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Detailed record for Yates Thompson 1
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| Title |
Bible with prologues (ff. 1-524v), followed by the Interpretations of Hebrew names (ff. 526-572v) (formerly known as 'The Fécamp Bible') |
| Origin |
France, Central (Paris) |
| Date |
3rd quarter of the 13th century |
| Language |
Latin |
| Script |
Gothic |
| Artists |
Branner 1977 p. 220 attributes the illumination to four artists:
A: responsible for the Genesis initial (f. 4v) (painted also the John initial in Vatican, Vat. lat. 120, f. 274).
B: related to the Pierre le Bar atelier, responsible for the initials from Exodus to Isaiah (ff. 15v-321).
C: responsible for the initials from Jeremiah to II Maccabees (ff. 321-419v) (painted also Vatican, Reg. lat. 16 and Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, lat. 16082).
D: related to the Mathurin atelier, responsible for the initials in the New Testament (ff. 419v-572v). |
| Decoration |
79 large historiated initials (individually described by James 1898), in colours and gold, at the beginning of each biblical book and at the major divisions of the Psalms, except Deuteronomy and Isaiah (ff. 71, 301, replaced by 15th-century leaves, the latter with large decorated initials) and Haggai, which begins with a flourished initial (f. 391v). Large initials with zoomorphic and foliate decoration, in colours, at the beginning of prologues. Small initials in red with blue pen-flourishing or in blue with red pen-flourishing, at the beginning of chapters. Chapter numbers and running titles in alternate red and blue characters. |
| Dimensions in mm |
140 x 90 (95 x 60) in two columns |
| Official foliation |
ff. ii + 578 (f. i is the upper pastedown, f. ii is a medieval flyleaf, f. 578 is the lower pastedown) |
| Collation |
i-ii24 (ff. 1-48), iii24-1+1 ( 23rd leaf excised, replaced by f. 71; ff. 49-72), iv-xii24 (ff. 73-288), xiii24-6+6 (2nd, and 11th to 15th leaves excised, replaced by ff. 290 and 299-303; ff. 289-313), xiv-xxi24 (ff. 314-505), xxii20 (ff. 506-525), xxiii24 (ff. 526-549) xxiv24-1 (6th leaf excised?; ff. 550-572), xxv4 (ff. 573-576), xxvi2 (ff. 577-578). |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Post-1600. The previous binding had 'original wooden boards, with fragment of blue silk cover: formerly had two clasps' (James 1898); re-covered in purple velvet, with two strap-and-pin fastenings, by Gruel for Yates Thompson (according to the handwritten annotations in the BL Manuscript Department's copy of the Yates Thompson Catalogue 1898 p. 5); gilt edges. |
| Provenance |
The final verso of some quires marked 'cor(rectus)' (e.g., ff. 313v, 409v).
Unidentified 13th-century owner associated with the Benedictine abbey of St Taurinus, Evreux, Normandy: following the main texts are an added table of Epistle and Gospel readings (ff. 573-576v), and a litany (ff. 576v-577); the latter includes Benedict with a double invocation; Taurinus of Evreux is first among the confessors and has a double invocation; there are numerous other Norman saints, including Aquilinus (bishop of Evreux); Cuthman and Frodomont (Fécamp); Mellonius, Romanus, and Audoenus (Rouen); Laudus (Coutances); Sidonius (St.-Saens).
Unidentified French 15th-century owner(s): responsible for the replacement of missing leaves (ff. 71, 290, 299-303), and for neat marginal annotations.
Henry Yates Thompson (b. 1838, d. 1928), collector of illuminated manuscripts and newspaper proprietor: with his book-plate inscribed '[MS] 2 / ye [i.e. £30] / [bought from Bernard] Quaritch / March / 1893.' (inside upper cover).
Bequeathed to the British Museum in 1941 by Mrs Henry Yates Thompson. |
| Select bibliography |
Montague Rhodes James, A Descriptive Catalogue of Fifty Manuscripts from the Collection of Henry Yates Thompson (Cambridge: University Press, 1898), no. 2, pp. 5-9.
Illustrations from One Hundred Manuscripts in the Library of Henry Yates Thompson, 7 vols (London: Chiswick Press, 1907-18), VI: Consisting of Ninety Plates Illustrating Seventeen MSS. with Dates Ranging from the XIIIth to the XVIth Century (1916), pp. 3-4, pl. XI.
Seymour de Ricci, Les Manuscrits de la Collection Henry Yates Thompson, Extrait du Bulletin de la Socie´te´ Franc¸aise de Reproductions de Manuscrits a` Peintures (Paris: [n. pub.], 1926), no. 2, p. 12.
Robert Branner, Manuscript Painting in Paris During the Reign of Saint Louis: A Study of Styles, California Studies in the History of Art, 18 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977), pp. 81-82, 212, 215, 220, pl. XIV, fig. 202.
Scot McKendrick and Kathleen Doyle, Bible Manuscripts: 1400 Years of Scribes and Scripture (London: British Library, 2007), pp. 10 and 110, fig. 97. |
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f. 4v
Creation |
f. 4v
Creation |
f. 179v
Solomon |
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f. 238
David harping |
f. 238
David harping |
f. 246v
Fool |
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f. 397
Historiated initial |
f. 419v
Tree of Jesse |
f. 419v
Tree of Jesse |
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