Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??
Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...
Royal MS 20 C III
- Record Id:
- 040-002107683
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002105724
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000338.0x0003ca
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100161505373.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Royal MS 20 C III
- Title:
-
Livre des Fais d’Alexandre le Grant, a French translation of Quintus Curtius Rufus, Historia Alexandri Magni
- Scope & Content:
-
Quintus Curtius Rufus, Historia Alexandri Magni, translated into French by Vasco da Lucena (b. c. 1435, d. 1512) as Livre des Fais d’Alexandre le Grant and dedicated to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1433, d. 1477).
Contents:
ff. 1r-11r: Table of Contents. The incipit gives the date of the composition and the translator's name: 'compose par venerable personne Vasque de Lucene Portugalois en lan mil quattre cens lxviii'.
ff. 12r-14v: Prologue
ff. 15r-42r: Book 1.
ff. 42r-63r: Book 2.
ff. 63r-104r: Book 3.
ff. 104r-128v: Book 4.
ff. 128v-155v: Book 5, with translator's prologue.
ff. 156-182v: Book 6.
ff. 183-214v: Book 7.
ff. 214v-237v: Book 8.
ff. 237v-257v: Book 9, with translator's prologue.
Decoration:
The miniatures in the manuscript are attributed to the Master of Edward IV.
2 large miniatures in colours and gold, each with a large initial and a full scatter border including peacocks, hybrid creatures and flowers and large initials and one (f. 12r) with space for a coat of arms in the border (f. 12r, 15r).
8 one-column miniatures in colours and gold with partial scatter borders and large initials (ff. 42r, 63r, 104r, 129r, 156r, 183r, 214v, 238r).
Champ initials in colours and gold, some with foliate extensions. Capitals marked in yellow. Rubrics in red.
The subjects of the illuminations are:
f. 12r: Charles the Bold, seated with his arms and collar of the Golden Fleece on the back of his seat, receives the book from the translator, with courtiers present and a dog in the foreground.
f. 15r: The birth of Alexander: Olympias lies in bed surrounded by attendants, one of whom holds her hand and one holding the baby Alexander; outside are two eagles on the roof and in the background the temple of Diana is burning; in the foreground are stones fallen from the sky.
f. 42r: The people of the fortress of Celaenae (Celene) surrender to Alexander and his army.
f. 63r: A letter from Darius has been brought by a messenger to Alexander and is read by a man in robes.
f. 104r: Alexander enthroned, with his council.
f. 129r: Alexander at the funeral of Alexander of Epirus, with two men carrying a coffin, and a priest in a temple holding a book.
f. 156r: The death of Alexander Lyncestes: he is attacked by three men, one of whom stabs him in the chest with a sword.
f. 183r: Alexander enthroned, giving orders to the leaders of his army.
f. 214v: Sacrifices are made to the sun before Alexander.
f. 238r: Cleander and other leaders are executed on Alexander's orders.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Royal Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002105724
040-002107683 - Is part of:
- Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X : Royal Manuscripts
Royal MS 20 C III : Livre des Fais d’Alexandre le Grant, a French translation of Quintus Curtius Rufus, Historia Alexandri Magni - Hierarchy:
- 032-002105724[1824]/040-002107683
- 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_100161505373.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French, Middle
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1485
- End Date:
- 1490
- Date Range:
- c. 1485-1490
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.
Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.
Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.
This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.
- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 385 x 270mm (text space 240 x 180mm), written in two columns of 36 lines.
Foliation: ff. 257 (+ 1 unfoliated paper and 1 unfoliated parchment flyleaf at the beginning + 3 unfoliated ruled parchment leaves at the end).
Collation: Quires consisting mostly of 8 leaves, with occasional numbering (e.g., f. 114r) and catchwords visible, but generally cropped away.
Script: Gothic cursive.
Binding: Post-1600. White parchment; marbled endpapers; gilt fore-edges.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Bruges, Southern Netherlands.
Provenance:
The Old Royal Library (the English Royal Library): A large number in brown ink (Carley's 'Old Large Number') '49' (f. [ii]); included in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix, 71, ff. 12v, 13, or 14v.
Presented to the British Museum by George II in 1757 as part of the Old Royal Library.
- Publications:
-
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. 7).
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. 371.
Robert Lucas, 'Medieval French Translations of the Latin Classics to 1500', Speculum: A Journal of Mediaeval Studies, 45 (1970), 225-53 (p.237).
The Mythical Quest: In Search of Adventure, Romance and Enlightenment, intro. by Penelope Lively (London: British Library, 1996), pl. on p. 34.
Scot McKendrick, 'Illustrated Manuscripts of Vasco da Lucena's Translation of Curtius's Historiae Alexandri Magni: Nature Corrupted by Fortune', in Medieval Manuscripts of the Latin Classics: Production and Use, ed. by Claudine A. Chavannes-Mazel and Margaret M. Smith (Leiden: Anderrson-Lovelace and the Red Gull Press, 1996) pp. 131-50 (pp. 133, n. 13, 144, ns. 43, 44).
J. P. Carley, 'Marks in Books and the Libraries of Henry VIII', Papers-Bibliographical Society of America, 91 (1997), 583-606 (p. 605).
The Libraries of King Henry VIII, ed. by J. P. Carley, Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues, 7 (London: The British Library, 2000), H1.38.
Thomas Kren and Scot McKendrick, Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe (Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003), p. 295.
Scot McKendrick, Flemish Illuminated Manuscripts 1400-1550 (London: British Library, 2003), pl. 83.
Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth, ed. by Richard Stoneman (London: British Library, 2022), p. 59, no. 18.
- 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)