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Detailed record for Harley 4979
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| Title |
Roman d'Alexandre , in prose, with lacunae |
| Origin |
Netherlands, S. |
| Date |
1st quarter of the 14th century |
| Language |
French |
| Script |
Gothic |
| Decoration |
2 full-page miniatures in colours and gold (ff. 4v, 70v). 43 column miniatures in colours and gold, approx. 5 x 120/130 (ff. 12v, 17, 17v, 20, 22, 23v, 24, 25v, 26, 27v, 36v, 39v, 44, 47, 51, 54v, 56v, 60 (x 2), 61, 62v, 63v, 65, 66, 67v (x 2), 68, 69v, 71v, 72, 72v (x 2), 73, 73v, 74 (x 2), 74v, 75, 78, 78v, 82v, 84, 84v)). 35 column miniatures in colours and gold, approx. 5 x 7 mm (ff. 6, 6v, 9v, 11, 13v, 14, 14v, 15, 17v, 18v, 22v, 27v, 28, 28v, 30, 30v, 32, 32v, 35, 40 (x 2), 44v, 46, 49, 53v, 59, 59v, 69, 70, 75v, 76, 77, 79v, 86 (x 2). Three-sided border in colours and gold with foliate motifs, a large illuminated initial, and a hound and a hare in the bas-de-page (f. 1). Three-sided border in colours and gold with foliate motifs, a large historiated initial, and monkeys in the bas-de-page (f. 5). Champ initials. Rubrics in red. Capitals marked in red. |
| Dimensions in mm |
250 x 170 (170 x 125) in two columns |
| Official foliation |
ff. 87 (+ 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end) |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
BM/BL in-house; marbled endpapers. |
| Provenance |
Richard Catelyn (b. c. 1490, d. 1556), alderman of Norwich and sheriff in 1531: inscribed with his name (f. 86v).
Edmund Lomner of Mannington, county Norfolk, either the Edmond Lumner al. Lomner of Mannington, co. Norfolk (d. 1558), or his son of the same name: inscribed with his name (f. 87).
Inscriptions mentioning various names including, 'John de Geneth francoy de Tornay, Johannis Derne Engl. de Noryc, Johannes allemein de Yarm.... Johannes of... Storwice mercer, Robert Hendry demorant En Franche en la villle de Rouen, John de Geneth Bourgenon demerant en lotel de mr. Catelyn, John Setmson gentylman' (ff. 86v, 87, 87v) (See Stones, 1982, p. 210).
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 Cavendish, née 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 |
Full digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Digitised Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts.
We thank François Avril for the localisation of this manuscript. |
| Select bibliography |
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), III (1808), no. 4979.
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. 9.
H. L. D. Ward and J. A. Herbert, Catalogue of Romances in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum, 3 vols (London: British Museum, 1883-1910), I, pp. 127-28.
David J. A. Ross, 'Some Notes on the Old French Alexander Romance in Prose', French Studies, 6 (1952), 135-47 (as 'H').
David J. A. Ross, 'Nectanebus in his Palace: A Problem of Alexander Iconography', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 15 (1952), pp. 67-87 (pp. 71-75, 87, pl. a).
David J. A. Ross, Alexander Historiatus, A Guide to Mediaeval Illustrated Alexander Literature, Warburg Institute Surveys, I (London Warburg Institute, 1963) (as 'H').
David J. A. Ross, Illustrated Medieval Alexander-Books in Germany and the Netherlands: A Study in Comparative Iconography, Publications of the Modern Humanities Research Association, 3 (Cambridge: Modern Humanities Research Association, 1971) (as 'H').
Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), pp. 98, 226.
Alison Stones, 'Notes on Three Illuminated Alexander Manuscripts', in The Medieval Alexander Legend and Romance Epic: Essays in Honour of David J.A. Ross ed. by Peter Noble, Lucie Polak and Claire Isoz (Millwood, New York: Kraus International, 1982), pp. 193-241 (as 'H').
Andreas Bräm, 'Buchmalerei des 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts in Frankreich, Flandern, Hennegau, Maasland und Lothringen: Literaturbericht 1970-1992, Teil II', Kunstchronik, 47 (1994), 73-96 (p. 75).
Jos A. A. M. Biemens, Onsen Speghele Ystoriaele in Vlaemsche: Codicologisch onderzoek naar de overlevering van de Spiegel Historiael van Jacob van Maerlant, Philip Utenbroeke en Lodewijk van Velthem met een beschrijving van de handschriften en fragmenten, 2 vols ( Louvain: Peters, 1997), I, pp. 199 n. 76, 200 n. 77.
Alixe Bovey, Monsters and Grotesques in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2002), pp. 16, 18, pl. 12.
David J. A. Ross and M. A. Stones, 'The Roman d'Alexandre in French Prose: Another illustrated manuscript from Champagne or Flanders c. 1300', Scriptorium: Revue internationale des études relatives aux manuscrits, 56 (2002), 345-56 (as ‘H’).
Maud Pérez-Simon, 'Beyond the Template: Aesthetics and Meaning in the Images of the Roman d'Alexandre en prose in Harley MS. 4979', Electronic British Library Journal (2011), article 3 http://www.bl.uk/eblj/2011articles/article3.html. |
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f. 4v
Garden, a river, and mills |
f. 6v
Nextanebo |
f. 11
Couple in bed |
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f. 14v
King Philip and Alexander |
f. 17
Battle |
f. 17v
Coronation of Alexander and Wedding of King Philip and Cleopatra |
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f. 17v
Wedding of King Philip and Cleopatra |
f. 20
Battle |
f. 22
Battle |
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f. 27v
Arrival in Jerusalem |
f. 27v
Ram fighting a he-goat |
f. 28
Alexander giving gold to a priest |
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f. 28v
Alexander receiving gifts |
f. 46
The hanging of the murderers of Darius |
f. 47
People of Gog and Magog |
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f. 56v
Naked cave-dwelling Oxydraces |
f. 60
Giant being burnt to death |
f. 61
Sun and Moon trees |
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f. 67v
Battles against monsters |
f. 69
Alexander battling the Mardi and Subagrae |
f. 70
Builders constructing a cage for Alexander |
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f. 70v
Griffons bearing Alexander aloft |
f. 72
Alexander battling horse-headed men |
f. 72v
Cyclopes and blemmyae |
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f. 74
Elephants |
f. 75v
Queen Olympias and Aristotle |
f. 79v
Alexander on his death-bed |
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f. 84
Defeat of King Perdicas |
f. 86
Death of Olympias |
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