vowels ('a', 'o', 'e'), superscript '9' as –us abbreviation, superscript 's', '9' as com-abbreviation. Use of 'st'-ligature. Biting: 'd' and round 'r', 'o' and round 'r', 'o' and round 's'. Characteristic use of paragraph sign to indicate overrun at ff. 58r, 59r, 59v, 60r 70v, 72r . Characteristic pen flourishing. Punctus and punctus elevatus. Slanting hairline to indicate word separation. Possible change of hands at 93r, but the writing remains very similar. The verso side of f. 92 has been left blank. f. 92 is the final folio of a gathering. Moreover, this quire (a binion) is shorter than the regular quaternions. This would also explain the compressed writing in the previous quires. Although the writing is very much similar to that of the previous quire, the treatment of 'n'(the bow curves below the baseline) in final position might indicate a change of hand. |
| Notes | |
Provenance
| Description | The annotation on f. 212r suggests that the manuscript once belonged to the Franciscan friar, Guillermus Morelli. Clerics of this name are attested in the second half of the 14th and first half of the 15th c. | |
| Date | 1350 to 1450 | |
| Place | Place object (1) | |
| Ownership | Person object (118) | |
| Description | Owned by Charles d'Orléans during his captivity in England (Arthurian Fiction) | |
| Date | 1417 to 1440 | |
| Place | Place object (124) | |
| Ownership | Person object (119) | |
| Description | After Charles' death in 1465, owned by his son Louis d'Orléans (Arthurian Fiction), the later Louis XII of France. | |
| Date | 1465 | |
| Place | Place object (3) | |
| Ownership | Person object (19) | |
| Description | An annotation on f. 92v refers to the marriage of Pierre d'Amboise, counselor of Charles VII in 1429. Other members of the Amboise family mentioned there are Marie, possibly his daughter who married to Jean de Hangest, and 'mon freyre Charles', possibly Charles I d'Amboise. The dates may be at odds with the ownership of Charles and Louis d'Orléans. | |
| Date | c. 1430 to 1500 | |
| Place | Place object (3) | |
| Ownership | Person object (120) | |
| Description | Other names mentioned on f. 92v are 'Pierre de Sanz' or 'Pierre de Sauz' and 'Pierre Fery'. The 'a mon tres leal amy' formulae may be interpreted as an 'ex libris' or 'ex dono', but, given that the hand is the same or very similar, may as well be probatio pennae, e.g. for the address of letters. | |
| Date | 1400 to 1500 | |
| Place | Place object (1) | |