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Detailed record for Harley 4418
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| Title |
Roman de Mélusine (ends imperfectly) |
| Origin |
France, N. (Amiens) |
| Date |
c. 1450 |
| Language |
French |
| Script |
Gothic cursive |
| Artists |
Attributed to the Créquy Master (Scot McKendrick, cited in Avril and Reynaud 1993), or related to the Créquy Master, 'in a much more accomplished hand' (see Nash 1999). |
| Decoration |
17 column-wide miniatures with large decorated initials including heraldic arms and three-sided column-wide foliate borders, in colours and gold (ff. 1, 17, 36, 43v, 56, 66v, 80v, 88v, 99, 113, 118v, 140v, 160v, 174, 190, 204v, 214v); 1 miniature probably excised after f. 7. Small initials (1-2 lines), paraphs and line-fillers in gold on red and blue grounds. |
| Dimensions in mm |
330 x 235 (195 x 140) in two columns |
| Official foliation |
ff. 251 (+ 5 paper and 1 parchment flyleaves at the beginning and 1 parchment and 4 paper flyleaves at the end) |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Post-1600. Gold-tooled brown leather; gilt edges. |
| Provenance |
Jean V de Créquy, lord of Fressin and Canaples, knighted with the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1430: his arms included in initials (ff. 1, 17, 36, 43v, 56, 66v, 80v, 88v, 99, 113, 118v, 140v, 160v, 174, 190, 204v, 214v).
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts. Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d.1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library. |
| Notes |
Medieval quire signatures in the lower right corners.
1 excised leaf after f. 1 replaced by a modern parchment leaf.
The proper order of ff. 205-220 is as follows: 205, 212, 206-211, [lacuna], 219, 213-218, [lacuna], 220. |
| Select bibliography |
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: [n. pub.], 1808-12), II, no. 4418.
François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520 (Paris: Flammarion, 1993), p. 76 [exhibition catalogue].
Susie Nash, Between France and Flanders: Manuscript Illumination in Amiens in the Fifteenth Century (London: British Library, 1999), pp. 241-43, fig. 202.
Pamela Porter, Medieval Warfare in Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2000), p. 40.
Scot McKendrick, Flemish Illuminated Manuscripts 1400-1550 (London: British Library, 2003), fig. 7.
Margaret Scott, Medieval Dress & Fashion (London: British Library, 2007), p. 145, pl. 89.
Joe Flatman, Ships and Shipping in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2009), pl. 99. |
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f. 1
Man kneeling before an altar |
f. 2v
Illuminated initials |
f. 17
Raymond killing his uncle |
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f. 17
Raymond killing his uncle |
f. 36
Marriage of Melusine and Raymond |
f. 36
Marriage of Melusine and Raymond |
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f. 43v
Melusine |
f. 56
Knights in combat |
f. 56
Knights in combat |
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f. 66v
Battle scene |
f. 80v
Naval battle |
f. 80v
Naval battle |
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f. 88v
Battle on a bridge |
f. 99
Christians fighting Saracens |
f. 99
Christians fighting Saracens |
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f. 113
Sea battle |
f. 140v
Assassination |
f. 160v
Nobles entering a city |
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f. 174
Castle siege |
f. 190
Sea battle |
f. 204v
Battle |
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f. 214v
Women and dragons |
f. 214v
Women and dragons |
f. 214v
Women and dragons |
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