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Detailed record for Yates Thompson 35
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| Author |
Jean Cuvelier |
| Title |
La chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin |
| Origin |
France, Central (Paris) |
| Date |
between c. 1380 and 1392 |
| Language |
French |
| Script |
Gothic cursive |
| Artists |
Several hands, one (ff. 1, 90v, 129, 136, 250) related to the second painter of the Pèlerinage, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fr. 823 (Pierre Remiet or Jean de Nizières?) |
| Decoration |
14 large miniatures in grisaille and semi-grisaille (on coloured grounds), accompanied by large decorated initials and full foliate borders, in gold, red and blue (ff. 1, 8, 16, 51, 62, 71, 80v, 90v, 129, 136, 177, 210v, 246, 250). Small initials in gold with blue pen-flourishing or in blue with red pen-flourishing. Cadels. |
| Dimensions in mm |
310 x 225 (200 x 120) |
| Official foliation |
ff. iv+ 289 (2 modern paper flyleaves at the beginning, and 2 at the end) |
| Collation |
i-xxix8 (ff. 1-231), xxx8-1 (8th leaf excised, probably blank; ff. 232-238), xxxi-xxxii8 (ff. 239-254), xxxiii8-1 (8th leaf excised, probably blank; ff. 255-261), xxxiv-xxxv8 (ff. 262-277), xxxvi6 (ff. 278-283), xxxvii8-2 (2 leaves excised; ff. 284-289).
The first miniature (f.1) has nearly the same composition but in a slightly different style as the first miniature of the Epistles for King Richard II written by Philippe de Mézières, Royal 20 B VI (f. 2). This manuscript is dated 1395-1396. |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Post-1600. French olive morocco, 18th century; gilt edges. |
| Provenance |
? Pierre de Craon (b. 1345, d. 1409), chancellor of Louis, duke of Anjou, probably made before 1392, when Craon's goods were confiscated: Craon's family arms supported by two doves (ff. 8, 51, 129).
Inscription of the title of the manuscript, 15th century(?): 'La vie de Bertrand du Guesclin (...) comte de Longueville et connestable (f. 1, nearly erased).
Daniel Colombe, 17th century: inscribed 'pour moy Daniel Colombe a qui appartient ce livre. D Colombe…' (f. 228v).
Annotations in the margins, 17th century.
Louis Jean Gaignat (b. 1697, d. 1768), French collector: his library, see Supplément à la Bibliographie instructive ou Catalogue des livres du Cabinet de Feu M. [Louis Jean] G[aignat], 2 vols (Paris: de Bure, 1769), II, no. 3041 p. 126; bought by Louis de la Vallière.
Louis César de la Baume-le-Blanc (b. 1708, d. 1780), duc de la Vallière, peer of France, governor of the Bourbonnais, and book collector: his library, MS. 2778 (cutting from sale catalogue inside upper cover, see Guillaume de Bure, Catalogue des livres de la bibliothèque de feu M. le duc de la Vallière, 2 vols (Paris: Guillaume de Bure, 1783), II, no. 2778 pp. 258-59).
Jean-Baptiste Joseph Barrois (b. 1784, d. 1855), French deputy and book collector (on whom see Hugh Collingham, 'Joseph Barrois: Portrait of a Bibliophile XXVI', Book Collector 33 (1984), 431-48): Catalogue of the Manuscripts at Ashburnham Palace, II: Collection of J. Barrois, no. 112; bought by Ashburnham in 1849 (see Yates Thompson Catalogue 1909).
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham: acquired with the other Barrois manuscripts in 1849.
Bertram Ashburnham, 5th earl of Ashburnham: the Ashburnham-Barrois sale, 10-14 June, 1901, lot 179; bought by Yates Thompson.
Henry Yates Thompson (b. 1838, d. 1928), collector of illuminated manuscripts and newspaper proprietor: with his book-plate inscribed '[MS] civ / £bri.e.e [i.e. £120.0.0] / [bought from] Barroi / (?) / July 1901' (inside upper cover).
Bequeathed to the British Museum in 1941 by Mrs Henry Yates Thompson. |
| Select bibliography |
Henry Yates Thompson, Illustrations from the Life of Bertrand Duguesclin by Jean Cuvelier from a Manuscript of about 1400 in the Library of Henry Yates Thompson, No. C (London: Chiswick Press, 1909).
A Descriptive Catalogue of Fourteen Illuminated Manuscripts (Nos. XCV to CVII and 79A) Completing the Hundred in the Library of Henry Yates Thompson (Cambridge: University Press, 1912), no. CIV p. 65.
Andrew G. Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c. 700-1600 in The Department of Manuscripts: The British Library, 2 vols (London: British Library, 1979), I, 168 [rejected].
La chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin de Cuvelier, ed. by Jean-Claude Faucon (Toulouse: Editions Universitaires du Sud, 1990), I: texte, II: notes, index and varia, III: classification des manuscrits.
Pamela Porter, Medieval Warfare in Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2000), p. 46. |
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f. 16
Surprise at Forgeray |
f. 51
Taking of Pestien |
f. 51
Taking of Pestien |
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f. 62
Siege of Melun |
f. 71
Battle of Coquerel |
f. 71
Battle of Coquerel |
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f. 80v
Taking of Valonges |
f. 90v
Battle of Auray |
f. 129
Surrender of Bernesque |
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f. 129
Surrender of Bernesque |
f. 136
Coronation of Henri |
f. 210v
Surrender of Tarascon |
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f. 210v
Surrender of Tarascon |
f. 246
Capture of Don Pedro |
f. 246
Capture of Don Pedro |
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f. 250
Death of Don Pedro |
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