Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds français 121
[Part 1]
General information
| Folios | 4083 frontend papers2 backend papers |
| Language | Language object (3) |
| Approx. date | 1470 to 1480 |
| Date notes | Stones; Wijsman; Hans-Collas, Schandel and Wijsman 2009, 176-177. |
| Place(s) of production | BrugesBnF, Mandragore; Hans-Collas, Schandel and Wijsman 2009, 176-177. Based on the artist of the frontispiece (Maître de Froissart de Philippe de Commynes) |
| First words of second recto folio | [f. 2ra] et estoit si fort quil ne doubtoit |
| First words of last recto folio | [f. 308ra] brisa le glaiue si que le troncon |
| Incipit | [f. 1ra] En la marche de / Gaule (et) de la / petite bretaigne / auoit ancienne / ment deux Roys / qui estoient fre(re)s / germains et auoient a femmes / deux seurs germaines . |
| Explicit | [f. 308ra] et lancelot le / fiert si durem(en)t que a la force / de ses bras (et) du troncon , le abat si / couelem(en)t a teore que au cheoix se / brisa la caignole du col , et lance / lot sen va oustre qui plus ne le / regarde (et) si a tant chevaucie que il vint hors de la forest |
Material
| Material: | Material object (4) |
| Watermark: | |
| Condition: | Good quality vellum, some stitches (f. 145, f. 215), in excellent condition. |
Structure
| Collation: | III+1-408, 416 |
| Quire structure: | Three flyleafs, followed by 41 quires, which are regular quaternions (f. 1r to f. 302v) , except for the final quire which is a sexternion. The final leafs of the quire function as guardleafs (f. 303r to f. 308r + two flyleafs). |
| Quire marks: | |
| Catchwords: | |
| Catchword disposition: | MSCatchwordDisposition object (5) |
Physical description
| No. of illustrations: | 1 |
| General illustration: | Frontispiece by the Master of the Froissart of Philippe de Commynes. Lancelot, bearing a white shield, and the Lady of the Lake arrive at Arthur's court. In the background, at the base of a hill, the artist has depicted king Ban of Benoic and his wife. Their son, Lancelot is carried into a lake by Viviane. ( Hans-Collas, Schandel and Wijsman 2009, 176-177.) |
| General decoration: | The manuscript opens with a half-page miniature followed by a large foliate initial (6 lines). The opening page has a full border decorated with acanthus leafs (blue, gold and mauve), ivy and multi-coloured flowers. The text is structured with champ initials (goldleaf, on a background of red and blue, decorated with spiral motifs in white), accompanied by tendrils with gold ivy. Initials with a height of three lines are positioned at the beginning of a chapter; paragraphs are marked by initials of two lines. The initials have been numbered in arabic numerals in the margin (e.g. f. 189rb: 150; f. 195rb: 167; f. 200rb: 170). Line-fillers consist of bars decorated in a similar 'champie' fashion. |
| Evidence of readership: | The sheet of paper covering the pastedown has been cut in two places uncovering the parchment underneath. The upper corner shows 'Bloys'. Slightly lower a cursive hand has written: 'des histoires et liures en francoys pul(pi)to 6to / Entre la premiere et secpmde croyseez / Contre la muraille vers les fosses'. These inscriptions refer to the library of Louis XII of France at Blois. On the first flyleaf in a modern hand: 'Volume de 308 Feuillets / 26 Mai 1887'. |
| Foliations description: | Foliated by a modern hand in arabic numerals in the upper right-hand corner of the recto side of the folio. |
Mise en page
| Description 1 | The page has been ruled in red/pink ink for two columns (88-89 mm) of 40 lines. Horizontal throughlines at the top and bottom of the written area; vertical throughlines at both sides of the columns. |
| Page sampled | f. 8r |
| Layout | None |
| Page dimensions | 440x310 (mm) |
| Justification | 278x199 (mm) |
| Columns | 222mm between columns Column ruling present in Colours object (1) (RulingMaterials object (1) ) |
| Lines | 40Line ruling present in Colours object (1) (RulingMaterials object (1) ) |
| Rubrication | |
| Writing above top line? | False |
| Sample page layout: | |
Hand(s)
| Level of Execution: | Execution object (4) |
| Script | Script object (7) |
| Folio range | From 1ra to 308va |
| Date | 1470 to 1480 |
| Scribe description: | Single compartment 'a'; looped ascenders on 'h','l','b' and 'k'; bold, pointed 'f' and long 's' extending below the baseline. D is looped. Single-stroke 'r'; use of round 'r' after 'o, 'p' and single-stroke 'r'. Projecting points at the top of 'e'. The descender of 'g' forms one horn protruding above the headline. Descenders curving to the right. Single-stroke x. 3-shaped z. Few abbreviations: nasal mark for combinations with 'm' and 'n', above 'q' used for 'que'; 9 for 'us'; 2-shaped Tironian -et; superscript vowels. Virgula; Punctus. |
| Notes | |
Provenance
| Description | The manuscript was produced at Bruges for Louis of Gruuthuse to complement a set of two manuscripts (currently BnF, fr. 122 and BnF, fr. 123) which were already in his possession. BnF, fr. 122 was produced at Hainault in 1344; BnF, fr. 123 was produced in England in the final quarter of the thirteenth century. Gruuthuse's coat of arms (f. 1r) has been overpainted with the arms of France. (Wijsman; Hans-Collas, Schandel and Wijsman 2009, 176-177) | |
| Date | 1470 to 1480 | |
| Place | Place object (145) | |
| Ownership | Person object (18) | |
| Description | Probably after Gruuthuse's death in 1492, the manuscripts entered the library of Louis XII of France, who had Gruuthuse's arms overpainted. (Wijsman; Hans-Collas, Schandel and Wijsman 2009, 176-177) | |
| Date | 1492 to 1515 | |
| Place | Place object (146) | |
| Ownership | Person object (19) | |