|
|
|
|
|
|
Detailed record for Royal 20 C VIII
|
|
|
|
| Author |
Honoré Bovet |
| Title |
L'Arbre des batailles |
| Origin |
France, S. (Avignon) |
| Date |
1st quarter of the 15th century, before 1416 |
| Language |
French |
| Script |
Gothic cursive |
| Decoration |
1 miniature in colours and gold of the presentation of the book to Jean, duke of Berry, with a full border (f. 2). 1 large diagram in grisaille (f. 2v). Foliate initials in colours and gold with foliate extensions following each rubric. |
| Dimensions in mm |
385 x 270 (285 x 165) |
| Official foliation |
ff. 165 (+ 2 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end; ff. 1, 165 are medieval parchment flyleaves) |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Post-1600. Royal library parchment binding. |
| Provenance |
Jean of Valois, (b. 1340, d.1416), duke of Berry, probably made for him: his arms and portrait (f. 2).
Two rondeaux in French, beginning 'Je may pouoir de vivre en joye...', and 'Triste playsir et doloureuse joye...', 15th century (f. 165).
John Gamston (or John of Gamston, Nottinghamshire): inscribed with his name, 'Iste liber constat Joh[an]i Gamston[i] generoso', early 16th century (f. 164v).
Henry Parker, 10th baron Morley (b. 1480/81, d. 1556) or his son Henry Parker, 11th baron Morley (b. 1531/2, d.1577): inscribed with the epitaph, 'Epitaphium Henrici Parkeri equitis domini Morlei, quod ipse ad huc vivens composuit et suo sepulcro inscribi iussit' (f. 1).
Humphrey Lloyd (b. c.1527, d.1568), Welsh antiquary, brother-in-law of John Lumley: inscribed 'Sum Humfredi Lloyde' (f. 2).
Added title in French, 'L'arbre des Batailles compose par / Honore Bonet Prieur de Salon en Provence', and a note in English identifying the text: 'Note yt in some Authors this booke is termed Dame Christine of ye / tree of Battayles; not that she made yt; But bicause she / was a notable Benefaitour to Learned men and perchaunee / to ye autor of this Booke and therefore divers of them sette furthe / their Bookes under her name; See ys Booke of Noblesse in englishe and / Chrystines life amongste ys autors de clarie mulieribus as I remember', 16th century (f. 1).
John Lumley, 1st baron Lumley (b. c. 1533, d. 1609), collector and conspirator: inscribed with his name (f. 2); listed in the 1609 catalogue of his collection, no. 1179 (see The Lumley Library, 1956); passed to Henry, prince of Wales.
Henry Frederick, prince of Wales (b. 1594, d. 1612), eldest child of James I: his collection became part of the Royal Library.
Presented to the British Museum by George II in 1757 as part of the Old Royal Library. |
| Notes |
Includes Honoré, or Honorât de Bovet (c. 1340-c. 1410), prior of Selonnet, L'Arbre des batailles, composed c. 1386-1389 for Charles VI of France (1380-1422).
Catchwords and bifolium signatures; original foliation in upper right corner referred to the list of contents (ff. 162-164). |
| Select bibliography |
H. Omont, 'Les manuscrits français des rois d'Angleterre au château de Richmond', in Etudes romanes dédiés à Gaston Paris (Paris: É. Bouillon, 1891), pp. 1-13 (p. 11).
George F. Warner and Julius P. Gilson, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Old Royal and King’s Collections, 4 vols (London: British Museum, 1921), II, pp. 274-75.
The Lumley Library: The Catalogue of 1609, ed. by Sears Jayne and Francis R. Johnson (London: British Museum, 1956), p. 149.
Fritz Saxl and Hans Meier, Catalogue of Astrological and Mythological Illuminated Manuscripts of the Latin Middle Ages, 4 vols, (London: The Warburg Institute, 1953), III: Manuscripts in English Libraries, p. 223.
Sandra Hindman, Christine de Pizan's "Epistre Othea": Painting and Politics at the Court of Charles VI, Studies and Texts, 77 (Toronto: Pontificial Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1986), pl. 62.
Janet Backhouse, The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), no. 116.
The Libraries of King Henry VIII, ed. by J. P. Carley, Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues, 7 (London: The British Library, 2000), p. 26.
Francesca Manzari, La miniatura ad Avignone al tempo dei papi (Modena: Panini, 2006), p. 270. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
f. 2
Jean, duke of Berry |
f. 2v
Diagram of a tree |
f. 2v
Diagram of a tree |
| |
|
|
|
|
