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Royal MS 15 E VI
- Record Id:
- 040-002107094
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002105724
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000338.0x0000f2
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Royal MS 15 E VI
- Title:
-
Poems and Romances (the ''Talbot Shrewsbury book'')
- Scope & Content:
-
A collection of fifteen romances, chivalric treatises, instructional texts, chronicles and statutes compiled as a gift to Margaret of Anjou, on her betrothal to Henry VI, from the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, who escorted her to England for the marriage in 1444. The contents are as follows:
f. 1v: Table of contents, with the following introduction, 'En ceste livre sont conprins (sic) xi volumes de livres ensemble la geinielogie du Roy n[ost]re souverain seigneur henri par la grace de dieu Roy de france et dangleterre. le breviaire des nobles et lordre des chevaliers de la garitiere des quelz en sung la declarac[i]on p[ar] ordre:-' followed by a table of contents of twelve items with the first eleven numbered in red. The Renaud de Montauban is omitted from the list but the Livre de Charlemagne is listed as having four volumes whereas only three are in the text.
f. 2v: Dedicatory verses (34 couplets), incipit 'Princesse tres excellente, Ce livre cy vous presente, De Schrosbery le conte...'; explicit 'Et en la fin son paradis. Amen'. On a scroll at the foot is the inscription: 'Mon seul desir Au Roy et vous Et (sic, for est) bien servir Jusqu au mourir. Ce sachent tous Mon seul desir Au Roy et vous'.
f. 3r: Genealogical diagram of the descendants of St Louis, in the form of a fleur-de-lys. The centre branch gives the direct line of French kings from S. Louis to Charles IV; the right-hand branch the collateral (Valois) line to Charles VI and his daughter, Catherine of France, the left-hand branch the English kings from Edward I; and the three unite in Henry VI. Scrolls indicate the degree of consanguinity and generations of descent from S. Louis.
ff. 5r-24v: Roman d'Alexandre en prose, a French translation of the Historia de proelis, or abridgement of Pseudo-Calisthenes, the legend of Alexander, King of Macedonia (b. 356 B.C., d. 323 B.C.), Emperor of Greece and Persia, including details of his successors, the execution of his mother, Olympias, and passages on the marvels of India (ff. 15r-21v). The rubric is 'Cy commence le livre et la vraye hystoire du bon roy Alixandre'; incipit 'Puisque le premier pere de lumain lignaige' (f. 5r); explicit 'ius a force. Sy en lairay ester la parolle. amen. Cy fine le livre du roy Alixandre filz du Roy Phillipe de Macedoine et de la royne' (f. 24v).
ff. 25r-85v: Three Chansons de Geste, epic poems about Charlemagne: Simon de Pouille, Aspremont, and Fierabras. (i) Simon de Pouille relates events in the war between Charlemagne and Jonas of Babylon, in which Simon de Pouille, a member of the family of Guillaume d’Orange, is sent as an envoy to the Saracen leader. Incipit,‘'Or entendez, seigneurs, que dieu vous beneye Le glorieulx du ciel le filz saincte Marie' (f. 25r); explicit: 'Si que pas ne moubil qui la vous ay chantee' and colophon, ‘Cy fine le premier livre charlemaine’. (f. 42v); (ii) Aspremont tells of Charlemagne’s campaigns in Italy; Aspremont is part of the southern Appenines through which his army advances towards Rome. Incipit: 'Plaise vous escouter bon chancon vaillant De Charlemaine le riche roy puissant' (f. 43r); explicit, 'Que ca avant ung seul mot nen diron' and colophon, 'Cy fine le secund livre de Karlemaine' (f. 69v); (iii) Fierebras is the tale of Charlemagne’s battles with the Saracens and of the encounter between his commander Oliver and Fierabras of Alexander to regain the Crown of Thorns and other relics which are later presented to the Abbey of St Denis. Incipit, 'Seigneurs, or faictes paix, sil vous plaist escouter Chancon flere et horrible, iamais meilleur norres' (f. 70r); explicit, ‘Si que pas ne moubli qui la vous ay chantee. Amen' and colophon, 'Cy fine le iiiime livre Charlemaine' (f. 85v).
f. 86r-154v: Ogier le Danois, a chanson de geste attributed to the minstrel Adenet (here called ‘li rois Adans), who first wrote it down in the late 13th century. Ogier was an enemy and prisoner of Charlemagne and in this version he marries an English princess and becomes King of England, then Acre, bearing a son by Morgan la fee while he is shipwrecked on Avalon. Rubric, 'Cy commence le livre de Oger de Dannemarche' (f. 85v); incipit, 'Seigneurs, orrez chancon dont les vers sont plaisant, Gracieuse et bien faicte, veritable et plaisant' (f. 86r); explicit, 'Cy fault doger la rime qui a tous plaire doit' and colophon, 'Explicit le livre de Oger de Dennemarche' (f. 154v).
ff. 155r-206r: Quatre fils Aimon, or le Livre de Regnault (Renaud) de Montauban, a prose romance found also in Royal MS 16 G ii. Renaud and his three brothers flee from persecution by Charlemagne and go on a crusade on his magic horse, Bayard. He finally becomes a stonemason at the Cathedral of Cologne and after his death his body has miraculous properties. Rubric 'Cy coumence le livre de Regn[ault] de Montaubain' and incipit 'Or dit le compte que du temps au roy Alixandre ne fut oye une histoire pareille' (f. 155r); explicit 'et pour lame et pour le corps. Amen' and colophon, 'Explicit lystoire de Regn[ault] de Montaubain' (f. 206r). Four leaves (ff. 200-203) have been inserted into the book after f. 199 and contain the exploits of the sons of Renaud, with the rubric, ‘Comme Regnault a compaingnie de plusieurs ch[eva]l[ie]rs maine ses enfant jouyier aux champs por les instruire aux armes’ and incipit, ‘En ceste partie dit le conte que puisque maugis sen fut party’(f. 200r); explicit, ‘...et lui firent foy et hommage’ (f. 203v). The catchwords at the bottom of this folio, ‘Et regnault et ses’ refer to the text on f. 199v, at the beginning of the third chapter (marked by a decorated initial), ‘Et quant regnault et ses freres furent a montaubain...’(see Ward 1883, p. 624).
ff. 207r-226v: Pontus and Sidoine, a prose romance adapted from the French version of the Anglo-Norman romance, King Horn, a copy of which is in Harley MS 527. 47 chapters, each with a rubric, tell the story of Pontus, the son of King Thibor of Galicia, his exploits in Brittany and of the daughter of the King of Brittany, Sidoine. The rubric, 'Cy commence ung noble livre du roy Pontus filz du roy Thibor de Galice, lequel Pontus fut sauve des mains des Sarrazins et depuis fist de beaulx faiz darmes, comme vous pourres oyr cy apres' is across both columns, and incipit, 'Compter vous vueil une noble hystoire dont len pourroit assez de bien' (f. 207r); explicit, ‘iconvienge laissier ce siecle' and colophon, 'Explicit le livre du roy Pontus' (f. 226v).
ff. 227r-266r, 266v-272r: Guy de Warrewik et Heraud d'Ardenne. Guy de Warwik was one of the most popular romances in medieval England, surviving in sixteen known manuscripts in French verse and in numerous Middle English versions. This is one of only two surviving French prose copies of the text (the second is another 15th-century manuscript: Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, fr. 1476, which belonged to Marguerite de Rohan, wife of Jean le Bon). Colophon, 'Cy commence le livre de Guy de Warrewik', prologue incipit: 'Du temps du roy Athlestain, prince de noble memoire' and text incipit, 'en icelle honnourable saison et regne' (f. 227r); explicit, 'saluacion de corpz et dame. Amen' and colophon, 'Cy fine le rommant de Guy de Warwik'. (f. 266r); Heraud d’Ardenne incipit, 'Plaisance qui ma fait parler et descripre'; explicit 'tous ceulx du pays' (f. 266v) and colophon, 'Explicit le rommant de Guy de Warwik et de Herolt dardenne' (f. 272r).
ff. 273r-292r: Le Chevalier au Cygne, a chanson containing an abridged version of three parts of the vast Crusade cycle: Hélias, Les Enfances de Godefroi de Bouillon, and Jérusalem. The exploits of the seven children who are turned into swans, of Elyas or Helias, and of his grandson, Godfrey of Bouillon, known as the Knight of the Swan are included. Rubric, ‘Cy comence lystoire du chevalier au signe’ and incipit, 'Or escoutez, seigneurs, pour dieu lesperitable Que lhesus vous garisse de la main au d[iable]' (f. 273r); explicit, 'Par Mahom, dit Marbrin, je lottroy et le gre' and colophon, 'Cy fine le rommant du chevalier au cisne' (f. 292r).
ff. 293r-325v: Honoré de Bonnet, Larbre de batailes, a treatise on warfare (the same text in Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, fr.674 is attributed to this author). The rubric, ‘Cy commence le livre de larbre de batailes' is on the preceding blank folio, (f. 292v), The summary begins, 'An cestui livre quatre parties', preface begins, 'La saincte couronne de France', and text incipit, 'Maintenant puisque vous veez' (f. 293r); explicit, 'gloire de paradis. Amen’ and colophon, ‘Explicit le livre de larbre des batailles' (f. 325v).
ff. 327r-361r: Gilles de Rome, translated by Henri de Ganchy, Le gouvernement des roys et des princes (De regimine principium). Other copies of the text are found in Harley MS 4385 and Add MS 22274. Rubric on facing page ‘Cy com[m]ence le livre de politique’ (f. 326v); preface begins, 'A son especial seigneur, ne de lignie royal, monseigneur Philipe'; text incipit, 'Le philosophe dit que la parole de sage homme ne doit pas estre plus longue' (f. 327r); explicit 'et loyaulx amis. Amen’ and colophon, ‘Cy fine la derreniere partie du tiers livre du gouvernement des roys et des princes, et par consequent fin de tout le livre de politique que frere Gille de Romme de lordre de saint Augustin fist esdiz trois livres, Explicit' (f. 361r).
ff. 363r-401r:Chroniques de Normandie, a prose chronicle from the mythical Aubert to 1217. Other copies of the text are in Additional MS 20811, Cotton. Vitellius F. xvi (partly burnt, extends to 1199 only), and Royal MS 19 B. XIV. A large part of the chronicle is a prose version of Wace's Roman de Rou. The sources of the continuation are more obscure, but from 1189 to 1199 the compiler draws either from the so-called Benedict of Peterborough and from Ralph de Coggeshall or from a lost source common to them. At f. 396v is a paragraph on the repurchase by Richard of relics lost by Guy, similar to the account by Matthew Paris in Chronica Maiora. For the Blondel legend (f. 398r) and other passages the source is Récits d'un Ménestrel de Reims. Incipit, 'Combien que les vrayes croniques nous racomptent' (f. 363r); explicit, 'pour aller en Jerusalem pour conquerre la saincte terre' and colophon, ‘Explicit les cronicles de Normandie’ (f. 401r).
ff. 403r-404v:Alain Chartier, Breviaire des nobles, a poem on the values of chivalry (other copies in Royal MS 14 E. II and Royal MS 17 E. iv). Incipit, 'Je Noblesce, dame de bon vouloir' (f. 403r); explicit, ‘Voz matines recordez Nobles hommes e’ ce livre’ and colophon, 'Explicit le livre nomme le breviaire des nobles' (f. 404v).
ff. 405r-438r: Christine de Pisan, Le livre des fais darmes et de chevalerie, a work on military strategy and the conduct of war, from a variety of sources, for the use of young knights. List of contents and rubric, ‘Cy commence le livre des fais darmes et de chevalerie. Le premier chapitre est le prologue....’ (f. 405r); preface begins 'Pourceque hardement est tant neccessaire' and text incipit, 'Chaton le vaillant combatant' (f. 405v); explicit, 'des le tempz tresancien' and colophon, 'Explicit le livre du fait darmes et de la noblesse de cheualerie' (f. 438r).
ff. 439r-440v: Statutes of the Order of the Garter, in French. The text does not agree exactly with any of the four printed in the appendix of Ashmole's Order of the Garter (reprinted by Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1971). The rubric 'Cy commence le ordre du gartir' (f. 438v); colophon, 'A lonneur de Dieu saincte Marie la glorieuse vierge' (f. 439r); explicit 'se besoing en estoit' (f. 440v).
Decoration:
Illuminated by the Talbot Master and his workshop, an artist active in Rouen, named after this manuscript (and Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, 40.1950, the ''John Talbot Book of Hours'') and by three other illuminators, the Master of the Lord Hoo''s Book of Hours (bifolium ff. 21-24), an artist working in the Bedford Master''s style (bifolium ff. 4v, 22-23), and an unnamed illuminator of ff. 266v and 293 (see Reynolds 1993).
2 full-page miniatures in colours and gold (ff. 3, 4v), and 13 two-column miniatures in colours and gold (ff. 2v, 5, 25, 40, 70, 155, 207, 227, 273, 363, 403, 405. 439) with full borders, and 4 one-column miniatures in colours and gold with full or partial borders (ff. 86r, 273, 293, 327), at the beginning of each text. 126 smaller miniatures in colours and gold within text columns, with marginal ivy extensions forming partial borders; some with instructions to illuminators (e.g., ff. 222r, 22v, 223v, 225v). Contour of a banner covered by the border (ff. 86r, 363r). Foliate initials in colours and gold. Initials in gold on rose and blue grounds with penwork decoration in white. Line-fillers in blue, rose and gold with penwork decoration in white. Cadels.
Description of miniatures:
f. 2v, John Talbot identified by his white talbot dog, presenting the book to queen Margaret seated in a palace beside King Henry VI, and surrounded by the court, with the royal arms of England at the back of the throne, and banners of England, France, George, and Anjou at the top of the roof; with a full border containing the royal arms of England impaled with the arms of Anjou; the arms of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury with the arms of Beauchamp, Earls of Warwick in pretence, for his wife, Margaret Beauchamp, surrounded by the Garter, a scroll inscribed with verses (see above) and a bunch of daisies, or 'marguerites', referring to Margaret of Anjou.
f. 3r, Miniature of the genealogical table of descendants of Louis IX in the form of a fleur-de-lys, with portraits of kings in medallions, supported by Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester with his arms and the arms of Anjou encircled by the Garter, and Richard, Duke of York with his arms and an initial 'M' encircled by the Garter; the arms of France and of George encircled by the Garter, and a banner bearing the royal arms of England impaled with the arms of Anjou, wrapped with a scroll inscribed with a motto 'Dieu est mon droit', and supported by the royal device of an antelope with a crown and chain.
The subjects of the miniatures are:
f. 4v, The city of Babylon with Nectanebus enthroned in his palace bearing an inscription 'La cite de babyloine', with another palace with inscription reading 'le chastel du Chaire', a garden with an inscription reading 'le jardin du Beaulme', and a watermill with an inscription reading 'les moulins de Babiloine'; a full border containing Margaret's arms (the royal arms of England impaled with those of Anjou) supported by a herald wearing a tabard of Shrewsbury arms, and the arms of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury with the arms of Beauchamp, Earls of Warwick in pretence, for his wife, Margaret Beauchamp, in the lower margin.
f. 5r, Nectanebus enthroned receiving a letter; Nectanebus having his head shaved and fleeing his palace; with a full border containing a herald wearing a tabard of Shrewsbury arms and holding a banner bearing the royal arms of England, and the arms of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury with the arms of Beauchamp, earls of Warwick in pretence, for his wife, Margaret Beauchamp, in the lower margin
f. 6r, Nectanebus addressing Olympias; Nectanebus and Olympias in bed.
f. 6v, Nectanebus as a dragon at Philip's table;Philip taking Alexander to Aristotle.
f. 7r, The death of Nectanebus; Alexander and Bucephalus; the victory of Alexander over Nicolaus.
f. 7v, The coronation of Alexander the Great.
f. 8r, Philip and Alexander dismissing Persian envoys; the defeat of Philip by Pausanias.
f. 8v, Alexander defeating Pausanias; the death of Philip; Alexander enthroned.
f. 9r, The army of Alexander marching; Alexander and his army at sea.
f. 9v, The building of Alexandria; the naval expedition to Crete; priests of Jerusalem bringing to Alexander the book of Daniel.
f. 10r, Alexander receiving a letter from the messengers of Darius; King Darius receiving a letter from the messengers of Alexander.
f. 10v, King Darius dictating a letter to Alexander; Alexander reading the letter from Darius; Alexander and Olympias.
f. 11r, Alexander addressing his army.
f. 11v, Battle between Alexander and the Persians.
f. 12r, Battle between Alexander and the Persians.
f. 12v, The surrender of a city to Alexander.
f. 13r, Alexander attacks the city of King Darius of Persia.
f. 13v, The burial of Darius; the execution of the murderers of Darius; the marriage between Alexander and Roxana.
f. 14r, Alexander receiving a letter from Porrus.
f. 14v, The battle between Alexander and Porrus.
f. 15v, The Queen of the Amazons meeting Alexander; Alexander battling flying dragons and beasts; Alexander battling strange creatures.
f. 16r, Alexander battling against a strange beast; Alexander fighting Porrus; Alexander killing Porrus.
f. 16v, The burial of Porrus; Alexander confronting a tribe of women; Alexander's knights killing elephants with spears.
f. 17r, Alexander encountering a group of horned men; miniature of Alexander encountering a group of naked people in a lake; Alexander encountering a group of women with horses' hooves for feet (the hippopodes).
f. 17v, Alexander encountering the gymnosophists, a race of naked wise men who live in caves; Alexander arriving at the river Pison.
f. 18r, Alexander having a letter inscribed on a column; Dindymus receiving a letter; Alexander fighting with giant; Alexander burning a wild man.
f. 18v, The House of the Sun; the trees of the sun, moon, and a Phoenix.
f. 19r, Candacalus being robbed of his wife; Alexander rescuing her.
f. 19v, Alexander and Candace; Alexander reconciling Candace's sons.
f. 20r, Alexander fighting dragons and tusked beasts; Alexander encountering men and women living in water.
f. 20v, Alexander dreaming of Ammon; Alexander being carried up by griffins; Alexander being lowered into the sea in a cask.
f. 21r, Alexander in a tent, speaking to his army; Alexander fighting with unicorns; Alexander fighting with dragons; Alexander fighting with Cyclopes.
f. 21v, Alexander encountering blemmyae; miniature of Alexander encountering horse-like creatures; miniature of the burial of Bucephalus; miniature of Alexander with caladrius birds and ill people; miniature of Alexander encountering a two-headed serpent, elephants, and other beasts.
f. 22r, The surrender of Babylon to Alexander; Alexander sending a letter; Alexander consulting an astronomer.
f. 22v, Alexander dictating a letter; Iobas offering poisoned wine to the feasting Alexander.
f. 23v, The death and burial of Alexander.
f. 24r, Olympias is attacked by King Tacida.
f. 24v, The death of Olympias; her corpse is eaten by dogs.
f. 25r, Charlemagne and his army meeting four kings.
f. 43r, Charlemagne and Naymes meeting on horseback.
f. 70r, Charlemagne and Fierabras with the relics.
f. 86r, Charlemagne receiving homage, while Baudoin is killed with a chess board, with a contour of a banner covered by a partial border.
f. 155r, Charlemagne at a table and Aymon's sons on the magic horse, Bayard; with full borders including the arms of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, with the arms of his wife, Margaret Beauchamp.
f. 158v, Aymon and Regnaut, his son, and their two armies face each other.
f. 159r, Aymon returning to his duchess.
f. 160r, Aymon’s four sons before their mother.
f. 176r, Aymon’s son Richard dismounted, and Charlemagne and his host.
f. 180v, Richard being rescued from the gallows.
f. 181v, The battle between Regnaut and Charlemagne.
f. 182r, Regnault seizing Charlemagne.
f. 188r, The siege of Montauban.
f. 207r, The storming of Corunna by Broadas.
f. 207v, Patrice saving Ponthus and his companions and sending them on a ship to France.
f. 208r, Patrice embracing the count of Asturias; the wreck of Ponthus' ship in Brittany.
f. 208v, King Haguel receives Ponthus.
f. 209v, Sidoine receives Ponthus.
f. 209v, Duel between Ponthus and a Saracen.
f. 210v, Battle between Ponthus and the Saracens.
f. 211r, Rescue of King Hagel.
f. 211v, The massacre of the Saracens; the return of the Christians.
f. 212r, Ponthus being made constable; Ponthus meeting with Sidoine.
f. 213r, Four knights challengers.
f. 213v, Duel of Ponthus and Benard.
f. 215r, Festival at the magic spring.
f. 215v, Guennelet and the king hunting, with Ponthus and Sidoine courting in the foreground.
f. 216v, Ponthus embarking by ship into exile from Brittany.
f. 217v, Ponthus kills Corbaran who is invading England.
f. 218v, The Duke of Burgundy asks for Sidoine in marriage.
f. 219r, Olivier arriving by ship in England to find Ponthus; Ponthus meeting the King of England.
f. 219v, Kings of England, Scotland, and Ireland receive Ponthus; he petitions the kings of England and Scotland to conquer the kingdom of Galicia.
f. 220v, Joust between Ponthus and the Duke of Burgundy watched by the court.
f. 221r, Ponthus with his knights.
f. 221v, Ponthus sends gifts to Sidoine.
f. 222r, Ponthus kills Broadas and takes Cologne.
f. 222v, Battle with Saracens; Ponthus offers his horse and armour on the altar in thanks to God.
f. 223v, Guennelet gives Haguel and Sidoine letters telling them Ponthus is dead.
f. 224v, Ponthus lands and slays Guennelet at table; he kneels before Haguel and Sidoine.
f. 225r, The Earl of Richmond retums to England and tells the King of Ponthus’ deeds; Ponthus holds a tournament for his visitors.
f. 225v, The King of England receives Ponthus.
f. 227r, Guy of Warwick as a courtier and pilgrim; with full borders including the arms of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, with the arms of his wife, Margaret Beauchamp.
f. 266v, Heraud before the Admiral of Africa.
f. 273r, On the left a knight in a boat drawn by a swan; on the right the mother in bed with seven children in a cradle.
f. 293r, Honoré de Bonnet offering his book to Charles VI.
f. 327r: The presentation of the book to a king.
f. 363r: Aubert and Ide, Robert the Devil, and Charlemagne.
f. 403r: Noblesse, and twelve other persons taking part in the dialogue.
f. 405r: Henry VI enthroned giving the Earl of Shrewsbury the sword as constable of France.
f. 439r: The Chapter of the Garter, a king and knights gathered around an altar surmounted by George and the dragon with a full border including the arms of John Talbot with the arms of his wife, Margaret Beauchamp, in pretence.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Royal Collection
Royal Manuscripts Digitisation Project - Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002105724
040-002107094 - Is part of:
- Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X : Royal Manuscripts
Royal MS 15 E VI : Poems and Romances (the ''Talbot Shrewsbury book'') - Hierarchy:
- 032-002105724[1289]/040-002107094
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_15_E_VI (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1444
- End Date:
- 1445
- Date Range:
- 1444-1445
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
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- User Conditions:
-
Letter of introduction required to use this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment codex.
Dimension: 475 x 335 mm (text space: 335 x 230 mm).
Foliation: ff. 440 (+ 2 unfoliated modern paper eaves and 1 medieval parchment leaf at the beginning and at the end; f. 1 is a medieval parchment flyleaf; 1 blank leaf after f. 3).
Collation: i5+1 (ff. iii, 1-4), ii-iii8 (ff. 5-20), iv4 (ff. 21-24), v-vi8 (ff. 25-40), vii2 (ff. 41-42), viii-x8 (ff. 43-66) xi2+1 (ff. 67-69), xii-xiv8 (ff. 70-93), xv6 (ff. 94-99), xvi-xvii8 (ff. 100-115), xviii4 (ff. 116-119), xix-xxii8 (ff. 120-151) xxiii2+1 (ff. 152-154), xxiv6 (ff. 155-160), xxv-xxviii8 (ff. 161-192), xxix8-1 (ff. 193-199), xxx4 (ff. 200-203), xxxi2+1 (ff. 204-206), xxxii-xxxiii8 (ff. 207-222), xxxiv4 (ff. 223-6), xxxv-xxxix8 (ff. 227-266), xl6 (ff. 267-272), xli8 (ff. 273-280), xlii-xliii6 (ff. 281-292), xliv-xlvii8 (ff. 293-324), xlviii2 (ff. 324-325), xlix-lii8 (ff. 326-357), liii4 (ff. 358-361), liv-lviii8 (ff. 362-401), lix2+1 (ff. 402-404), lx-lxi8 (ff. 405-420), lxii2 (ff. 421- 422), lxiii1+8 (ff. 423-431), lxiv8-1 (ff. 432-438), lxv2+1 (ff. 439-440 + i) (i = 1 unfoliated leaf at the end).
Layout: Written in two columns.
Script: Gothic hybrid (bâtarde).
Binding: British Museum/British Library in-house binding.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: France (Rouen).
Provenance:
John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterford (b. c.1387, d. 1453), commissioned by him in Rouen as a wedding gift for Margaret of Anjou for her marriage to Henry VI in 1445: his arms with the arms of his wife, Margaret Beauchamp, in pretence (ff. 2v, 4v, 5r, 25r, 70r, 155r, 207r, 227r, 405r, 439r), and a presentation scene of John Talbot giving the book to queen Margaret (f. 2v).
Margaret Margaret of Anjou (b. 1430, d. 1482), Queen of England, consort of Henry VI: addressed to her ''Princesse tres excellente / ce livre cy vous presente / De schrosbery le conte''; the royal arms of England and Anjou (ff. 2v, 3r, 4v, 5r, 25r, 70r, 155r, 207r, 227r, 405r, 439r), daisies (marguerites) referring to her name (ff. 2v, 4v, etc).
The Old Royal Library (the English Royal Library): perhaps to be identified with ''Le bon roy Alexandre'' in the list of books at Richmond Palace of 1535, no. 91; included in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 12v.
Presented to the British Museum by George II in 1757 as part of the Old Royal Library.
- Information About Copies:
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Full digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Digitised Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts.
Select digital coverage available for this manuscript, see Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/welcome.htm.
- Publications:
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The Palaeographic Society: Facsimiles of Manuscripts and Inscriptions, Second series, ed. by Edward Augustus Bond, Edward Maunde Thompson, and George Frederic Warner (London: Cloves and Sons, 1884-1894), II, pl. 173.
H. Omont, ''Les manuscrits français des rois d''Angleterre au château de Richmond'', in Etudes romanes dédiés à Gaston Paris (Paris: É. Bouillon, 1891), pp. 1-13 (p. 10).
Campbell Dodgson, ''Alexander''s Journey to the Sky: A Woodcut by Schäufelein'', Burlington Magazine, 6 (1904-05), 395-401 (p. 396, Pl. I).
Paul Durrieu ''Les souvenir historiques dans les manuscrits à miniatures de la domination anglaise en France au temp de Jeanne d''Arc'', Annuaire-Bulletin de la Société de l''Histoire de France (1905), 1-25 (pp. 20-23).
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), I, pp. 129, 469, 487, 598, 604, 615, 622, 627, 708.
George F. Warner and Julius P. Gilson, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Old Royal and King’s Collections, 4 vols (London: British Museum, 1921), I, p. xi n. 3, II, pp. 177-79.
J. A. Herbert, British Museum: Reproductions from Illuminated Manuscripts, Series 2, 3rd edn (London: British Museum, 1923), pl. 29.
The Book of Fayttes of Armes and Chyualrye, trans. by William Caxton, ed. by A.T.P. Byles, Early English Text Society: Original Series, 189 (London: Early English Text Society, 1932), pp. xvi-xvii.
F. Taylor, ''Some Manuscripts of the ''Libelle of Englyshe Polycye'', Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 12 (1940), 3-45 (p. 44, n. 3).
Joan Evans, English Art 1307-1461, Oxford History of English Art, 5 (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1949), p. 92.
D. J. A. Ross, ''Nectanebus in his Palace: A Problem of Alexander Iconography'', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 15 (1952) 67-87 (pp. 69, 71-73).
Francis Wormald and Phyllis M. Giles, ''A Handlist of the Additional Manuscripts in the Fitzwilliam Museum: Part III'', Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, 5 (1953), 365-76 (p. 366).
Jacques Thomas, ''Les mises en prose de Renaut de Montauban: classement sommaire et sources'', in Fin du moyen âge et Renaissance: Mélanges offert à Robert Guiete (Anvers, 1961), pp. 127-37 (pp. 128, 129, n. 3, 131, 2, 133, n. 5, 136-37).
Benedicta J. H. Rowe, ''Notes on the Clovis Miniature and the Bedford Portrait in the Bedford Book of Hours'', Journal of the Archaeological Association, 35 (1962), 56-65 (p. 60, n. 5).
D. J. A. Ross, ''Olympias and the Serpent: The Interpretation of a Baalbek Mosaic and the Date of the Illustrated Pseudo-Callisthenes'', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 26 (1963) 1-21 (pp. 6, 8, n. 35).
Stelio Bassi, ''I manoscritti francesi della Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino'', Studi Francesi, 19 (1963), 53-56 (p. 53).
Loren MacKinney, Medical Illustrations in Medieval Manuscripts, Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 5, 2 parts bound together (London: Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1965), with Thomas Herndon, Part II: Medical Miniatures in Extant Manuscripts: A Checklist, no. 56.
David J. A. Ross, ''The Iconography of Roland'', Medium Aevum, 1 (1968), 46-65 (p. 58).
Margaret Kekewich, ''Edward IV, William Caxton, and Literary Patronage in Yorkist England'', The Modern Language Review, 66 (1971) 481-87 (p. 485).
Le Rommant de Guy de Warwik et de Herolt d''Ardenne ed. by D. J. Conlon, Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures, 102 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971), ff. 16-26, pp. 57-345 for an edition of the text.
D. Byrne, ''The Hours of the Admiral Prigent de Coëtivy'', Scriptorium: Revue internationale des études relative aux manuscrits, 28 (1974) 148-61 (p. 254, n. 16).
A. de Mandach, ''A Royal Wedding-Present in Making: Talbot''s chivalric Anthology (London, B.M., Royal 15. E VI.) for Queen Margaret of Anjou and the ''laval-Middleton'' Anthology of Nottingham (Univ. Lib. Mi. LM. 6)'', Nottingham Medieval Studies, 18 (1974), 56-76 (pp. 56, 59, 61, passim).
Charles Ross, Edward IV (London: Eyre Methuen, 1974), p. 266.
Leslie L. Wiliams, ''A Rouen Book of Hours of the Sarum Use, c. 1444, Belonging to Thomas, Lord Hoo, Chancellor of Normandy and France'', Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 75 (1975), 189-212 (pp. 191, 211, pl. VIII).
André de Mandach, Naissance et développement de la Chanson de Geste en Europe, 3 vols (Geneva: Libraire Droz, 1975), III: Chanson d''Aspremont, A. Les cours d''Agoland et de Charlemagne, Publications romanes et françaises, 134 (1975), pp. 3-4, 43-52 on ff. 43-69.
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, no. 898.
J. J. G. Alexander, ''Painting and Manuscript Illumination for Royal Patrons in the Later Middle Ages'', in English Court Culture in the Later Middle Ages, ed. by V. J. Scattergood and J. W. Sherborne (London: Duckworth, 1983), pp. 141-62 (p. 151, pl. 12).
David J. A. Ross, Studies in the Alexander Romance (London: Pindar, 1985), pp. 173, 317.
François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à Peintures en France 1440-1520 (Paris: Flammarion, 1993), pp. 37, 170 exhibition catalogue.
C. F. Briggs, ''Manuscripts of Giles de Rome''s De Regimine Principium in England, 1300-1500'', Scriptorium: Revue internationale des études relative aux manuscrits, 47 (1993), 60-73 (p. 69).
Cathrine Reynolds, ''The Shrewsbury Book, British Library Royal MS. 15.E.VI'', Medieval Art, Architecture, and Archeology at Rouen, The British Archeological Association Conference Transactions for the year 1986, 12, ed. by J. Stratford (Leeds, 1993), pp. 109-16.
Cathrine Reynolds, ''English Patrons and French Artists in Fifteenth Century Normandy'', in England and Normandy in the Middle Ages, ed. by D. Bates and A. Curry (London: Hambledon Press, 1994), pp. 299-313 (p. 305).
V. M. Schmidt, A Legend and its Image: The Aerial Flight of Alexander the Great in Medieval Art (Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1995), no. 43, pp.183-84, and passim.
D. B. Mahoney, ''Courtly Presentation and Authorial Self-fashioning: Frontispiece Miniatures in Late Medieval French and English Manuscripts'', Medievalia: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Medieval Studies Worldwide, 21 (1996), 97-160 (p. 99).
The Mythical Quest: In Search of Adventure, Romance and Enlightenment, intro. by Penelope Lively (London: British Library, 1996), pl. on pp. 36, 38.
Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, Richard III’s Books: Ideals and Reality in the Life and Library of a Medieval Prince (Stroud, Gloucestershire, Sutton, 1997), pp. 112 no. 43; 222.
C. W. Dutschke, ''The Truth in the Book: The Marco Polo Texts in Royal 19.D.I and Bodley 264'', Scriptorium: Revue internationale des études relatives aux manuscrits, 52 (1998) 278-99 (p. 298).
Paul Strohm, England’s Empty Throne: Usurpation and the Language of Legitimation, 1399-1422 (New Haven: Yale, 1998), pl. 3.
Charles F. Briggs, Giles of Rome''s De Regimine Principum: Reading and Writing Politics at Court and University, c. 1275-c. 1525 (Cambridge: University Press, 1999), pp. 163, 174, pl. 2.
The Libraries of King Henry VIII, ed. by J. P. Carley, Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues, 7 (London: The British Library, 2000), possibly H1.91.
Pamela Porter, Medieval Warfare in Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2000), p. 39.
Gothic: Art for England 1400-1547, ed. by Richard Marks and Paul Williamson (London: V & A Publications, 2003), no. 42 exhibition catalogue.
Joseph L. Henderson and Dyane N. Sherwood, Transformation of the Psyche: The Symbolic Alchemy of the Splendor Solis (Hove: Brunner-Routledge, 2003), fig. 14.
Michaela Braesel, ‘The Influence of Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts on the Pre-Raphaelites and the Early Poetry of William Morris’, Journal of William Morris Studies, 15.4 (2004), 41-54 (p. 43).
A. J. Pollard, ‘Talbot, John, first earl of Shrewsbury and first earl of Waterford (c.1387–1453)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: University Press, 2004; online edn, 2008), http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26932 accessed 30 April 2010.
Catherine Reynolds, ‘The Workshop of the Master of the Duke of Bedford: Definitions and Identities’, in Patrons, Authors and Workshops: Books and Book Production in Paris around 1400, ed. by G. Croenen and P. Ainsworth, (Leuven: Peeters, 2006), pp. 437-72 (p. 450).
Kathleen L. Scott, ''The Decorated Letters of Two Cotton Manuscripts'', in Tributes to Jonathan J. G. Alexander: The Making and Meaning of Illuminated Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts, Art and Architecture, ed. by Susan L''Engle and Gerald B. Guest (London: Harvey Miller, 2006), pp. 99-110 (p. 106 n. 47).
Joe Flatman, Ships and Shipping in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2009), pls 68, 79, 135.
Maud Pérez-Simon, Mise en roman, mise en image: Les manuscrits du Roman d''Alexandre en prose (Paris: Champion, 2011), pp. 446-55.
Anne D. Hedeman, ‘Collecting Images: The Role of the Visual in the Shrewsbury Talbot Book (Royal 15 E. vi)’, in Collections in Context: The Organization of Knowledge and Community in Europe (14th-17th Centuries), ed. by Karen Fresco and Anne D. Hedeman (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press), pp. 139-67.
Andrew Taylor, ‘The Time of an Anthology: British Library MS Royal 15 E. vi and the Commemoration of Chivalric Culture’, in Collections in Context: The Organization of Knowledge and Community in Europe (14th-17th Centuries), ed. by Karen Fresco and Anne D. Hedeman (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2011), pp. 169-91.
Craig Taylor, ‘The Shrewsbury Book (BL MS Royal 15 E. vi) and Chivalric Writing in Late Medieval England’, Collections in Context: The Organization of Knowledge and Community in Europe (14th-17th Centuries), ed. by Karen Fresco and Anne D. Hedeman (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2011), pp. 193-223.
Karen Fresco, ‘Christine de Pizan’s Livre des fais d’armes et de chivalerie and the Coherence of Brit. Lib. MS Royal 15 E. vi’, in Collections in Context: The Organization of Knowledge and Community in Europe (14th-17th Centuries), ed. by Karen Fresco and Anne D. Hedeman (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2011), pp. 225-66.
Scot McKendrick, John Lowden and Kathleen Doyle, Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination (London: British Library, 2011), no. 143.
Laurent Ungeheuer, ‘Le Maître de la Légende dorée de Munich, un émule du Maître de Bedford: Collaborations et indépendance d’un enlumineur parisien entre 1420 et 1450’, Revue de L’Art, 195 (2017), 23-32 (p. 26) online at: https://www.academia.edu/15766707/Le_Ma%C3%AEtre_de_la_L%C3%A9gende_dor%C3%A9e_de_Munich_enlumineur_parisien_du_milieu_du_XVe_si%C3%A8cle; accessed June 2017.
- Exhibitions:
- Discovering literature: Shakespeare and Renaissance, (online), 30 April 2016-
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)