Add MS 42133

From the printed Catalogue of Additions (1959):

'Roman de la Rose and other poems, in French. Cf. Brit. Mus. Quart.' v, 1930-1931, p. 88. As follows:- (1) Roman de la Rose, by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung. Imperf. at the beginning and elsewhere (see below), but leaves were added in the 18th cent. to replace the losses. The MS., which is not described by E. Langlois, Les MSS. du Roman de la Rose, 1910, belongs to his group N and seems closely akin to his Na, Ne, Ni, No, Nc. The original portion of the MS. now begins with ll. 1088, 1089 of Langlois' edition at f. 9:- .I. cercle dor onques encores Ne fu si biau neu ce cuit. Ends:- Que tout quant que iai recite Est fine et pure verite. Colophon, Explicit le Roumant de la rose Ou lart damors est toute enclose. followed (f. 143) by two verses (ll. 1239, 1240, ed. Méon) from the Sainte Léocade of Gautier de Coinci:- Nature rit si comme semble Quant hic et hec ioingnent ensemble. ff. 1-143. (2) 'Cest le derrenier testament mestre lehan de Meun'; the poem of 22 quatrains printed by Méon in his edition of the Roman de la Rose, iv, p. 117, as Le Codicile de maistre Jehan de Meung, ou Epitaphe des Trespassez. Begins:- Diex ait lame des trespassez Car des biens quil ont amassez. Ends:- Quant vous ne mares pas creu A tart vous en repentirez. Colophon, 'Exlicit ( sic ) le derrenier testament Maistre lehan de meun'. ff. 143-144. (3) 'Ci commence le testament Maistre iehan de meun'; the poem (here 537 x 8 lines) printed under that title by Méon, iv, p. 1. The present MS. agrees with Royal M S. 19A. iv, Royal M S. 19 B. xii, Add. M S. 11613, and Egerton MS. 2834 in omitting 11. 877-892 and 1217-1220 of Méon's edition; it also omits ll. 1537-1540 (agreeing in this with Eg. MS. 2834) and ll. 1857- 1860. Begins:- Li peres et li filz et li sains esperis. The original portion ends at f. 169b with ll. 1997, 1998:- qui en enfer soit maindre Est si grant que chescun. ff. 145-171 b. Vellum (ff. ii-v paper); ff. vi + 171. 11.5/8 in. x 8.1/8 in. Written and illuminated in France, second half of XIV cent.; ff. 1-8, 25, 67, 170, 171 inserted in the XVIII cent. to replace missing leaves. Gatherings of 8 leaves (last 3 ), with catchwords and signatures. There is a change of hand after f. 24. Double columns of 40 lines. Headings in red and small initials in gold and colours throughout. The MS. now contains 23 small miniatures, with patterned backgrounds in gold and colours, and on the same pages (and on f. 143 b) foliated initials and bar-borders; other miniatures must have existed on ff. 1-8 and f. 25, and one has been cut from f. 128 b. The subjects, which are among those commonly represented in MSS. of the poem (see A. Kuhn, 'Die Illustration des Rosenromans', Jahrbuch der Kunsthist. Samml. des Kaiserhauses, Vienna, xxxi, 1912, pp. 59-60), are:- 1. Courtoisie and her friend. f. 9b. 2. Narcissus at the fountain. f. 11b. 3 . The Lover at the fountain. f. 12. 4. Dieu d'Amours shoots at the Lover. f. 13. 5 . The Lover does homage to Dieu d'Amours. f. 14b. 6. Dieu d'Amours locks the Lover's heart. f. 15. 7. Paour and Honte rouse Dangier. f. 26. 8 . jalousie building the tower. f. 26 b. 9. Jehan de Meun writing. f. 28 b. 10. Fortune and her wheel. f. 34. 11. Virginius cuts off his daughter's head. f. 39. 12. Fortune and her wheel. f. 42b. 13. Amis comforts the Lover. f. 49b. 14. Lucretia stabs herself. f. 58b. 15. The jealous husband beating his wife. f. 63. 16. Dieu d'Amours questions the Lover. f. 69. 17. Dieu d'Amours crowns Faus Semblant. f. 73. 18. Faus Semblant confesses Malebouche. f. 83. 19. Bel Acueil meets the Lover. f. 98 b. 20. Franchise fighting with Dangier. f. 102. 21. Nature in her forge. f. 105 b. 22. Genius absolves Nature. f. 127b. 23. Pygmalion and the statue. f. 137. At the beginning of the Testament (f. 145) is a half-page miniature of the Trinity, in a four-lobed tricolour frame, surrounded by a gold background bearing the evangelists' symbols, and a full-page bar-border with birds, butterflies and grotesques (both miniature and border show marked similarities of detail to those at the beginning of the same poem in Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum MS. 10 B. 29, f. 124, reproduced in A. W. Byvanck, MSS. à Peintures ... à la Haye, 1924, pl. xlvii). In the lower margin of f. 21 is a contemporary drawing of Oiseuse admitting the Lover to the garden. The text of the later additions to the Roman de la Rose (ff. 1-8, 25, 67) is formed from a combination of one or more of the earliest printed editions (including that ascribed to Guillaume Le Roy, of Lyon, circ. 1487) with Clément Marot's recension, first published 1526; the crude water-colour drawings are based on the woodcuts of various early editions. The additions to the Testament (ff. 170-171 b) appear to follow Lenglet du Fresnoy's edition of 1735, in which, as here, the poem is called Le Codicille de Jean de Meung. At f. 9 is the stamped monogram, in red, reproduced by Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections, 1921, p. 21, no. 114, as 'Marque non identifiée'. 18th cent. binding of red leather, with gilt-tooled edges; a fragment of an 18th cent. document in French relating to legal proceedings in Brittany has been used in the binding. In 1890 the MS. was at Tynron Manse, co. Dumfries (note on f. ii), then occupied by the Rev. David Couper. Bequeathed by Miss Edith H. H. Clark-Couper.'