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Detailed record for Royal 15 D III


Part 1	ff. 1-144v
	Author		Guyart des Moulins
	Title		Bible historiale, the early version
	Origin		France, Central (Paris)
	Date		1st quarter of the 15th century
	Language		French
	Script		Gothic
	Scribe		Petrus Gilberti
	Artists		workshop of Master of the Boucicaut Hours, Master of Egerton 1070, Follower of the Master of the Breviary of Jean sans Peur, Virgil Master
	Decoration		1 large miniature in colours and gold, at the beginning of the text (f. 3), and 29 one-column miniatures in colours and gold, with foliate initials in colours and gold, and full borders of vine scrolls with drolleries, at the beginning of each book and the prologue (ff. 1, 3v-5, 6, 9v, 12, 15v, 27, 30v, 40, 48, 62, 69v, 78, 82v, 85, 97, 103, 112, 115, 124, 130v, 134v, 138v). Some miniatures with sketches for illuminators (ff. 9v, 12). 2 large foliate initials in colours and gold with full borders (ff. 6v, 131). Initials in gold on blue and rose grounds with penwork decoration in white, with foliate extensions. Running titles in gold letters on blue and rose grounds with penwork decoration in white. Line-fillers in blue, rose and gold with penwork decoration in white.
	Dimensions in mm		455 x 340 (300 x 220)

Part 2	ff. 145-284v
	Author		Guyart des Moulins
	Title		Bible historiale, the early version
	Origin		France, Central (Paris)
	Date		1st quarter of the 15th century
	Language		French
	Script		Gothic
	Decoration		24 one-column miniatures in colours and gold, with foliate initials in colours and gold, and full borders of vine scrols with drolleries, at the beginning of each book (ff. 152, 170, 180, 193v, 197, 202v, 209, 219v, 220v, 232, 236, 239, 243v, 244v, 245v, 248v, 252, 256v, 259, 262, 265, 268, 271, 274v). Some miniatures with sketches for illuminators (ff. 201v, 259, 262, 268, 271), or written instructions (f. 219v). 1 large foliate initials in colours and gold with a full border (259v). Initials in gold on blue and rose grounds with penwork decotration in white, with foliate extensions. Running titles in gold letters on blue and rose grounds with penwork decoration in white. Line-fillers in blue, rose and gold with penwork decoration in white.
	Dimensions in mm		455 x 340 (300 x 220)

Part 3	ff. 285-412v
	Author		Guyart des Moulins
	Title		Bible historiale, the early version
	Origin		France, Central (Paris)
	Date		1st quarter of the 15th century
	Language		French
	Script		Gothic
	Decoration		1 large miniature in colours and gold, at the beginning of the text (f. 285), 23 and one-column miniatures in colours and gold, with foliate initials in colours and gold, and full borders of vine scrols with drolleries, at the beginning of each book (ff. 294v, 297v, 299, 305, 321, 340v, 361v, 363v, 366v, 383v, 391, 394, 395v, 398, 398v, 399v, 401v, 402v, 403v, 405, 406, 409v, 410v). Initials in gold on blue and rose grounds with penwork decotration in white, with foliate extensions. Running titles in gold letters on blue and rose grounds with penwork decoration in white. Line-fillers in blue, rose and gold with penwork decoration in white.
	Dimensions in mm		455 x 340 (300 x 220)

Part 4	ff. 413-532
	Author		Guyart des Moulins
	Title		Bible historiale, the early version
	Origin		France, Central (Paris)
	Date		1st quarter of the 15th century
	Language		French
	Script		Gothic
	Decoration		1 large miniature in colours and gold, at the beginning of Matthew (f. 432), and 26 one-column miniatures in colours and gold, with foliate initials in colours and gold, and full borders of vine scrols with drolleries, at the beginning of each book (ff. 422v, 445v, 455, 470v, 481v, 486v, 491, 494, 496, 497v, 498v, 500, 501, 501v, 503, 504, 506, 509, 520v, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, 531). Some miniatures with sketches for illuminators (ff. 470v) or written instructions (ff. 494, 496, 500, 531, 531v, 532). Initials in gold on blue and rose grounds with penwork decotration in white, with foliate extensions. Running titles in gold letters on blue and rose grounds with penwork decoration in white. Line-fillers in blue, rose and gold with penwork decoration in white.
	Dimensions in mm		455 x 340 (300 x 220)

Official foliation		ff. 144 (+ 1 unfoliated modern paper flylef at the beginning and 2 at the end, and 1 unfoliated medieval parchment flyleaf at the beginning), ff. 139 (+ 2 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end), ff. 127 (+ 2 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end), 119 (+ 2 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end)
Form		Parchment codex
Binding		BM/BL in-house, with gilded edges. Rebound in 1957.
Provenance		Peter Gilbert (Petrus Gilberti), illuminator, notary and libraire of the University of Paris (c. 1415-1421), illuminated (secondary decoration?) by him: inscribed in the decorative line-filler 'pe/trus gilberti me fecit' (f. 15v); other manuscripts signed by him in a similar way are: Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale 9001-9002, 9484, Ithaca, Cornell University Library Bd. Rare BY C36 H835, Yale, Beinecke Library 400. John Grey, count of Tancarville in Normandy (b. 1384-91, d. 1421), soldier and diplomat, and his wife Joanna (b. 1400, d. 1425), heiress of Sir Edward Charlton of Powys (d. 1425), perhaps connected with them, or with Humfrey, duke of Gloucester, whose illigitimate daughter, Antigone, married Henry Grey, John's son: inscribed 'My lady Powys I yow pray / raymambayre me wayn yow / may', 15th century (f. 111v). The Old Royal Library (the English Royal Library): Westminster inventory number 'no. 787' (f. 1), included in the inventory of books in the Upper Library at Westminster of 1542; and probably in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 14. Presented to the British Museum by George II in 1757 as part of the Old Royal Library.
Notes		Bound In four volumes: vol. 1 (ff. 1-144), vol. 2 (ff. 145-284v), vol. 3 (ff. 285-412), vol. 4 (ff. 413-532), originally probably in two (ff. 1-284 and 285-532). Contains the early version of the Bible Historiale, a French adaptation of Peter Comestor's Historia scholastica by Guyart des Moulins made in 1291-95. Illuminated by several artist. According to Meiss 1968, the majority of illuminations is by the Master of Egerton 1070 and his workshop, with participation of the workshop of the Master of the Boucicaut Hours, the Virgil Master, and a follower of the Master of the Breviary of Jean sans Peur. Catchwords and bifolium signatures.
Select bibliography		Walter de Gray Birch and Henry Jenner, Early Drawings and Illuminations: An Introduction to the Study of Illustrated Manuscripts (London: Bagster and Sons, 1879), p. 13. Samuel Berger, La Bible franc¸aise au moyen a^ge: E´tude sur les plus anciennes versions de la Bible e´crites en prose de langue d’oi¨l (Paris, 1884), pp. 206, 218, 387. 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. 6). L’Apocalypse en franc¸ais au XIIIe sie`cle (Bibl. Nat. Fr. 403), ed. by L. Delisle and P. Meyer (Paris: Socie´te´ des Anciens Textes Franc¸ais, 1901), p. CCXLV. 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. 172-73. Paolo d'Ancona and Erhard Aeschlimann, Dictionnaire des miniaturistes du moyen a^ge et de la renaissance dans les diffe´rentes contre´es de l’Europe (Milan: Hoepli, 1949), p. 169. Rosy Schilling, 'The Master of Egerton 1070 (Hours of Rene d'Anjou)', Scriptorium: Revue internationale des études relative aux manuscrits, 8 (1954) 272-82 (pp. 274-77, figs 28 a, b, c, 29 a, b). Millard Meiss, Kathleen Morand and Edith W. Kirsch, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Boucicaut Master, National Gallery of Art Kress Foundation Studies in the History of European Art, 3 (London: Phaidon, 1968), pp. 96-99 [with additional bibliography]. Millard Meiss, Sharon Off Dunlap Smith and Elizabeth Home Beaton, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Limbourgs and Their Contemporaries, 2 vols (London: Thames and Hudson, 1974), I, pp. 376, 408, 410. Barbara A. Shailor, Catalogue of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, 4 vols (Binghamton, N.Y.: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1984), II, p. 279. Richard Kenneth Emmerson and Suzanne Lewis, 'Census and Bibliography of Medieval Manuscripts containing Apocalypse Illustrations, ca. 800-1500 III', Traditio: Studies in Ancient and Medieval History, Thought and Religion, 42 (1986), 443-72, no. 163. Jonathan J. G. Alexander, Medieval Illuminators and their Methods of Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992), p. 186. Richard H. Rouse and Mary A. Rouse, Manuscripts and Their Makers: Commercial Book Producers in Medieval Paris 1200-1500, 2 vols (Turnhout: Harvey Miller, 2000), II, p. 112. The Libraries of King Henry VIII, ed. by J. P. Carley, Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues, 7 (London: The British Library, 2000), H2.514. Nicolas Bell Music in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2001), half-title page. I. Villela-Petit, 'Devises de Charles VI dans les Heures Mazarines: La presonnalisation d'un manuscrit', Scriptorium: Revue internationale des études relative aux manuscrits, 55 (2001) 80-92 (p. 84, n. 18). Christopher de Hamel, The British Library Guide to Manuscript Illumination: History and Techniques (London: British Library, 2001), pl. 13. The Splendor of the Word: Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts at the New York Public Library, ed. by Jonathan J. G. Alexander, James H. Marrow, and Lucy Freeman Sandler (London: Harvey Miller, 2005), p. 107 n. 4 [exhibition catalogue]. Joe Flatman, Ships and Shipping in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2009), pl. 141.

Images

Part 1 ff. 1-144v

Guyart des Moulins Bible historiale, the early version

f. 1
Peter Comestor

f. 3
Garden of Eden

f. 3v
God with his compasses

f. 4
Creation of the earth

f. 4v
Creation of the seas

f. 5
Creation of rivers and the sun and moon

f. 6
God introducing Adam to the animals

f. 9v
Expulsion from Paradise

f. 12
Building of the Ark

f. 15v
Tower of Babel

f. 15v
Building of the Tower of Babel

f. 27
Jacob's ladder

f. 31v
Joseph placed in the well

f. 40
Pharoah giving tasks to the Israelites

f. 48
Exodus from Egypt

f. 62
Offerings at the altar

f. 69v
God speaking to Moses

f. 78
Israelites

f. 78
Israelites at the Red Sea

f. 82v
Offerings at the altar

f. 85
Moses

f. 85
Moses and the Tablets of the Law

f. 97
Joshua leading the Israelites

f. 103
Capture of Adonibezek

f. 112
Prayer of Hannah

f. 115
The anointing of Saul

f. 124
Amelekite relating the death of Saul

f. 130v
Death of Absalom

f. 134v
Anointing of Solomon

f. 138v
Building of the Temple

Part 2 ff. 145-284v

Guyart des Moulins Bible historiale, the early version

f. 152
Elijah

f. 170
Tree of Jesse

f. 180
Prayer of Solomon

f. 193v
Edict of Cyrus

f. 197
Nehemiah inquires of the Jews

f. 202v
Sacrifice of Josiah

f. 209
God, Satan, and Job

f. 219v
Job and his friends

f. 220v
Raphael, Tobias and Tobit

f. 225
Gedaliah receiving Ishmael

f. 232
Susanna being accused by the elders

f. 236
Rebuilding of Jerusalem

f. 239
Death of Holofernes

f. 243v
Ahasueras and Esther

f. 244v
Artaxerxes sending a letter

f. 245v
Ahasueras and Esther

f. 248v
Ochus sending Vagosus

f. 252
David playing his harp

f. 256v
David praying to the Lord

f. 262
Fool

f. 265
David drowning

f. 268
David playing the bells

f. 271
David and singers

f. 274v
God and Christ

Part 3 ff. 285-412v

Guyart des Moulins Bible historiale, the early version

f. 285
Solomon dictating the Proverbs

f. 294v
The Preacher

f. 297v
The bride and bridegroom

f. 299
Justice enthroned

f. 305
Teacher and disciple

f. 321
Isaiah prophesying to the Jews

f. 340v
Jeremiah and two men with a saw

f. 361v
Jeremiah lamenting

f. 363v
Baruch reading the book

f. 366v
Ezechiel and the four wheels

f. 383v
Daniel receiving a book from God

f. 391
Birth of Jezreel

f. 394
Joel and trumpeters

f. 395v
Amos and Damascus

f. 398
Jonah and the gourd

f. 398v
Jonah

f. 399v
Micah

f. 401v
Nahum

f. 402v
Habbakuk crying to God

f. 403v
Zephaniah

f. 405
Haggar and Zerubbabel

f. 406
Vision of Zechariah

f. 409v
Polluted offerings

f. 410v
Wars of the Machabees

Part 4 ff. 413-532

Guyart des Moulins Bible historiale, the early version



f. 422v The letter delivered	f. 432 Matthew and the Tree of Jesse	f. 445v Mark

f. 470v John	f. 481v Paul	f. 481v Paul

f. 486v Paul sending a letter	f. 491 Paul reproving the Corinthians	f. 491 Paul reproving the Corinthians

f. 494 Paul and three men	f. 496 Paul speaking to children	f. 497v Paul speaking to the Philippians

f. 498v Paul speaking to the Colossians	f. 498v Paul speaking to the Colossians	f. 500 Paul speaking to the Thessalonians

f. 501v Paul speaking to the Thessalonians	f. 503 Paul speaking to a group of men	f. 503 Paul speaking to a group of men

f. 504 Paul speaking to a child	f. 506 Paul speaking to Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus	f. 506 Winged grotesque

f. 509 Pentecost	f. 520v James sending a letter	f. 526 John on Patmos

f. 527 The Lamb with the Book	f. 528 Seven angels before the throne	f. 529 John, the woman, the dragon and the Beast

f. 530 John, the whore, and the angel with vials	f. 531 John and the angel	f. 531v John and the new Jerusalem

f. 532 River of crystal, the angel, and John

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