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Harley MS 4324
- Record Id:
- 040-002050161
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002050161
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000807.0x00038c
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 4324
- Title:
- Guy du Faur, Les Quatrains and Les Cinquante octonaires sur la vanité et inconstance du monde, written by Esther Inglis
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript contains Les Quatrains and Les Cinquante octonaires sur la vanité et inconstance du monde, two poetic works by Guy de Faur (b. 1529, d. 1584), Seigneur de Pibrac, written by the English calligrapher and artist Esther Inglis (b. 1570/71, d. 1624) in 1614.
The manuscript features a dedication to Sir David Murray of Gorthy (b. 1567, d. 1629), a poet and officer in the household of Henry Frederick (b. 1594, d. 1612), Prince of Wales. Inglis had previously presented Murray with a copy of her husband's translation the Treatise of preparation to the Holy Supper, in 1608. The manuscript is now University of Edinburgh Library, MS. La. III. 75.
For a catalogue of surviving manuscripts produced by Esther Inglis, see A. H. Scott-Elliot and Eslpeth Yeo, 'Calligraphic Manuscripts of Esther Inglis (1574-1624): A Catalogue', The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 84 (1990), 11-86.
Contents:
f. 1r: Title-page ('Les Quatrains / De Guy de Faur / Sieur de Pybrac. / Ensemble / Les Cinquante Octonaires sur la / Vanité et Inconstance du Monde / Ecrites par Esther Inglis, 1614').
ff. 1v-2r: The coat of arms of Sir David Murray of Gorthy and a dedication to him ('Pour Monsieur, / Tres vertueux, et mon Treshonore / Mecoenas, / Messire David Murray, &c / Esther Inglis Souhaite / Tout Bon Heur').
ff. 3r-65r: Guy du Faur, Les Quatrains, written in French verse, beginning, 'Dieu tout premier, puis pere et mere honore...'
f. 66r: Title page ('Les Cinquantes / Octonaires / sur la Vanité et / Inconstance du / Monde. / Escrites par Esther Inglis 1614').
f. 67r: French epigram, translated from 1 John 2: 17 ('Le monde se / passe et sa con / voitise. I. lean. I')
ff. 66r-117r: Guy du Faur, Les Cinquante octonaires sur la vanité et inconstance du monde, written in French verse, beginning, 'Quand on arrestera la course coutumiere...'
The text of both works is only written on the rectos.
Decoration:
Trompe-l'oeil border in green with naturalistic flowers, fruits and insects for the first title-page (f. 1r).
Border of foliate scrolls for the second title-page (f. 66r).
The arms of Sir David Murray (a blue shield with a silver chevron beneath three stars) facing a wreath enclosing a dedicatory inscription (ff. 1v-2r).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002050161", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 4324: Guy du Faur, Les Quatrains and Les Cinquante octonaires sur la vanité et inconstance du monde, written by Esther Inglis" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002050161 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 4324 : Guy du Faur, Les Quatrains and Les Cinquante octonaires sur la vanité et inconstance du monde, written by Esther Inglis - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[4317]/040-002050161
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Harley_MS_4324 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1614
- End Date:
- 1614
- Date Range:
- 1614
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Paper.
Dimensions: 40 x 75 mm (text space: 30 x 50 mm).
Foliation: ff. 1* + 118 (+ 5 unfoliated paper leaves at the beginning and 4 at the end); f. 1* is a paper leaf.
Script: Humanistic, written by Esther Inglis.
Binding: Post-1600. Brown-green leather binding with gold tooling; gilt edges.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
Essex, England.
The manuscript was written by the calligrapher and artist Esther Inglis (b. 1571, d. 1624) for Sir David Murray of Gorthy (b. 1567, d. 1629) in 1614: the inscribed title page, 'Les Quatrains / De Guy de Faur / Sieur de Pybrac. / Ensemble / Les Cinquante Octonaires sur la / Vanite et Inconstance du Monde / Ecrites par Esther Inglis, 1614' (f. 1r); his arms (f. 1v); the inscribed dedication, 'Pour Monsieur, / Tres vertueux, et mon Treshonore / Mecoenas, / Messire David Murray, &c / Esther Inglis Souhaite / Tout Bon Heur.'
Provenance:
Inscribed 'Lidie Light', 17th century (f. 9v); added pen-trials and inscriptions in French, 17th century (ff. 34v, 62v, 82v).
Richard Heming, 1688: inscribed 'Richard Heming Hi Booke Anno Redemtionis between 1688 1687' (f. 27v), 'Richard' (f. 35v), 'Richard Hemin (f. 84v).
D. Hackluith, 1693: inscribed 'Libri D. Hackluith. 1693' (f. 118v).
Robert Burscough (b. 1650/51, d. 1709), prebendary of Exeter in 1701, archdeacon of Barnstaple in 1703, rector of Cheriton, bishop in 1705: sold by his widow on 17 May 1715 to Robert Harley, along with other manuscripts (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), pp. 87-88; Diary (1966), I, p. 11 n. 6.
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, inscribed as usual by their librarian, Humfrey Wanley ‘17 May 1715’ (f. 1*v).
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
- Publications:
-
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), III (1808), no. 4324.
The Diary of Humfrey Wanley 1715-1726, ed. by Cyril Ernest Wright and Ruth C. Wright, 2 vols (London: Bibliographical Society, 1966), I: 1715-1723, p. 11 n. 6.
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. 87-88, 176, 186, 203, 247.
A. H. Scott-Elliott, Elspeth Yeo, ‘Calligraphic Manuscripts of Esther Inglis (1571-1624): A Catalogue’, The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 84 (1990), pp. 11-86, no. 40.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)