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Harley MS 4392
- Record Id:
- 040-002050229
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002050229
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000807.0x0003e8
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 4392
- Title:
- Octavien de Saint-Gelais, l'Histoire d'Euralius et Lucresse (C.22.b.1.)
- Scope & Content:
-
Harley MS 4392 is a printed book that was transferred to the Department of Printed Books in May 1867. It now has the shelfmark C.22.b.1. The book contains the only printed version on vellum of the French translation of the Historia de duobus amantibus (The Tale of Two Lovers), an epistolary novel that follows a love affair between Lucretia, a married woman at Siena, and Eurialus, a member of the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, written by Enea Silvio Piccolomini (b. 1405, d. 1464), the future Pope Pius II.
Contents:
ff. 1r-92r: A French translation of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (b. 1405, d. 1464) [the future Pope Pius II], Historia de duobus amantibus (The Tale of Two Lovers) by Octavien de Saint-Gelais (b. 1468, d. 1502), printed on vellum by the Parisian printer Anthoine Vérard (fl. 1485–1512). With a Prologue (ff. 1r-1v) featuring a dedication by Octavien de Saint-Gelais to King Charles VIII of France (r. 1483–1498), beginning: 'En lonneur de la saincte trinite / Louenge de vous Charles roy treschrestien'; followed by the translation (ff. 2r-92r), beginning: 'Traicte trescreatif et plaisant de lamour indicible de Eurialus et de Lucresse compose par le pape pie avant la papaute nomme enee silvye et translate de latin en francois'.
The book contains a few additions:
f. [i]verso: A pencil note by the British Museum that the book was transferred to the Department of Printed Books in May 1867.
f. 92v: Handwritten copies of the opening lines of the book's dedication to Charles VIII, intersected by two mottoes: 'En bien je hazarde' and 'En attendant je souaite'; written in the 15th century.
Decoration:
1 large presentation miniature featuring the (?) translator, presenting his work to a prince, presumably Charles VIII, painted in colours and gold over a similar woodcut (the lines of which can be seen on f. 1v), with a full-border of blue lozenges with gold fleurs-de-lis (f. 1r). 129 small miniatures in colours and gold inserted within the single text columns, illustrating the story of Euralius and Lucretia, accompanied by handwritten chapter headings in the margins.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002050229", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 4392: Octavien de Saint-Gelais, l'Histoire d'Euralius et Lucresse (C.22.b.1.)" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002050229 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 4392 : Octavien de Saint-Gelais, l'Histoire d'Euralius et Lucresse (C.22.b.1.) - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[4385]/040-002050229
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- English
French, Middle - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1488
- End Date:
- 1498
- Date Range:
- c 1493
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Transferred
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 290 x 210 mm (text space: 205 x 80 mm).
Foliation: ff. 92 (+ 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves and 1 unfoliated parchment flyleaf at the beginning + 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the end); unfoliated blank paper leaves have been inserted throughout to prevent miniatures from staining onto preceding or subsequent parchment leaves.
Typeface and Script: Blackletter (main body); and Bâtarde (marginal headings).
Binding: British Museum in-house; red leather binding with a gold-toooled and -stamped border and the Harleian armorial bookplate gold-stamped at the centres of the outside covers.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
Printed by Anthoine Vérard at Paris.
Provenance:
? King Charles VIII of France (r. 1483–1498): suggested by the book's deluxe format (printed on vellum), dedication and presentation miniature.
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; indicated by his armorial bookplate gold-stamped on the outside covers (probably copying an original Harleian binding); and the Harleian shelmarks on f. [iii]recto
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), p. 140 (no. 4392).
Eurialus und Lukrezia übersetzt von Octovien de Saint-Gelais nebst Bruchstücken der Anthitus-Übersetzung, ed. by Elise Richter (Halle: Niemeyer, 1914).
M.-F. Piéjus, ‘Une traduction française de la Historia de duobus amantibus d'Eneas Silvius Piccolomini', in La circulation des hommes et des ouvres entre la France et l'Italie à l'époque de la Renaissance: Actes du Colloque International, 22-23-24 novembre 1990, Université de la Sorbonne - Institut Culturel Italien de Paris, ed. by Alexandre Fontana and Marina Marietti, Centre interuniversitaire de Recherche sur la Renaissance Italienne, 20 (Paris: Université de la Sorbonne nouvelle, 1992), pp. 103-17.
Mary Beth Winn, Anthoine Vérard: Parisian Publisher 1485-1512: Prologues, Poems, and Presentations (Geneva: Librarie Droz, 1997), pp. 87-90.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Names:
- Anthoine Vérard, Parisian printer, fl 1485-1512,
see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000123208208
Enea Silvio Piccolomini, the future Pope Pius II, 1405-1464,
see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000428460148
Octavien de Saint-Gelais, poet and translator, 1468-1502,
see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000116413860
Pius II, Pope, 1405-1464,
see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000121441321 - Places:
- Paris, France