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Royal MS 20 A V
- Record Id:
- 040-002107644
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002105724
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000338.0x0003a3
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100165177056.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Royal MS 20 A V
- Title:
- Roman d'Alexandre en Prose
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript contains the Roman d’Alexandre en Prose (Prose Romance of Alexander), a French adaptation of the Latin Historia de Preliis (interpolated version I2), imperfect at the end. The work details various episodes from the life of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great (b. 356, d. 323 BC).
The opening rubric of the text has been erased; the prologue (ff. 1r-v) begins, ‘Puis ke li premiers peres del humain lineage fu crees’. The narrative begins on f. 1v, ‘Il avint 1 jour ke 1 messages vint’ and ends mid-sentence, ‘se sacorda toute sa gent. Et Neoptalemus…’ in the chapter on Perdicas (f. 86v).
For an edition of the text, Alfons Hilka, Der altfranzösische Prosa-Alexanderroman (Halle:M. Niermeyer, 1920; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1974) contains the French and corresponding Latin texts in parallel.
Contents:
ff. 1r-86v: Roman d'Alexandre en Prose.
Decoration:
96 tinted drawings of episodes from the life of Alexander (ff. 2r, 2v, 4v, 6r, 7r, 8r, 8v, 9v, 11v, 12r, 13r, 14v, 16r (x2), 16v, 17v, 18r, 19r, 20r (x2), 21r (x2), 22r, 23r, 23v, 24v, 25r, 27v, 29r, 31v, 32v (x2), 35v, 37r, 38r, 39v, 40r, 41v, 43v, 46v, 48v (x2), 49r (x2), 49v, 50v, 51r, 51v, 52v (x2), 53r, 53v, 54r, 54v (x2), 56r (x2), 58r, 58v, 59r, 59v, 60r, 60v, 61r, 62v, 63v, 65r, 66r (x2), 67v (x2), 68v, 69v, 70r, 70v, 71v, 72v, 73r (x2), 73v, 74r (x2), 74v, 75r, 75v (x2), 76r, 76v, 77r, 78r, 78v, 80r, 80v (x2), 83v, 86r). 1 large historiated puzzle initial in red and blue 'P'(uis) (f. 1r). Large initials in blue with red pen-flourishing or in red with green pen-flourishing. Rubrics in red.
The subjects of the drawings are as follows:
f. 1r: Nectanebus seated on his throne;
f. 2r: Nectanebus receives a messenger from Persia;
f. 2v; Nectanebus on a roof with a basin of water, uses the stars for divination; below, Nectanebus has his head and beard shaved (left) and leaves on horseback (right);
f. 4v. Nectanebus and Olympias, seated, talking;
f. 6r: Nectanebus as a dragon flies over Olympias and King Philip of Macedonia, who are lying in bed;
f. 7r: Nectanebus as a dragon kisses Olympias, who is at the table with Philip;
f. 8r: Aristotle instructs Alexander, who holds a book of figures;
f. 8v: Nectanebus is pushed to his death by Alexander;
f. 9v: The three-horned horse, Bucephalus, kneels to Alexander;
f. 11v: Alexander, on Bucephalus and bearing a shield of arms (a lion rampant, gules) defeats King Nicholas of Arabia;
f. 12r: Alexander is crowned and given a sceptre topped with a fleur-de-lis;
f. 13r: A messenger from Darius, King of Persia demands tribute from King Philip;
f. 14v: Pausanias attacks King Philip;
f. 16r: Pausanias and his men are killed by Alexander riding Bucephalus;
f. 16v: Alexander addresses his kneeling subjects;
f. 17v: Alexander and his army set out from Macedonia on horseback;
f. 18r: Alexander and his army in a ship at sea;
f. 19r: Alexander supervises the building of Alexandria;
f. 20r: The destruction of Tyre (left); Alexander sends soldiers by ship to Crete and Sicily (right);
f. 21r: Alexander on Bucephalus, leading his army (left); the Temple at Jerusalem (right);
f. 22r: Alexander receives a message from Darius;
f. 23r: Darius reads Alexander’s message;
f. 23v: A scribe writes down Darius’s reply to Alexander while the messenger waits;
f. 24v: Alexander holds a glove and eats the seeds that Darius has sent him;
f. 25r: Alexander talks with Olympias;
f. 27v: Alexander addresses a crowd of people;
f. 29r, 31v: Battles between Alexander and his army and the Persians under Darius;
f. 32v: Alexander receives keys of a city (left); Darius dictates a letter to his scribe to send to Alexander;
f. 35v: Alexander rides up to the gates of a city in Persia;
f. 37r: The body of Darius is placed in a tomb;
f. 38r: Alexander condemns Darius's murderers to death;
f. 39v: Alexander imprisons wicked people between two mountains;
f. 40r: The Albanians submit to Alexander, presenting him with a marvelous dog;
f. 41v: Alexander receives letters from King Porrus of India;
f. 43v: A battle between Alexander and Porrus;
f. 46v: Alexander meets the Queen of the Amazons;
f. 48v: Alexander fights against two dragons (above); Alexander fights a crab, represented with feathers and a human head (below);
f. 49r: Alexander fights a lion (left); Alexander fights a wild boar and two human-like creatures with many hands;
f. 49v: Alexander fights a three-horned beast;
f. 50v: Alexander unhorses Porrus with his lance;
f. 51r: Alexander kills Porrus with his sword;
f. 51v: The burial of Porrus;
f. 52v: Alexander crosses a river in a boat and meets women armed with swords and maces (above); Alexander fights with a hippopotamus-like beast (below);
f. 53r: Alexander fights with elephants, drawing blood with his sword;
f. 53v: Alexander meets bearded and horned women;
f. 54r: Alexander meets women with mermaids’ tales, who live in water;
f, 54v: Alexander meets hairy female giants (above) and women with hooves (below);
f. 56r: Alexander meets people who are naked and live outdoors (above); he receives a letter from the gymnosophists;
f. 58r: Alexander receives a letter from Dindimus;
f. 59r: Alexander battles giants with faces on their shields;
f. 59v: Alexander has a wild man burned;
f. 60r: Alexander and his soldiers climb a mountain;
f. 60v: Alexander kneels before an old man asleep in bed;
f. 61r: Alexander and two others kneel before the trees of the sun and moon (the head of a haloed Christ-like figure appears between them);
f. 62v: Candaculus seeks help from Alexander when his wife is abducted by the king of the Belices (‘Eblicos’);
f. 63v: Alexander assails the city of Palatine and rescues Candaculus’s wife;
f. 65r: Alexander meets Queen Candace;
f. 66r: Alexander reconciles Candace’s sons, Candaculus and Carador;
f. 67v: Alexander fights a winged dragon, a griffon and two horned beasts;
f. 68v: Alexander meets a beautiful woman in a river bed forcing a man to lie with her until his soul leaves his body (image partially erased);
f. 69v: Alexander has the city of Ambria destroyed;
f. 70r: Alexander emerges from his tent (left) and climbs a mountain (right);
f. 70v: Alexander is lifted into the sky by four griffins attached with ropes to a house-like structure;
f. 71v: Alexander is lowered into the sea in a diving bell with a cockerel, a cat and a dog; under the water are two mermaids and two swordfish, represented as jousting knights with fish tails;
f. 72v: Alexander fights against unicorns;
f. 73r: Alexander battles against dragons with sheep’s horns (above) and against horse-headed men (below);
f. 73v: A battle with one-eyed giants, some holding shields with faces on them;
f. 74r: Battles with headless men or blemmyae (above), and lion-footed horses (below);
f. 74v: Alexander laments the death of Bucephalus;
f. 75r: Alexander builds a tomb for Bucephalus;
f. 75v: Alexander is presented with elephants (above); the caladrius bird prognosticates life or death for an invalid (below);
f. 76r: A battle with two-headed dragons;
f. 76v: Alexander enters Babylon and receives tribute from all the world;
f. 77r: Alexander’s letters are delivered to Aristotle and Olympias;
f. 78r: Alexander consults an astronomer about the birth of a monstrous child;
f. 78v: Alexander gives two letters to messengers;
f. 80r: Alexander is given a cup of poison by Jobas at a feast;
f. 80v: Alexander feels ill and leaves the table (left); he is brought a poisoned feather by Jobas (right);
f. 83v: Alexander is laid in his tomb; a patriarch, bishops and monks preside at his burial;
f. 86r: The city of Cappadocia (Capatoce) is burned to avoid capture by Perdicas.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Royal Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002105724
040-002107644 - Is part of:
- Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X : Royal Manuscripts
Royal MS 20 A V : Roman d'Alexandre en Prose - Hierarchy:
- 032-002105724[1785]/040-002107644
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100165177056.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French, Middle
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1300
- End Date:
- 1324
- Date Range:
- 1st quarter of the 14th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 235 x 185 mm (written area: 165 x 125 mm) in two columns.
Foliation: ff. 86 (+ 4 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end).
Script: Gothic.
Binding: Post-1600. Brown leather with gold-tooling; marbled endpapers.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Northern France or Southern Netherlands. Provenance:
John Lumley, 1st baron Lumley (b. c. 1533, d. 1609), collector and conspirator: his name inscribed (f. 1r); listed in the 1609 catalogue of his collection, no. 1194 (see The Lumley Library (1956); passed to Henry, prince of Wales.
Henry Frederick, prince of Wales (b. 1594, d. 1612), eldest child of James I: his collection became part of the Royal Library.
Old Royal Library (the English Royal Library): included in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 11.
Presented to the British Museum by George II in 1757 as part of the Old Royal Library.
- Information About Copies:
- Select digital coverage available for this manuscript, see Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/welcome.htm.
- Publications:
-
Harry Leigh Douglas Ward, Catalogue of Romances in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum, 3 vols (London: British Museum, 1883-1910), I (1883), pp. 125-27.
Paul Meyer, Alexandre le Grand dans la littérature française du moyen âge, 2 vols (Paris: F. Vieweg, 1886; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1970), II, p. 306.
Henri 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. 11).
Campbell Dodgson, 'Alexander's Journey to the Sky: A Woodcut by Schäufelein', Burlington Magazine, 6 (1904-05), 395-401 (p. 396).
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. 352.
The Lumley Library: The Catalogue of 1609, ed. by Sears Jayne and Francis R. Johnson (London: British Museum, 1956), pp. 14-17, 152.
David John Athole Ross, Alexander Historiatus: A Guide to Medieval Illustrated Alexander Literature (London: Warburg Institute, 1963), pp. 30, 34, 41, 55, 90 n. 124, 92 n. 154, 98 n. 279.
David John Athole 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. 8, n. 35, 15, fig. 5c).
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. 65.
David John Athole Ross, Alexander and the Faithless Lady: A Submarine Adventure, An Inaugural lecture delivered at Birkbeck College, London, 7th November 1967 (London: Ruddock and Sons, 1967), pp. 12, 15, 16, fig. 2.
David John Athole Ross, 'The Crucifixion in a Roman d'Alexandre' in Clio et son regard: Mélanges d'histoire, d'histoire de l'art et d'archéologie offerts à Jacques Stiennon, ed. by R. Lejeune and J. Deckers (Liège: Pierre Mardaga, 1982), pp. 545-50, fig. 1.
Victor M. Schmidt, A Legend and its Image: The Aerial Flight of Alexander the Great in Medieval Art (Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1995), no. 45.
Consuelo 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 n. 70).
Alixe Bovey, Monsters and Grotesques in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2002), p. 18, pl. 14.
Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth, ed. by Richard Stoneman (London: British Library, 2022), p. 224, no. 107.
- Exhibitions:
- Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth, British Library, London, 21 October 2022 - 19 February 2022
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)