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Add MS 15685
- Record Id:
- 032-002093370
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002093370
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000044.0x000126
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100161503040.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Add MS 15685
- Title:
-
Jacobus de Cessolis, Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium ac popularium super ludo scaccorum; Libellus moralis Senece; Liber moralis de quatuor virtutibus cardinalibus; Liber septem philosophorum (The Seven Sages of Rome)
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
ff. 1r-47r: Jacobus de Cessolis, Ordinis Praedicatorum: Libellus de moribus ad ludi Scacchorum scienciam descriptus (Moralised Book of Chess), in Latin. There are four books or treatises: 1, the Background of the Game; 2, the Noble Figures; 3, the Commoners; 4, the Openings and Moves, where the chessboard is represented as the ancient city of Babylon and the epilogue brings together the framework of the Babylonian legend with the ideal medieval commonwealth pictured in the author’s chess allegory.
ff. 47v-50r: Martin, Bishop of Braga, Formula vitae honestae, with the rubric, 'Libellus moralis Senece de formula honeste vite, super quatuor virtutibus cardinalibus'; the four sections are 'Prudencia', 'Magnanimitate', 'Continencia', and 'Justicia', in Latin.
ff. 51r-82v: A book on the Cardinal Virtues, with the rubric 'Liber de quatuor virtutibus cardinalibus', in Italian; there are spaces where text has been omitted (ff. 69v-71r, 75r-76v).
ff. 83r-97v: Liber Septem Philosophorum (The Seven Sages of Rome), a collection of fourteen moral tales in Latin, told to the Emperor by the Seven Sages and the Empress:
f. 85v: The First Sage's tale, Canis (The dog and the serpent).
f. 86r: The Empress's first tale, Arbor (The pine tree and its sucker).
f. 87r: The Second Sage's tale, Medicus (Hippocrates and his nephew).
f. 88r: The Empress's tale, Aper (The boar and the herdsman).
f. 89r: The Third Sage's tale, Tentamina (The wise old man and his young wife).
f. 90r: The Empress's tale, Septem Sapientes (The blind king cured by Merlin).
f. 90v: The Fourth Sage's tale, Avis (The magpie), imperfect, only part of the introduction remains.
f. 91r: The Empress's tale, Gaza (The robber beheaded by the Emperor's son), imperfect at the beginning.
f. 91v: The Fifth Sage's tale, Incusa (The old judge deceived by his wife).
f. 92v: The Empress's tale, Roma (The stratagem of Varius).
f. 93r: The Sixth Sage's tale, Vidua (The widow comforted).
f. 94v: The Empress's tale, Virgilius (The magic image of the archer in Rome).
f. 95v: The Seventh Sage's tale, Puteus (The well).
f. 96v: The Prince's tale, Vaticanum (The ravens), imperfect at the end.
(See Ward, Catalogue of Romances II (1893), p. 206).
Decoration:
37 miniatures in colours with gold at the beginning of each book or section. A full border, perhaps added, with shields of arms in red, blue and gold (f. 1r). A historiated initial with a camel holding a scroll (f. 83r). Initials in red on blue grounds with foliate decoration in colours, framed in gold, some with partial borders (f. 1r, 1v, 4v, 21r, 38v, 42v, 51v, 60v, 66v, 72r). Large initials in blue with pen-flourishing in red or in red with pen-flourishing in blue. Rubrics and pen-flourishing in red in the margins; paraphs in red. Quire signatures framed in red.
The subjects of the images are:
f. 1r: A figure on a podium showing a chessboard to a seated audience wearing varied headgear (abraded).
f. 2v: A bearded philosopher (left) teaches a king and courtiers about society, using a chess game as an exemplar.
f. 4r: The King, seated on a throne with orb and sceptre.
f. 6v: The Queen, seated on a throne holding her stomach.
f. 9v: The third chess piece, Alphilus (from Arabic Al-Fil), which is now called the Bishop, depicted as a robed figure with a hood.
f. 12r: The Knight, as a figure in armour on horseback (damaged).
f. 16r: The fourth chess piece, Rochus (now the Rook) , depicted as a robed figure on horseback with a gold staff ('virgam') in his right hand.
f. 21r: Pedes (the Pawn), shown as a footsoldier with a weapon, staff and horn.
f. 23r: A farmer with a hammer and chopping blade.
f. 24v: A barber with tongs and a blade (damaged).
f. 27v: A merchant with scales and staff (damaged).
f. 30r: A seated physician with a book and pot of pigment.
f. 32v: An innkeeper with keys, holding bread and a goblet.
f. 34v: A custodian with a large key.
f. 36r: A page or fool with tricks and games.
f. 38v: A chess board with frame (damaged).
f. 47v: A historiated initial of Seneca teaching and holding a book, at the beginning of Martin of Braga's Formula vitae honestae.
f. 51r: A two-headed dragon; Justicia as a female figure with a radiant halo, seated on a throne holding a sword and scales, with angels bearing shields of arms on either side; a cockerel, a sheep and four dogs or wolves drinking from bowls at her feet (damaged).
f. 60v: Prudencia with a radiant halo, holding a globe and compasses, surrounded by open books.
f. 66v: Temperancia as a robed, seated figure with a radiant halo pouring liquid from one jar into another, with a sword in a sheath at her feet (damaged).
f. 72r: Fortitudia as a female figure with a crown and radiant halo seated on the ground caressing a bull and a lion.
f. 83r: A messenger arrives as a young man, perhaps the Emperor's son, is debating with the seven philosophers, who are seated at a long desk with shelves containing books.
f. 84r: The Emperor, watched by his courtiers, greets his son before the philosophers; all are on horseback; the ladies watch from the doorway of the palace (damaged).
f. 84v: The Emperor's wife tries to seduce his son in her apartments, wearing an underdress with loose hair.
f. 85r: The Empress makes her accusation to the Emperor, while her son is led away by soldiers (above); the first Philosopher debates with the emperor and two courtiers (below).
f. 86r: The Empress kneels before the Emperor, while a guard holding a sword watches (damaged).
f. 86v: The second Philosopher kneels before the Emperor.
f. 88r: The Empress sits beside the Emperor, telling him her tale; he is holding an orb and sceptre.
f. 88v: The third Philosopher kneels before the Emperor.
f. 89v: The Empress kneels, taking the seated Emperor's hand (damaged).
f. 90v: The fourth Philosopher speaks to the Emperor, while a guard stands by holding a sword.
f. 91r: The fifth Philosopher kneels before the Emperor.
f. 92v: The Empress stands, telling her tale to the Emperor.
f. 93r: The sixth Philosopher kneels, making his plea to the Emperor, while a guard watches.
f. 94r: The Emperor turns away, covering his face, while the Empress kneels before him.
f. 95v: The seventh Philosopher kneels, addressing the Emperor.
f. 96v: The son kneels before the Emperor with two courtiers watching (damaged).
f. 97v: The Empress is tied to the stake while a soldier lights the fire; three knights in armour watch, one holding a large shield embellished with crowns (damaged).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Additional Manuscripts
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-002093370", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 15685: Jacobus de Cessolis, Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium ac popularium super ludo scaccorum; Libellus moralis Senece; Liber…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002093370
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-002093370
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_15685 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Italian
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1425
- End Date:
- 1449
- Date Range:
- 2nd quarter of the 15th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment
Dimensions: 275 x 200 mm (text space: 175 x 110 mm).
Foliation: ff. 97 (+ 4 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning and 3 at the end).
Catchwords.
Script: Gothic.
Binding: British Museum / British Library in-house.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Italy (possibly Venice)
Provenance:
An unidentified coat of arms on ff. 1r and 51r.
Inscribed, 'D D' (f. [iv] recto, upper right hand corner).
Adolphus Asher (b. 1800, d. 1853), Berlin bookseller and dealer to the British Museum 1841-1853 (see David Paisey, 'Adolphus Asher: Berlin bookseller, anglophile and friend to Panizzi', in The British Library Journal, 23 (1997), 131-53): bought from him, 24 January, 1846.
- Information About Copies:
-
Select digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/welcome.htm.
- Publications:
-
Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum, 1846-1847 (London: British Museum, 1864). p. 7.
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), II, H. L. D. Ward (1893), pp. 206-10.
Marie Anita Burt, 'Jacobus de Cessolis: Libellus de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium ac popularium super ludo scachorum', (unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Texas, Austin, 1957) [an edition of the text based on this and other manuscripts].
Mauricette Berne, 'La Tradition Manuscrite des versions francaises A et L du Roman de Sept Sages' in Studies on the Seven Sages of Rome and other essays in Medieval Literature, ed. by H. Niedzielski, H.R. Runte, and W.L. Hendrickson (Hawaii: Educational Research Associates, 1978), pp. 88-90.
Brady B. Gilleland, 'The French and Latin Versions of Historia septem sapientum', Classica et Mediaevalia, 33, (1983), 229-37.
Margaret Scott, Medieval Dress & Fashion (London: British Library, 2007), pl. 84, 86.
Mary Speer and Yasmina Foehr-Janssens, Le Roman des Sept Sages (Paris: Honore Champion, 2017), [on the text].
Chantry Westwell, Dragons, Heroes, Myths and Magic (London: British Library, 2021), pp.190-92.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)