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Royal MS 18 D IX
- Record Id:
- 040-002107562
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002105724
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000338.0x000335
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Royal MS 18 D IX
- Title:
- Bible Historiale, Volume 1
- Scope & Content:
-
The first of two volumes, the second of which is Royal MS 18 D X. The fourth volume is Royal MS 15 D I, but it was written previously and altered to include the arms of Edward IV. It is not known whether the third volume ever existed. It contains part of the second edition of the Bible Historiale, a French adaptation of Peter Comestor's Historia scholastica by Guyart des Moulins (c. 1291-95).
Catchwords and bifolium signatures.
This volume begins with the translator's preface of 1297, 'Pour ce que le deable' (f. 1r), followed by a table of books in the whole work (not corresponding to the actual contents), table of rubrics to Genesis, preface of Comestor (with the mistake 'Treues' for 'Troyes') (f. 3v) and translator's note 'Cy doit en scavoir..' (f. 4v). It includes all the books of the Octateuch, each with a table of rubrics except Ruth, which is joined to Judges. Text incipit, 'En pallaiz de roy et dempereur' (f. 5r). Explicit, 'Et ysay engendra david' amd colophon, 'Cy fine le livre de Juges. Et lhistoire de ruth' (f. 319r).
Decoration:
1 one-column miniature with a partial border containing the royal arms of England on a banner and on a crowned shield, with two shields bearing the same arms differenced by labels of three points for Edward IV's two sons; and an illuminated initial 'P'(our) of the white rose en soleil of the York family, at the beginning of the prologue (f. 1r). 1 large miniature with a full border with hybrids and the royal arms of England, and an illuminated initial 'E'(n) of the York badge of the white rose en soleil with the motto 'dieu et mon droit', at the beginning of chapter 1, with instruction to the illuminator in the lower margin (f. 5r). 5 large miniatures in colours and gold, with full or partial borders, some containing the Royal arms, some unfinished, and initials in colours with penwork decoration in gold, at the beginning of major divisions (ff. 109r, 173r, 195v, 275r, 291v). 6 one or two-column miniatures in colours and gold, with full or partial borders, one containing the Yorkist badge (ff. 12r, 56r, 84r, 153r, 197v, 241r). Initials in gold on blue and rose grounds with penwork decoration in white. Line-fillers in blue and rose with penwork decoration in white. Cadels.
Illuminated by the Master of Edward IV (ff. 109r, 173r, 195v, 291v) and the Master of the Harley Froissart or his follower (f. 1) (see Kren and McKendrick, 2003).
The subjects of the miniatures are:
f. 1r, The author (translator?) writing a book, at the beginning of the Preface.
f. 5r, The creation: landscape with animals and the Creator on mandorla in the centre, at the beginning of Genesis.
f. 12r, God speaking to Adam and Eve before the Fall, at the beginning of Chapter 7 of Genesis.
f. 56r, Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, at the beginning of Genesis, Chapter 38.
f. 84r, Joseph being sold by his brothers at the beginning of Genesis, Chapter 66.
f. 109r, Moses is placed in a boat by his mother and then found by the Pharoah's daughter, at the beginning of Exodus.
f. 153r, Men at prayer before the ark and tabernacle at the beginning of Exodus, Chapter 56.
f. 173r, Preparing and burning of offerings, at the beginning of Leviticus.
f. 195v, Moses speaking to God in the Tabernacle, at the beginning of the book of Numbers.
f. 197v, Three tribes guarding the tabernacle, at the beginning of Numbers, Chapter 2.
f. 241r, Moses speaking to the people, at the beginning of Deuteronomy.
f. 275r Joshua on the banks of the River Jordan with the ark carried by a group of Israelites, at the beginning of Joshua.
f. 291v, Judah defeating Canaanites in Bezek and the punishment of Adonibezek, at the beginning of Judges.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Royal Collection
Royal Manuscripts Digitisation Project - Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002105724
036-002107561
040-002107562 - Is part of:
- Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X : Royal Manuscripts
Royal MS 18 D IX-X : Bible Historiale, Volumes 1 and 2
Royal MS 18 D IX : Bible Historiale, Volume 1 - Hierarchy:
- 032-002105724[1712]/036-002107561[0001]/040-002107562
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
A parchment codex, 319 folios
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_18_D_IX (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1479
- End Date:
- 1479
- Date Range:
- 1479
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment codex.
Dimensions: 425 x 310mm (275 x 193mm).
Foliation: ff. [iv] + 319 + [iii] (2 unfoliated leaves at the beginning and 1 at the end are medieval parchment flyleaves; the remainder are modern paper flyleaves).
Collation: i-xvii8(ff. 1-144). xviii7(ff. 145-151), xix-xxxiii8(ff. 152-271), xxxiv3(ff. 272-274), xxxv-xxxix8(ff. 275-315), xl4+1(316-319). Catchwords, some perpendicular to the text (e.g., f. 48v) and bifolium signatures.
Script: Gothic cursive (bâtarde).
Binding: British Museum/British Library in-house binding.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Netherlands, S. (Bruges)
Provenance:
Edward IV (b. 1442, d. 1483), King of England and Lord of Ireland, written for him probably in Bruges, volume 2 of the same set, Royal 18 D X (f. 341) is dated 1479: the royal arms of England surmounted by a crown with two shields bearing the same arms differenced by labels of three points for Edward's IV two sons (f. 1); a Yorkist badge of white a rose en soleil and a motto 'Dieu et mon droit' (ff. 1, 5, 153).
The Old Royal Library (the English Royal Library): included in the list of books at Richmond Palace of 1535, no. 47; and in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 13.
Presented to the British Museum by George II in 1757 as part of the Old Royal Library.
- Information About Copies:
-
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:
-
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 (pp. 7-8).
Samuel Berger, La bible française au moyen âge (Paris: Champion, 1884), pp. 389-90.
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), II, p. 314.
F. Winkler, Die flämische Buchmalerei des XV. und XVI. Jahrhunderts: Künstler und Werke von den Brüdern van Eyck bis zu Simon Bening (Leipzig: E.A. Seemann, 1925), pp. 137-8, 179.
Margaret Kekewich, 'Edward IV, William Caxton, and Literary Patronage in Yorkist England', The Modern Language Review, 66 (1971) 481-87 (p. 483).
A. G. Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c.700-1600 in the Department of Manuscripts, The British Library, 2 vols (London, 1979), I, no. 906.
Guy N. Deutsch, Iconographie de l'illustration de Flavius Josephe au temps de Jean Fouquet, Arbeiten zur Literatur und Geschichte des hellenistischen Judentums, 12 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1986), pp. 136, 137, 144, 155.
Georges Dogaer, Flemish Miniature Painting in the 15th and 16th Centuries (Amsterdam: B. M. Israel, 1987), p. 117.
Janet Backhouse, 'Founders of the Royal Library: Edward IV and Henry VII as Collectors of Illuminated Manuscripts', in England in the Fifteenth Century: Proceedings of the 1986 Harlaxton Symposium (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1987), pp. 23-41 (pp. 26, 28, 39).
Walter Cahn, 'Margaret of York's Guide to the Pilgrimage Churches of Rome', in Margaret of York, Simon Marmion, and the Visions of Tondal, ed. by Thomas Kren (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1992), pp. 89-98 (p. 93).
Lilian M. C. Randall, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery, 3 vols (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989-1997), III: Belgium, 1250-1530, 2 parts, I, no. 284.
McKendrick, Scot, ‘La Grande Histoire Cesar and the Manuscripts of Edward IV’, in English Manuscript Studies 1100-1700, 2, ed. by Peter Beal and Jeremy Griffiths, (London: British Library, 1990), pp. 109-38, (pp. 110, 116-20).
Scot McKendrick, 'Lodewijk van Gruuthuse en de Librije van Edward IV', in Lodewijk van Gruuthuse , Mecenas en Europees Diplomaats ca. 1427-1492, ed. by M. P. J. Marten (Bruges: Stichting, 1992), pp. 153-59 (pp. 154, 159, n. 89).
Scot McKendrick, 'The Romuléon and the Manuscripts of Edward IV', in England in the Fifteenth Century, ed. by Nicholas Rogers, Harlaxton Medieval Studies, 4 (Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1994), pp. 149-69 (pp.161, n. 68, 162, nn. 74, 75, 164, 165, n. 101).
Bodo Brinkmann, Die flämische Buchmalerei am Ende des Burgunderreichs : der Meister des Dresdener Gebetbuchs und die Miniaturisten seiner Zeit (Turnhout: Brepols, 1997), pp. 145, 293 - 296, 397, 399.
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), p. 45 n. 21.
The Libraries of King Henry VIII, ed. by J. P. Carley, Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues, 7 (London: The British Library, 2000), H1.45.
Akiko Komada, Les illustrations de la Bible Historiale: les manuscrits réalisés dans le Nord, 4 vols (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Paris IV, 2000), III, no. 38 pp. 767-69.
Scot McKendrick, Flemish Illuminated Manuscripts 1400-1550 (London: British Library, 2003), pl. 48.
Thomas Kren and Scot McKendrick, Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe (Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003), no. 83, pp. 224-5, 295, 297, 300-03, 304. [exhibition catalogue]. T
he Splendor of the Word: Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts at the New York Public Library, ed. by Jonathan J. G. Alexander, James H. Marrow, and Lucy Freeman Sandler (London: Harvey Miller, 2005), p. 107 n. 4 [exhibition catalogue].
Hanno Wijsman, 'Two Petals of a Fleur: The 'Copenhagen Fleur des Histoires' and the Production of Illuminated Manuscripts in Bruges around 1480', in Fund og Forskning I Det Kongelige Biblioteks, 47 (2008), 17-72 (p. 69, n. 109, pl. 24).
Joe Flatman, Ships and Shipping in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2009), pl. 42.
A Catalogue of Western Book Illumination in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge Colleges, ed. by Nigel Morgan and Stella Panayotova, Part one, vol. II: The Meuse Region, Southern Netherlands (London: Harvey Miller, 2009), p. 158.
Scot McKendrick, John Lowden and Kathleen Doyle, Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination (London: British Library, 2011), no. 54 [exhibition catalogue].
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)