New York, Morgan Library & Museum, M 41

[Part 1]

» Full parent manuscript detail

General information

Folios282
Folio notes:The manuscript lacks a great number of folios (around 100 according to Corsair database).
LanguageLanguage object (43)
Approx. date15-4-1468
Date notesDate on f. 182v
Place(s) of productionBourges
(Corsair database)
Table of contentsModern descriptions of contents on the endpapers.
First words of second recto folio[f. 2ra] tousiours les ch(eva)l(ie)rs errans
First words of last recto folio[f. 282ra] montez moy sur mon cheual
Incipit[f. 1ra] honneur ne ennemis nous voient ja / et nous congnoíssent et se nous voulons / fuír ne tant ne quant nous ne pourro(n)s / Car tant nous suíuroient par force quilz / nous atteíndroient pour dieu sire or re / gardez icy orendroit a honneur de cheuallerie . /
Explicit[f. 282vb] certes sire / si v(ous) mourez ce sera domaige m(ou)lt g(ra)nt ytant en / dist et puis sen ala . ceux du palays saperceurent / adoncques quelle le co(n)gnoisoit . mais demander /

Material

Material:Material object (4)
Watermark:
Condition:Although the MS has lost a large number of folios, it is made of good (or even high) quality parchment. Only the first and the last folios are materially damaged (e.g. the bottom right corner of the first folio has been restored, but the portion lost is external to the ruled space). At f. 273rb, a miniature has been removed and the corresponding space has been filled with a vellum patch. Occasional resewn tears and holes: e.g. f. 33, under the ruled space, to which corresponds a hole on f. 34; f. 37, in the right margin of the external column, etc.

Structure

Collation:
Quire structure:Formerly quaternions, but now the collation is irregular due to its many lacunae.
Quire marks:MSQuiremarkDisposition object (18)
Catchwords:
Catchword disposition:MSCatchwordDisposition object (3)

Physical description

No. of illustrations:80
General illustration:80 surviving miniatures (height: 10-15 lines), inserted in the column, framed by thin brown and gilded lines. They are attributed to the Master of the Vienna Mamerot (cf. Corsair database), near to the style of Jean Colombe of Bourges. Colours are not bright, large spaces are left to the landscape. At f. 273rb, a miniature has been removed and the corresponding space has been filled with a vellum patch.
General decoration:Framed decorated initials (height: 4-5 lines), gilded letters on blue and red background with white touches (e.g. ff. 1rb, 13rb, 14va, etc.), usually in line with the typical paratextual pattern (rubric + illumination + initial). In some instances the shape of the frame is different and the background is divided into two halves, red and blue with gilded decoration (e.g. ff. 6va, 14ra, 21va, etc.). Framed chapter initials (height: 2 lines), gilded letters on red or blue background. Starting from f. 39ra, these initials are more elaborately decorated. Verse texts have been copied in columns, with more or less elaborate initials at the beginning of the text (cf. for instance ff. 21ra and 38vb).
Evidence of readership:Marginal drawings in pencil at f. 115v, 161r, 180r, 181r, etc. (according to Corsair database, no longer visible or hardly visible), with no specific reference to the text. Visible at f. 180r, a fleur-de-lys, and at f. 264v, a fleur-de-lys with a little bird. A modern hand added some short comments in pencil, mainly recording or highlighting the name of a character (e.g. f. 2r next to col. b; f. 3v next to col. a; f. 8r next to col. b). The same hand also glosses the illustrations (e.g. f. 81ra) and the use of roman numerals (e.g. f. 46), it is probably the same hand that added the third foliation.
Foliations description:Folios are numbered by a modern hand in arabic numerals starting from f. 1, and in the top margin above the intercolumn in roman numerals in red ink (f. 1 = XXVI), occasionally written over by a modern hand in black pen. This second series is repeated under the roman numerals in arabic numerals and in pencil by a modern hand, so for instance f. 282 = XVIxx x = 330.

Mise en page

Description 1
Page sampled3v
LayoutMSLayout object (3)
Page dimensions434x322 (mm)
Justification314x238 (mm)
Columns2
23mm between columns
Column ruling present in Colours object (1) (RulingMaterials object (1) )
Lines53
Line ruling present in Colours object (1) (RulingMaterials object (1) )
RubricationRubrics usually precede the miniatures.
Writing above top line?False
Sample page layout:

Hand(s)

Level of Execution:Execution object (5)
ScriptScript object (7)
Folio rangeFrom 1ra to 282vb
Date15-4-1468
Scribe description:One hand (or more than one hand according to Corsair database). The hand(s) is (are) regular, and airy and fluid, often exceeding the right margin of the column. Single-box 'a', open 'g', 'b' and 'l' with and without upper loop, 'h', 'd', 'f', 's' without loop, occasional pen-flourishes under the writing space (ff. 2ra, 9ra, 10rb, etc.) or above its top margin (ff. 6va, 7rb, etc.). There is a recurrent chiffre (DG or H), not unlikely by the scribe (at f. 182v, but the same sign seems to occur, but it is hardly visible, also at ff. 159v, 169r, and 174v), cf. Corsair database.
Notes