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Detailed record for Egerton 881
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| Author |
Guillaume de Lorris and Jean le Meung |
| Title |
Roman de la Rose |
| Origin |
France, Central? (Paris?) |
| Date |
c. 1380 |
| Language |
French |
| Script |
Gothic cursive |
| Artists |
Two different hands, artist A (ff. 1-83v, 123-124, 128v-132, 151-167), and artist B (ff. 93v-121, 126, 141v). |
| Decoration |
2 large miniatures, the first accompanied by 2 large decorated initials and a full foliate border, in colours and gold (ff. 1, 121). 3 smaller miniatures, followed by large decorated initials with foliate extensions into the margins, in colours and gold (ff. 123, 151v, 160v). Small column-wide miniatures, in colours and gold (ff. 2v (x2), 3 (x2), 3v, 4, 4v, 5v (x2), 6, 6v, 9, 10, 10v, 11, 11v, 17v, 19v, 20, 21v, 22v, 23v, 24v, 25, 29, 37v, 40, 45, 48v, 52, 62, 63, 64v, 66v, 67v, 71v, 75v, 78, 83v, 93v, 95v, 96v, 101, 113v, 114v, 115v, 116, 119, 124, 126, 128v, 132 (x2), 141v, 151, 163, 165v, 167). 1 large historiated initial with a three-sided foliate border, in colours and gold (f. 129). 1 large and 1 smaller decorated initial with foliate extensions into the margins, in colours and gold (ff. 163v, 170). Small initials in gold on red and blue grounds. Small initials in red with blue or purple pen-flourishing or in blue with red pen-flourishing, with decorated extensions in red and blue; some ending with birds and foliate decoration, partly coloured (e.g. ff. 118v, 167v). Small initials in brown ink with brown foliate pen-flourishing, some including human heads (e.g. ff. 59v, 93). Capital letters at the beginning of the line highlighted in yellow or green. |
| Dimensions in mm |
205 x 140 (140 x 105) in two columns |
| Official foliation |
ff. 172 (+ f. 1*; + 1 parchment flyleaf at the end) |
| Collation |
i8-1 (ff. 1-7), ii8-3(ff. 8-12), iii 8-3(ff. 13-17), iv8-2 (ff. 18-23), v8-1(ff. 24-30), vi8 (ff 31-38), vii8-5 (ff. 39-43), viii-x8 (ff. 44-67), xi8-3(ff. 68-74), xii8 (ff. 75-82), xiii8-2 (ff. 83-88), xiv8-1 (ff. 89-95), xv8-2 (ff. 96-101), xvi-xvii8 (ff. 102-117), xviii8-1(ff. 118-124), xix8-1(ff. 125-129), xx8-1(ff. 130-136), xxi 8-1(137-143), xxii-xxiv8 (ff. 144-166), xxv6 (ff. 167-172). |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Post-1600. Tooled brown leather; rebacked; gilt edges. |
| Provenance |
Inscription, 15th century: 'Cest a moy a qui mapartient...' (f. 172v).
Drawing of man and woman, 15th century: inscribed below 'Jehan Lemorgne', and 'Perrine Morgnesse'(?) (f. 172v).
Bought in 1840 by the British Museum, using the Farnborough Fund (£3,000 bequeathed in 1838 by Charles Long, Baron Farnborough (b. 1761, d. 1838), a cousin of Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (b. 1756, d. 1829), founder of the collection. |
| Notes |
Full digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Digitised Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts.
The text of the Roman de la rose was begun around 1220, possibly by Guillaume de Lorris and continued by Jean de Meun between 1269-1278. It is around 20,000 octosyllabic lines of French verse narrating the dream of a young lover, in which the long quest he has undertaken ends when he breaches the castle of Jealousy and obtains the rose. The earlier text is around 4,000 lines, and is lyrical and courtly, while the later addition is more didactic, scholarly, and pessimistic.
Rubrics noted in the margins in brown ink, probably by the scribe (e.g. f. 168); many instructions for the painters in the same hand (e.g. ff. 19v, 126, etc.). |
| Select bibliography |
List of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1836-1840 (London: British Museum, 1843), 1840, p. 22.
A Guide to the Exhibition of Some Part of the Egerton Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Library, 1929), no. 12.
Fritz Saxl and Hans Meier, Verzeichnis astrologischer und mythologischer illustrierter Handschriften des lateinischen Mittelalters, ed. by Harry Bober, 4 vols (London: Warburg Institute, 1916-66), III: Handschriften in englischen Bibliotheken (1953), p. 135-36.
Michael Camille, The Medieval Art of Love: Objects and Subjects of Desire (London: Laurence King, 1998), p. 148, pl. 134.
Herman Braet, ‘L’instruction, le titulus, la rubrique: Observations sur la nature des éléments péritextuels’, in ’Als Ich Can’: Liber Amicorum in Memory of Professor Dr. Maurits Smeyers, ed. by Bert Cardon and others (Paris: Uitgeverij Peeters, 2002), pp. 203-12 (p. 203).)
Sophie Page, Astrology in Medieval Manuscript (London: British Library, 2002), p. 32.
Pamela Porter, Courty Love in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2003), p. 32.
Herman Braet,, Nouvelle Bibliographie du Roman de la Rose (Louvain: Peeters, 2017), p. 203. |
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f. 1
Dream |
f. 6v
Oyseuse |
f. 11
Narcissus |
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f. 11
Narcissus |
f. 11v
Lover |
f. 40
Virginius and Virginia |
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f. 40
Virginius and Virginia |
f. 64v
Lucretia |
f. 78
Lover and Diex d'Amours |
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f. 83v
Faus-Semblant and Lover |
f. 101
Dido |
f. 101
Dido |
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f. 123
Hunting scene |
f. 123
Hunting scene |
f. 124
Nature |
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f. 128v
Delilah and Samson |
f. 132
Origen |
f. 141v
Jealousy |
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f. 163
Comradery |
f. 165v
Pygmalion |
f. 167
Castle in flames |
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