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Detailed record for Stowe 955
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| Author |
Pierre Sala |
| Title |
Petit Livre d'Amour |
| Origin |
France, Central (Paris) and S. E. (Lyon) |
| Date |
c. 1500 |
| Language |
French and Spanish (f. 7v) |
| Script |
Pierre Sala's handwriting in gold on purple (f. 16v in mirror-script) |
| Artists |
Miniatures attributed to the Master of the Chronique scandaleuse (see Avril and Reynaud 1993); the portrait of Pierre Sala (f. 17) attributed to Jean Perréal. The Master of the Chronique scandaleuse left the face of Pierre Sala unfinished in his miniature on f. 6 for Jean Perréal, who forgot to paint it. |
| Decoration |
12 emblematical miniatures (ff. 6, 7, 8, 9, 9*, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17); on the page facing each miniature a quatrain inscribed on a placard, surmounted (except for the first) with designs containing the letters 'M' and 'P' and a device that appears to be crossed compasses or staves. |
| Dimensions in mm |
130 x 95 (85 x 70) |
| Official foliation |
ff. i + 34 (+ 1 original parchment flyleaf before f. 1 and 1 after f. 17) |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Pre-1600. Purple velvet; original wooden carrying case covered with leather, coloured green and gold and carved with devices, among which are the letters P and M formed out of crossed compasses or staves; on the edges of the case are rings, intended for a chain to suspend the volume from the girdle. |
| Provenance |
Marguerite Builloud: at the beginning (ff. 1-4v) is an address in prose from the lover to his mistress, and at the end (f. 17) a portrait of the lover; on the back of this is written, 'Set de vray le portret de Pierre Sala mestre dotel de ches le roy avec des enimes quil avoit fet a sa mestresse qui estoit grand honcle a madame de Ressis laquelle est sortie de la mayson de Guillien en Quercy.' (f. 17v); the poems begin with 'Mon cueur veult estre en ceste Margueryte.' (f. 5v); throughout the letters M and P.
Marshal Junot, Duke of Abrantes: attached to the cover at the end is an extract from a sale-catalogue, which states that the manuscript was formerly in his possession (f. 35).
Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1776, d. 1839), 1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham: inscribed with the press-mark 'Appendix vol. I. Catal Mss. Stowe no. 26' (f. 18), corresponding to his catalogue (O'Conor 1818-1819); '26' also inscribed inside the carrying-case.
Richard Plantagenet Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos; sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham.
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham Place, Sussex.
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1840, d. 1913), 5th earl of Ashburnham: purchased by the British Museum from him together with 1084 other Stowe manuscripts in 1883. |
| Notes |
A transcription of the content has been added later on paper (ff. 18-34), probably by Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1776, d. 1839). |
| Select bibliography |
Charles O'Conor, Bibliotheca Ms. Stowensis: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Stowe Library, 2 vols (Buckingham: Seeley, 1818-1819), I, 57.
Catalogue of the Stowe Manuscripts in the British Museum, 2 vols (London: British Museum, 1895-1896), I, no. 955.
Grete Ring, A Century of French Painting 1400-1500 (London: Phaidon, 1949), no. 331, fig. 48.
Janet Backhouse, 'French Manuscript Illumination', in Renaissance Painting in Manuscripts: Treasures from the British Library, ed. by Thomas Kren (New York: Hudson Hill Press, 1983), 145-192 (no. 22 pp. 169-74).
François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peinture en France 1440-1520 (Paris: Flammarion, 1993), no. 208 [exhibition catalogue].
Janet Backhouse and Yves Giraud, Pierre Sala: Petit Livre d'Amour, Stowe MS 955, British Library, London, Kommentar, Commentaire, Commentary (Luzern: Faksimile Verlag, 1994).
Janet Backhouse, The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library (London: British Library, 1997), no. 194.
Michael Camille, The Medieval Art of Love: Objects and Subjects of Desire (London: Laurence King, 1998), p. 110, pl. 96.
Christopher de Hamel, The British Library Guide to Manuscript Illumination: History and Techniques (London: British Library, 2001), pl. 36.
Pamela Porter, Courtly Love in Medieval Manuscript (London: British Library, 2003), pp. 10-11.
Treasures of the British Library, ed. by Nicolas Barker and others (London: British Library, 2005), p. 141. |
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Carrying case
Carrying case |
Carrying case
Carrying case |
Carrying case
Carrying case |
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Carrying case
Carrying case |
Carrying case
Carrying case |
Carrying case
Carrying case |
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ff. 3v-4
Text |
ff. 5v-6
Dedication and Pierre Sala |
f. 6v
Text page |
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f. 7
Blind man's buff |
f. 8
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f. 9
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f. 9
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f. 10
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f. 15
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f. 16
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f. 16
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ff. 16v-17
Pierre Sala |
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f. 17
Pierre Sala |
f. 17
Pierre Sala |
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