YALE UNIVERSITY
BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
GENERAL COLLECTION OF RARE BOOKS AND
MANUSCRIPTS
PRE-1600 MANUSCRIPTS
Beinecke MS 229 France, s. XIII^^ex
Arthurian Romances
1. ff. 1r-186r Chi en droit dist li contes que quant Agrauains se fu
partis de ses compaignons si come vous aues oit...tant assembles la
veille de pentecouste quil nest nus qui les veist qui ne sen peust
esmerueillier. Chi fenist maistre Gautier mape son liure, et commence
del graal. f. 186v blank
Le livre de Lancelot du Lac, part III; H. O. Sommer, ed., The Vulgate
Version of the Arthurian Romances (Washington D. C., 1910), v. 5, pp.
3-409.
2. ff. 187r-272v A la veille de pentecouste quant tout li compaignon
de la table reonde furent venu a kamaalot...Et quant Bohort eut contees
les auentures du Graal teles com il les avoit veues. Si furent mises en
escrit et gardees en labeie de salesbieres dont Maistre Gautier Map les
traist a faire son liure du saint Graal por lamor du roi heinri son
signor qui fist lestoire translater de latin en francois. Si se taist a
tant li contes que plus nen dist des auentures du saint Graal.
La queste del Saint Graal; Sommer, op. cit., v. 6 (1913) pp. 3-199.
3. ff. 272v-363r Apres ce que Maistre Gautier Mappe ot tretie des
auentures du saint Graal soffisaument si com il li sambloit...Mais a
tant se taist ore li contes a parler de lestoire de lancelot du lac car
bien a tout mene a fin mestre Gautier maples selonc les choses qui
auienrent et define si son liure et si outreement que apres ce ne
porroit nus reconter chose quil ne mentist. Explicit la mort au Roi
artus et de lancelot du lac et des compaignons de la table reonde.
La mort au Roy Artus; Sommer, op. cit., v. 6 (1913) pp. 203-391.
Parchment, ff. i (paper) + 363 + i (paper); 475 x 343 (325 x 220)
mm. Written in two columns, 39-40 lines, single vertical bounding lines
on either side, full length, double horizontal bounding lines at top,
center, and bottom of written space, full across. Ruled in lead.
Prickings in outer margin; on some folios, an additional pricking in
outer margin for the upper of the two horizontal bounding lines at the
bottom of the written space.
I-IX^^8, X-XII^^10, XIII-XIV^^8, XV^^8 (-4, following f. 115),
XVI-XLV^^8, XLVI^^4. Quires signed at center of lower margin, of the
first recto (e. g., a, b, c...a2, b2, etc.). Leaf signatures (e. g. ai,
aii, aiii) remain in XXI, XXVI, and XL between the lower horizontal
bounding lines, in XXXIII (a, b, c) in the lower margin. Catchwords in
brown ink (partially flaked off) between two short ruled lines, lower
right verso. Catchword for XVI rewritten above the partially trimmed
original in a cursive script (s. xv).
Written in elegant gothic textura by one scribe, with a few
interlinear corrections in later hands (s. xiv and xv).
The decoration of this lavishly illuminated manuscript consists of
seventy-seven large column miniatures, fifty-one smaller miniatures,
and thirty-six historiated initials. Miniatures and historiated
initials by at least two artists, the scale and quality of whose work
distinguish the manuscript from contemporary and most fourteenth-
century Arthurian manuscripts. [See Exhibition Catalogue, no. 25, pp.
197-99 and E. Simmons Greenhill, "A Fourteenth-Century Workshop of
Manuscript Illuminators and its Localization," Zeitschrift fuer
Kunstgeschichte, v. 40 (1977).] A manuscript in Paris, B. N. fr. 95,
which contains, among other non-Arthurian texts, Lestoire del Saint
Graal and the Lestoire de Merlin, may be a pendant of the Beinecke
Lancelot (see R. S. Loomis, Arthurian Legends in Medieval Art [New
York, 1938] pp. 95-97 and M. Montpetit in Art and the Courts, exhib.
cat. [Ottawa 1972] p. 88, no. 17) or a closely related product of the
same shop (see M. A. Stones, "Secular Manuscript Illumination in
France," Medieval Manuscripts and Textual Criticism, University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Dept. of Romance Languages, Symposia, no.
4, ed. C. Kleinhenz [Chapel Hill, 1976] pp. 83-102 and figs. 3, 11 and
13, of ff. 187r, 126r and 290v respectively). Various features of
Paris, B. N. fr. 95 (size, format, script, mise-en-page, and the type
of decoration) are exceedingly close to the Beinecke Lancelot. Other
manuscripts possibly from the same workshop are Brussels, Bibl. Roy. MS
10607, Psalter of Gui de Dampierre; Marseille, Bibl. Mun. MS 111, Book
of Hours; and Paris, B. N. lat. 1076, Psalter (See Stones, op.
cit., p. 91, figs. 12 and 16); Florence, Laur. Ash. 125; Bruges Seminary
45/144. Large miniatures, 12- to 11-lines, one column, framed and
usually divided into two registers by thin bands, gold, red and/or blue
with white highlights, edged in black, sometimes with arched canopies,
often with architectural elements protruding (a few frames composed of
thicker bands); figures in black pen against burnished gold (occasionally
with painted gold diaperwork), blue or black grounds; chief colors: light
blue, dark blue, grey, light brown, white, maroon, with some orange,
green and gold. Borders on folios with large miniatures of a variety
and inventiveness that defy strict classification: gold, red, and blue
bands, edged in black, also running between, below and/or above text
columns, terminating in dragons, dragon or human heads, groteques or,
most commonly, floral spirals, some with frets, blue and red with white
highlights and orange and green dots, against gold, blue and/or maroon
cusped grounds, often with pinwheel-like projections. The borders are
populated with magnificent grotesques and marginalia in the same style
as the miniatures, many of them of a narrative or satirical character
(see L. Randall, "The Snail in Gothic Marginal Warfare," Speculum 37
(1962) pp. 338, 367 and idem, Images in the Margins of Gothic
Manuscripts [Berkeley, Los Angeles, 1966] passim); some of these
incorporate coats of arms (see Provenance). Small miniatures, 5- to 6-
line, 1/2 text column, often with a 2-line initial inserted in upper
right corner, otherwise as above, with border decoration on a smaller
scale and unattached to miniature. Historiated initials, 5-line
(letters without ascenders or descenders) to 13-line, red and/or blue,
with geometric motifs in paler shades of red and blue, white, with
touches of orange, against gold grounds, edged in black, with long
dragon and floral serifs, as above, against cusped gold grounds;
figures in same style as miniatures, against gold grounds.
The subjects of the miniatures are as follow; in parentheses are
given page and line number of corresponding text in Sommer's edition.
The symbols LM, SM, and HI indicate large miniature, small miniature
and historiated initial. We thank M. A. Stones for her assistance with
this sequence of scenes. The subjects of these illuminations are
not
included in the General Index.
f. 1r (3:1) Agravain meets the bandaged knight and the weeping
damsel; Agravain takes his leave. [HI]
f. 3v (9:33) Guerrhes meets a peasant leading a donkey loaded with
firewood; Guerrhes attacks the ten knights. [LM]
f. 11v (29:34) The knight in the fourth pavilion drags his wife
out of bed by the hair. [HI]
f. 14r (35:20) Gaheriet meets a damsel in the woods at vespers.
[HI]
f. 15v (38:29) Gaheriet unhorses one of Guinas' knights. [HI]
f. 18r (44:4) Gaheriet and Guidan in combat. [HI]
f. 23v (55:8) The Seneschal breaks his lance and is wounded by
Agravain. [HI]
f. 24r (56:9) Agravain set upon by the ten knights. [HI]
f. 25r (59:1) Lucan addresses the King; the Queen with Elysabel;
the Queen asleep. [HI]
f. 27v (63:20) Bohort and Lionel leave the court; Lancelot and a
damsel on horseback; the Queen asleep. [LM]
f. 29r (67:14) Lancelot, with new armor, leaves the old damsel;
Lancelot exchanges greetings with a damsel on horseback. [LM]
f. 31r (70:39) Head of the damsel who brings news of Lancelot [?].
[HI]
f. 31r (71:3) Head of Lancelot [?]. [HI]
f. 31r (71:6; miniature illustrates previous section) The Queen
leads to the king the damsel who has told her of Lancelot. [LM]
f. 31r (71:6) Lancelot and the old damsel leave the convent;
Lancelot and the old damsel join the banquet of the knight and two
damsels. [LM]
f. 31r (71:6) Head of Lancelot's guide [?]. [HI]
f. 39v (89:13) Hector meets a damsel in the woods; Hector and
Tercian in combat. [LM]
f. 40v (91:23) The Queen of Sorestan and her suite find Lancelot
asleep; the enchanted Lancelot is carried away by litter. [LM]
f. 43r (96:11) Lancelot and the knight in the bed. [HI]
f. 48r (106:23) Lancelot attacks the serpent in the tomb. [HI]
f. 50r (111:23) Lancelot discovers the identity of Pelles'
daughter. [HI]
f. 52r (116:28) Lancelot takes his leave despite the knight's
warnings. [HI]
f. 56r (124:18) Ywain leaves the friars; Ywain and Bohort fight
over the dwarf's dog. [LM]
f. 62v (138:25) Bohort and the damsel arrive at Galvoie; Bohort
and Mariales in combat. [LM]
f. 66r (147:37) Gawain leaves the hermit; Gawain overtakes a
damsel and squire. [LM]
f. 66v (148:28) The damsels caroling; the enchanted chessboard.
[LM]
f. 75r (168:17) Lancelot and the damsel leave the hermitage; the
knights of the Round Table in battle with the knights of Baudemagus.
[LM]
f. 83r (187:3) Bohort attacks Gaheriet. [HI]
f. 85v (192:29) Unidentified: a man in bed and 3 men before King
Arthur; the Queen gives Lancelot the ring of the Lady of the Lake. [LM]
f. 88r (197:28) Two knights set fire to the "castel de la blanche
espine". [HI]
f. 92v (206:40) Lancelot and Tercian fight with swords. [HI]
f. 94v (210:30) Lancelot follows the damsel; Lancelot kills the
knight in the wood. [LM]
f. 98r (219:3) Gawain takes his leave of Arthur and Guenever;
Gawain arrives at the castle of the "quens del parc". [LM]
f. 99r (ca. 220:26; text varies from Sommer) The knights meet at
the "castel de trepas"; the squire is dispatched to Carduel. [LM]
f. 99v (222:6) Lancelot picks the rose in Morgan's garden;
Lancelot escapes and gives his message to the porter. [LM]
f. 100v (223:38) Lancelot meets a damsel and a dwarf; Lancelot and
the wounded knight in a litter. [LM]
f. 104v (231:32) The Scottish King Heliser converted by Joseph of
Arimathea is given food by the porter of the abbey; Heliser finds his
son beside him on awakening. [LM]
f. 106v (235:8) Lancelot and the wounded Lionel received by the
friars; Lancelot rides by the cross of Clochides, talks to the hermit
in his hut, climbs towards the castle, with Gawain (identifiable by his
bandaged head) and the other imprisoned knights at the battlements.
[LM]
f. 109r (240:10) Bohort and Lancelot embrace. [HI]
f. 110v (243:20) Lancelot takes his leave; Lancelot greets the
prisoners. [LM]
f. 110v (244:13) Lancelot meets the dwarf who tells him of the
dangers of the perilous forest; Lancelot fights the lions guarding the
tomb; Lancelot lifts the head out of the boiling water, shows the head
to the hermit who points to the tomb, and opens the tomb which contains
a headless body. [LM]
f. 112r (247:19) Lancelot asks the hermit what he knows of his
past. [HI]
f. 113r (250:8) Lancelot kills the knight who insists on a joust.
[HI]
f. 115r (253:33) Lancelot speaking to Sarras after unhorsing
Belias. [SM]
f. 119r (263:26) The black knight wounds Lancelot in the shoulder;
the followers of the black knight set upon Lancelot as the black knight
flees to his castle. [LM]
f. 120v (265:34) Lancelot unfetters Mordret. [HI]
f. 126r (277:37) Lancelot and Mordret see the stag and the lions;
two knights seize the horses of Lancelot and Mordret. [LM]
f. 128r (281:31) Mordret unhorses a knight. [SM]
f. 132v (290:5) Hector and Lionel recognize Mordret among the
wounded knights; Mordret taken to the castle in a litter. [LM]
f. 133v (292:11) Bohort and Lancelot see a fire; Bohort sees two
men dragging a damsel by the hair while others beat a knight clad only
in his shirt. [LM]
f. 135r (299:16) Bohort overwhelmed by a hail of arrows. [SM]
f. 137v (303:33) Lancelot enters the pavilion with two candles,
where a damsel lies on a bed watched by a dwarf; Lancelot fights the
damsel's second knight. [LM]
f. 139r (306:15) Lancelot kills the black knight by his pavilions.
[HI]
f. 140v (308:21) Lancelot unhorses one of the knights who mistakes
him for Kex. [HI]
f. 141v (309:37) Lancelot unhorses Gawain. [HI]
f. 143v (312:13) Gawain retrieves the shield discarded by
Lancelot; the four companions ride toward Camelot. [LM]
f. 147r (317:25) Gawain and other knights with a squire carrying
lances for jousting. [HI]
f. 147r (318:11) Gawain knocks both Lancelot and his horse to the
ground. [HI]
f. 148v (320:14) Brumant burns in the perilous seat. [HI]
f. 153v (ca. 330:25; text varies from Sommer) Claudas' fleet. [HI]
f. 154v (332:8) Arthur summons the companions of the quest to
relate their adventures. [LM]
f. 156v (ca. 337:14; text varies from Sommer) The attack of
Patrides. [HI]
f. 160r (349:40) The battle against the Romans. [SM]
f. 164r (358:17) The battle against the Romans. [SM]
f. 164v (359:27) King Carados and his division. [HI]
f. 165r (ca. 360:27; text varies from Sommer) The battle for the
standard. [HI]
f. 167r (ca. 364:20) Bohort and Hector with Claudius' horse. [SM]
f. 168r (366:16) Claudin with his escort of forty knights outside
Gawain's pavilion. [SM]
f. 169r (369:15) Arthur threatens the squire; Arthur blows his
horn to call his suite. [LM]
f. 174v (381:11--miniature illustrates previous section) The
demented Lancelot in the woods. [LM]
f. 175r (381:11) The King, Helaine [?], and Bohort reproaching the
Queen; Bohort, Hector, and Lionel meet Mellic del Terte near a cross.
[LM]
f. 177v (388:10) Perceval strikes the knight into the water. [SM]
f. 178r (389:35) Hector and Perceval fight together. [SM]
f. 180r (393:29) Having found a lance, shield, and sword suspended
on a stake outside a pavilion, Lancelot strikes the shield with the
sword; Lancelot asleep inside the pavilion with Bliant and the damsel
outside. [LM]
f. 181r (396:6) Bliant and Celinant tie up Lancelot. [SM] [inset
initial missing).
f. 183v (404:3) Hector and Perceval ask the damsel with a hawk
about the castle on the Island of Joy; Perceval, Lancelot, and Helaine
at a banquet [?]. [LM]
f. 184v (406:8) Lancelot in black armor charges against Perceval.
[SM]
f. 187r (3:1) Pelles arrives at Camelot; Pelles departs with
Lancelot. [LM]
f. 194v (20:31) Galahad arrives at the abbey of the white friars;
a white knight wounds Baudemagus. [LM]
f. 197v (27:1) The fiery devil emerges from the tomb. [SM]
f. 199r (31:1) Melain sees the golden crown on a chair by an empty
table; having carried off the crown, Melain is wounded in the left side
by another knight. [LM]
f. 201r (35:15) Galahad fights the seven knights. [SM]
f. 202v (37:27) Gawain arrives at the abbey where Galahad left
Melain; the seven brothers fleeing from Galahad attack Gawain,
Gaheriet, and Ywain by the Castle of the Maidens. [LM]
f. 204r (40:26) Galahad meets Lancelot and Perceval and unhorses
Lancelot; Galahad unhorses Perceval with a blow to the head. [LM]
f. 209r (52:3) Perceval returns to the recluse; Perceval's aunt
explains the three tables to him. [LM]
f. 213v (63:18) Perceval rides into the forest. [HI]
f. 214v (65:34) A knight kills Perceval's palfrey. [SM]
f. 215r (66:38) The damsel brings Perceval the black charger. [HI]
f. 217v (71:21) Perceval and the ship draped in white samite. [SM]
f. 220r (76:32) Perceval and the beautiful damsel in the ship.
[SM]
f. 222v (83:1; miniature illustrates previous section) Perceval
sets sail. [LM]
f. 223r (83:1) The hermit preaches to Lancelot for three days;
Lancelot meets the squire who reproaches him for having remained
unmoved at the sight of the Holy Grail. [LM]
f. 225r (87:14) The nephews of the count try to burn the old man's
clothes. [HI]
f. 231r (100:11) Lancelot comes to a castle where a tournament is
in progress. [SM]
f. 233r (105;12) Gawain meets Hector; Gawain and Hector asleep in
the chapel with their horses outside. [LM]
f. 235r (109:6) Gawain fights the knight who challenges him and
Hector. [SM]
f. 238r (116:15; miniature illustrates previous section) Gawain
and Hector on horseback. [LM]
f. 238r (116:15) Bohort meets an old friar on an ass; Bohort and
the old man eat bread and water together. [LM]
f. 241v (124:22) Bohort and Priadan in combat. [HI]
f. 242v (126:18) Bohort rescues the damsel. [SM]
f. 248r (138:16) The flame from heaven comes between Bohort and
Lionel. [SM]
f. 248v (140:14) Galahad meets Gawain in a tournament and strikes
him on the head; Galahad leaves the hermitage and rides with the damsel
through the forest of Celibe. [LM]
f. 250r (143:13) Galahad, Perceval, Bohort, and the damsel on the
ship. [SM]
f. 250v (145:8) Galahad, Perceval, Bohort, and the damsel board
Solomon's ship. [SM]
f. 253r (151:11) Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the forbidden tree;
the sacrifices of Cain and Abel (Eve spinning and Adam delving in the
margin). [LM]
f. 255r (155:19) Cain kills Abel [SM] [inset initial missing].
f. 257v (161:23) Galahad, Perceval, and Bohort find the ship built
by Solomon with the three staves fashioned from the Tree of Life; the
three knights and the damsel sail away. [LM]
f. 258v (163:38) Galahad, Perceval, and Bohort in the castle of
Count Ernols. [SM]
f. 260v (168:37) Galahad, Perceval, and Bohort fight the knights
of the castle. [SM]
f. 262r (173:9) Galahad and Perceval find the castle in ruins and
all of its inhabitants slaughtered; Galahad and Perceval part ways at
the edge of the wood. [LM]
f. 262v (174:10) Lancelot, holding Perceval's scroll, ("cest le
seur percheual le galoi"; cf. Sommer, 175:18) in the ship with the
damsel on the rich bed; the ship arrives at a rock with an old man in a
chapel. [LM]
f. 264v (178:30) Lancelot's ship arrives at the castle guarded by
two lions. [SM]
f. 267r (184:28; miniature illustrates previous section) Lancelot
returns to court. [LM]
f. 267v (184:28) King Mordrian dies in Galahad's arms and his soul
is received by angels; Galahad and Perceval on horseback. [LM]
f. 269v (190:23) Christ (looking like a bishop) gives the host to
the kneeling Galahad. [SM]
f. 272v (203:1) King Henry requests Walter Map to translate the
Death of Arthur; Arthur and his knights set out for Winchester. [LM]
f. 276r (211:22) The Tournament of Winchester. [SM]
f. 277r (214:1) Gawain and Gaherret meet two squires carrying a
dead knight; Gawain and Gaherret arrive at Winchester. [LM]
f. 282v (225:21) The knight of Escalot at Lancelot's bedside and
the arrival of the damsel of Escalot; the tournament at Taneborc. [LM]
f. 287r (234:34) The King and his suite lose their way in the
woods; Arthur arrives at the castle of Morgan. [LM]
f. 289r (239:14) Morgan with King Arthur. [SM]
f. 290v (242:4) Lancelot and the two young knights of Escalot
approach Camelot; Gawain speaks with the Queen and Lancelot is told the
Queen is ill. [LM]
f. 293r (247:36) Arthur returns from Morgan's castle to Camelot;
Gaheris de Kareheu killed by the poisoned apples. [LM]
f. 294r (250:9) Lancelot struck by the huntsman's arrow; Lancelot
rides to the hermit. [LM]
f. 295r (252:9) The tournament at Camelot; Bohort speaks with
Arthur before leaving Camelot. [LM]
f. 297v (257:19) The arrival of the body of the maiden of Escalot.
[SM]
f. 298v (259:20) Lancelot finds a knight sleeping at a fountain;
Lancelot and Hector take leave of the hermit. [LM]
f. 300v (263:4) Arthur and Gawain welcome Bohort and Hector;
Bohort with the Queen. [LM]
f. 303r (267:27) Mador and Lancelot in combat. [SM]
f. 307r (276:2) Lancelot drags Tanaguis' body into the Queen's
chamber. [SM]
f. 308r (277:25) Guerrehes and Mordret take the Queen prisoner;
Lancelot kills Agravain and the Queen stands by the fire. [LM]
f. 311r (284:6) The squire tells Arthur that Lancelot has carried
off the Queen, and Mordret arrives to confirm the news; Arthur laments
over his dead knights. [LM]
f. 313r (288:30) Gawain being cared for in bed. [SM]
f. 315r (293:7) Arthur and his host assemble at Camelot; Arthur's
camp pitched by Lancelot's castle. [LM]
f. 318r (299:27) Fighting before La Joyeuse Garde. [SM]
f. 320v (304:22) Encounter between the vanguards of Gawain and
Bohort [SM] [inset initial missing; guide-letter remains].
f. 321r (306:2) Arthur and his knights attack Lancelot and his
followers. [SM]
f. 325r (314: ca. 14; text varies from Sommer) Lancelot and his
400 knights leave La Joyeuse Garde by ship; Lancelot and his knights
arrive at Benoye. [LM]
f. 326r (310:29) Arthur says farewell to the Queen at the port;
Arthur's troops pitch camp in Gaul. [LM]
f. 329r (321:11) A squire presents Mordret's letter to the Queen;
Mordret pretends to faint with grief while the Queen mourns. [LM]
f. 332r (327:6) Mordret lays seige to the Tower of London. [SM]
f. 333r (328:18) Arthur asks Gawain how to end the war; Arthur,
Gawain, and Carados meet Lancelot, Bohort, and Hector. [LM]
f. 337v (335:24) The exchange of gages. [SM]
f. 339r (337:27) Gawain and Lancelot in combat. [SM]
f. 341v (342:6) Gawain and Lancelot fight with swords. [SM]
f. 345r (348:6) Arthur Kills the Emperor [SM]
f. 346r (351:22) Mordret's seige of the Tower of London; a
messenger announces Arthur's return. [LM]
f. 347r (353:6) The Queen leaves the Tower accompanied by two
damsels on palfreys and two squires with packhorses; the Queen arrives
at the abbey (the second scene badly rubbed). [LM]
f. 348r (355:14) Arthur returns to Dover with the dying Gawain;
the death of Gawain. [LM]
f. 350r (360:1) Arthur sets out against Mordret; Arthur's vision
of Gawain with the poor. [LM]
f. 352v (ca. 365:15; text varies from Sommer) The Knights of Arcaus
and Ywain in combat. [SM]
f. 352v (365:21) Ywain's division in combat with the Saxons. [SM]
f. 353v (367:23) Ywain's division in combat with the Irish. [SM]
f. 356r (text varies from Sommer) The Battle on Salisbury Plain.
[LM]
f. 356v (374:25) King Arthur and Mordret in combat. [SM]
f. 357r (375:12) King Arthur charges at Mordret to avenge
Galegantin. [SM]
f. 357v (ca. 365:66; text varies from Sommer) Arthur kills
Mordret. [LM]
f. 359r (ca. 376:20; text varies from Sommer) Lucan and Gifflet
find Arthur in the Black Chapel; Gifflet throws Excalibur into the lake
where it is brandished by the hand rising from the water. [LM]
f. 359v (381:15; text given in Sommer, no. 9M) Arthur and his
horse board Morgan's ship. [SM]
f. 360v (384:23) Bohort sails to Great Britain; the Battle of
Winchester. [LM]
f. 361r (385:13) Lancelot pursues the sons of Mordret. [SM]
f. 361v (ca. 387:2; text varies from Sommer) Lancelot greeted by
two priests. [SM]
f. 362r (387:24) Bohort enters Winchester; Hector and Lancelot at
the hermitage. [LM] and Ywain in combat. [SM]
f. 363r (390:10) The burial of Lancelot. [SM]
f. 363r (390:30) Bohort tells the archbishops of the last years of
Lancelot's life. [SM]
Illuminated initials, 3- to 1-line, gold, with globular serifs,
edged thickly in black, against irregular red and blue grounds, also
edged in black, with white floral filigree or heraldic birds, in white;
flowers touched in with orange. (Cf. the illuminated initials in
Brussels, Bibl. Roy. MS 18295, C. Gaspar and F. Lyna, Les principaux
manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Royale de Belgique [Paris, 1937, 1945]
pp. 162-63, pl. XXXIIId.) On ff. 1v-2r only, 2-line initials, gold,
with red penwork on f. 7v only, a gold initial, 3-line, with red and
blue penwork in a different style. On folios without miniatures (except
ff. 2v-8v), a thin gold band runs along the left side of each text
column, interrupted by initials, with a thin red pen-line on either
side; adjacent, to the left, a column of I's each 3-line and blue and
red alternately, with small spiral and curlicue flourishes, terminating
in large flourishes in red or blue on alternate openings, each with
pinwheel-like arms projecting from a central spiral with small petals
and flourishes in blue and red; design of the terminal flourishes
varies from one gathering to another; some with naturalistic leaves and
flowers or fleurs-de-lis; terminals on ff. 1v-2r by the same hand as
penwork initials on those folios. Line-fillers of varying design: two
pairs of blue and red tapering bands, heraldically arranged and joined
at center by red flower; undulating red line with red and/or blue balls
under and over each crest and trough; red zigzag with blue infilling
and spiral flourishes at terminals; alternating red and blue flowers;
red and blue dots, etc.
Some folios stained; f. 253 slashed in margin; f. 361 cut right
across and glued together.
Binding: s. xviii. Light brown calf blind- and gold-tooled. Sewing
holes in inner margins.
Written in Northern France toward the end of the 13th century, as
indicated by the style of the decoration; M. A. Stones suggests Therouanne
as the likely provenance. The marginal decoration incorporates several
true coats of arms which may have some bearing on the original
ownership, as all are those of important Flemish nobility. Arms of
Guillaume de Termonde (1248-1312), the second son of Gui de Dampierre,
count of Flanders from 1278 to 1305 (or, a lion sable, a bend gules),
on f. 187r and (without gold ground) on ff. 66r and 260v; identified by
Stones, op. cit., p. 87. Arms of Gui de Dampierre (or, a lion sable) on
ff. 23v, 100v, 126r and 260v. Five arms appear which also appear in the
Psalter made for Gui de Dampierre (Brussels, Bibl. Roy. MS 10607, all
identified by Gaspar and Lyna, op. cit.; cf. Exhibition
Catalogue, pp.
198-99): those of Gruythuse of Bruges (or, a cross sable), on ff. 1r
and 126r; those of Bergen (or, a lion gules), Mortaigne (or, a cross
gules) and Court [?] (argent, a lion gules), all on f. 100v; and those
of Northwyck, Bouchorst, Crechy or Fiennes (argent, a lion sable), on
f. 347r. An unidentified coat of arms (or, a bend cottised gules) on f.
15v. Apparently belonged to Sir Isaac Heard (1730-1822), but we have
been unable to confirm this. Bought from Royez by Sir Thomas Phillipps
(according to Phillipps Studies v. 3, p. 145, n. 1; his no. 130, stamp
and inscription inside from cover and tag on spine). Sold by Sotheby's
(1 July 1946) to William Robinson, Ltd. Bought from Dudley M. Colman by
C. A. Stonehill in 1954. Purchased from C. A. Stonehill in 1955 as the gift of
the Yale Library Associates.
secundo folio: a tant
Bibliography: Faye and Bond p. 43, no. 229.
Exhibition Catalogue, pp. 197-99, no. 25, and pl. 10 (f. 209r).
"Eight Medieval manuscripts," Gazette 29 (1955), pp. 99-112 and
frontispiece (f. 238r).
G. Evelyn Hutchinson, "Zoological Iconography in the West after A.
D. 1200," American Scientist 66 (1978) p. 680, fig. 7 (f.
94v).
Barbara A. Shailor