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Burney MS 275
- Record Id:
- 040-002237156
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002236305
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001311.0x000143
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100057739791.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Burney MS 275
- Title:
- Scholastic miscellany
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript is a high-quality production of scholastic texts important in Parisian university learning in the early fourteenth century, where it was made for Franciscus Caracciolo of Naples, chancellor of Paris (chancellor 1309, d. 1316), to give to his patron, King Robert of Naples (b. 1278, d. 1343). It comprises twenty-one distinctive treatises and works that formed the basis of the scholastic Trivium and Quadrivium, including works on grammar, rhetoric, logic, mathematics, geometry, astronomy and music.
Contents:
ff. 3r-93r: Priscian (Priscianus Caesariensis), Institutiones Grammaticae (Institutes of Grammar).
ff. 94r-119v: Priscian, De Constructione (On Construction).
ff. 120r-143r: Cicero, Institutiones (Institutions) and De Inventione (On Invention).
ff. 143r-165v: Pseudo-Cicero, Rhetorica ad Herennium (Rhetoric: For Herennius).
ff. 166r-169v: Boethius's translation of Porphyry's Isagoge in Categorias Aristotelis (Introduction to Aristotle's Categories).
ff. 169v-176r: Boethius's translation of Aristotle's Categoriae (Categories).
ff. 176v-180r: Boethius's translation of Aristotle's De Interpretatione (On Interpretation).
ff. 180v-183v: Pseudo-Gilbertus Porretanus (Gilbert of Poitiers), Liber de sex principiis (Book of the Six Principles).
ff. 184r-253r: Boethius's translation of Aristotle's Priora and Posteriora Analytica (Prior and Posterior Analytics), Topicorum (Topics) and Elenchorum Sophisticorum (Sophistical Refutations).
ff. 252v-288r: Boethius, De Divisione (On Division), De Topicis differentiis (On Various Topics), De Hypotheticis syllogismis (On Hypothetical Syllogisms), De Syllogismo cathegorico (On categorical syllogism).
ff. 288v-292v: Cicero, Topica (Topics).
ff. 293r-335r: Adelard of Bath's translation of Euclid's Elementa (Elements).
ff. 336r-359r: Boethius, De Arithmetica (On Arithmetics).
ff. 359v-390r: Boethius, De Musica (On Music).
ff. 390v-560v: Gerard of Cremona's translation of Ptolemy's Almagest.
Decoration:
21 large historiated initials and partial or three-sided bar borders in gold and colours at the beginning of treatises or prefaces, many of the borders with animals, men, and/or hybrid creatures (ff. 94r, 120r, 143r, 166r, 169v, 176v, 180v, 184r, 205r, 218v, 244v, 252v, 256v, 265r, 278r, 288v, 293r, 336r, 359v, 390v and 391r). (Note that the beginning of the first text on f. 3v is a later replacement without a historiated initial). Numerous large and small foliate initials and partial borders in gold and colours, some of the borders with zoomorphic elements. Numerous large red and blue puzzle initials with penwork decoration and pen flourishing throughout. Numerous small red and blue initials with pen flourishing throughout. Numerous diagrams (mathematical and astronomical) throughout, especially in Euclid's Elementa and Ptolemy's Almagest. Heraldic shields hanging from the bar borders. Guide letters, and instructions for the artist, in French, e.g. ff. 176v, 180v, 205r, 218v.
The decoration has been attributed to the 'Méliacin Master', identified as the illuminator of a group of lavish Aristotelian textbooks produced in Paris between 1280-1310, along with other religious works (see Avril, L'Art au temps des rois (1998), pp. 266-272 and Camille, 'Illuminating Thought' (2001), p. 344).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Burney Manuscripts
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002236305
040-002237156 - Is part of:
- Burney MS : Burney Manuscripts
Burney MS 275 : Scholastic miscellany - Hierarchy:
- 032-002236305[0270]/040-002237156
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Burney MS
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
Parchment codex.
- Digitised Content:
- https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100057739791.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Latin
- Scripts:
- Latin
Undetermined - Start Date:
- 1309
- End Date:
- 1316
- Date Range:
- 1309-1316
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment codex.
Dimensions: 405 x 290mm (text space 260 x 165mm) in two columns.
Foliation: ff. 561 (ff. 1-2 and 561 are parchment flyleaves; f. 551 is duplicated).
Script: Gothic.
Binding: Post-1600. BM/BL in-house; gilt fore-edge, painted with the arms of Jean, duc de Berry.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: France, Central (Paris).
Provenance:
Franciscus Caracciolo of Naples, chancellor of Paris (chancellor 1309, d. 1316): inscription stating: 'Liber diversarum liberalium artium quem dedit domino Regi. R. Dominus Franciscus Caracholi de Neapoli' (now erased but seen under ultraviolet light according to Camille, 'Illuminating Thought' (2001), 343, visible on ff. 2r and 561v); his arms (arms of or a lion rampant azure of the Caracciolo family, and or on key gules of the chancellor of Paris, ff. 94r, 120r, 166r (key only), 184r, 336r, and 359v).
Robert of Anjou, king of Naples (b. 1278, d. 1343): evidently given to him by Franciscus Caracciolo of Naples; see Franciscus Caracciolo (Camille, 'Illuminating Thought' (2001), p. 343-345).
Pope Gregory XI (d. 1378): inscribed 'Iste liber fuit Domino Gregorio Pape XI' (f. 2v).
Anti-Pope Clement VII (b. 1342, d. 1394): inscribed with his name (inscription cited below) (f. 560v).
Jean, duc de Berry (duke of Berry) (b. 1340, d. 1416): inscription in his hand explaining the manuscript was a gift from Clement VII in 1387: 'Ce livre est au Duc de Berry et Dauvergne, Conte de Poitou et Dauvergne, et li donna Pape Climant de Geneve, lan mil, cc. iiijxx. et vij. Jehan.' (f. 560v); inscription by Jean's secretary, Jean Flamel: 'C'est livre de Prescian est de Jehan, filz de Roy I. de France, Duc de Berri et Dauvergne, Conte de Poitou, Destampes, de Bouloingne et Dauvergne. Flamel.'; his arms on the fore-edges.
Louis, duc d'Orleans (duke of Orleans) (b. 1372, d. 1407), brother of Jean, duc de Berry: 1402 inventory of Jean, duc de Berry (see Delisle, Recherches sur la librairie de Charles V, II (1907), pp. 264-65 and Guiffrey, Inventaires de Jean duc de Berry, I (1894) p. 252 n. 957).
Jean, duc de Berry (duke of Berry): his 1413 inventory notes that the manuscript was returned to him after the death of the duc d'Orleans in 1407 (see Delisle, Recherches sur la librairie de Charles V (1907), II, pp. 264-65).
Jean Coignet, after 1416: inscription in his hand: 'Ce livre est a present a Jehan Coniguet, qui la acquis de lexecucion du dit feu Monseigneur de Berry. Coniguet.' (f. 560v).
Cathedral Chapter of Albi, 1717: library catalogue (Camille, 'Illuminating Thought' (2001), p. 363 n. 2).
Justin de MacCarthy-Reagh (b. 1744, d. 1811), count of Toulouse, book collector: catalogue by De Bure, Paris, 1815; his sale by De Bure, Paris, January 1817, lot 3697 ('3697' in pencil, f. 1v, see also Camille, 'Illuminating Thought' (2001), p. 363 n. 2).
Charles Burney (b. 1757, d. 1817), D.D., classical scholar.
Acquired by the British Museum as part of Burney’s library from his son Charles Parr Burney in 1818.
- Information About Copies:
-
Complete digital coverage available for this manuscript; see Digital Manuscripts, https://bl.uk/manuscripts/.
Select digital coverage available for this manuscript; see the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/.
- Publications:
-
Catalogue of Manuscripts in The British Museum, New Series, (London: British Museum, 1834-1840), I, part II: The Burney Manuscripts (1840), pp. 69-70, pl. 3.
Léopold Delisle, Le Cabinet des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Impériale [Nationale]: Étude sur la formation de ce dépôt, 3 vols (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1868-1881), I, 67.
Walter de Gray Birch and Henry Jenner, Early Drawings and Illuminations: An Introduction to the Study of Illustrated Manuscripts (London: Bagster and Sons, 1879), p. 9.
Jules Guiffrey, Inventaires de Jean duc de Berry (1401-1416), 2 vols (Paris: [n. pub.], 1894-1896), I, pp. CLXXIV no. 57, 252 no. 957; II, 122 no. 954.
Léopold Delisle, Recherches sur la librairie de Charles V, 2 vols (Paris: Champion, 1907), II, 264-65, no. 257.
Georg Graf Vitzthum, Die Pariser Miniaturmalerei von der Zeit des hl. Ludwig bis zu Philipp von Valois und ihr Verhältnis zur Malerei in Nordwesteuropa (Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer, 1907), pp. 27-28.
J. A. Herbert, Illuminated Manuscripts (London: Methuen, 1911), p. 247.
Eric Millar, Souvenir de l’exposition de manuscrits français à peintures organisée à la Grenville Library (British Museum) en janvier-mars 1932 (Paris: Société française de reproductions de manuscrits à peintures, 1933), no. 41.
Günther Haseloff, Die Psalterillustration im 13. Jahrhundert : Studien zur Geschichte der Buchmalerei in England, Frankreich und den Niederlanden ([n. p.]: [n. pub.], 1938), p. 91.
Aristoteles Latinus: codices: supplementa altera, ed. by L. Minio-Paluello (Bruges: Desclée, De Brouwer: 1961), I, no. 298.
Augustus Hughes-Hughes, Catalogue of Manuscript Music in the British Museum, 3 vols (London: British Museum, 1906-1965), III, 296.
Millard Meiss, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Late XIV Century and the Patronage of the Duke, 2 vols, National Gallery of Art Kress Foundation Studies in the History of European Art, 2 (London: Thames and Hudson, 1967), pp. 195, 310.
Millard Meiss and S. Off, ‘The Bookkeeping of Robinet d’Estampes and the Chronology of Jean de Berry’s Manuscripts', Art Bulletin, 53 (1971), 225-35 (p. 233).
Paul Kunitzsch, Der Almagest: Die Syntaxis Mathematica des Claudius Ptolemäus in arabisch-lateinischer mittelalterliche Überlieferung (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1974), p. 88.
Millard Meiss, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Limbourgs and their Contemporaries, 2 vols (London: Thames and Hudson, 1974), I, 63, 416, 420.
Marina Passalacqua, 'I codici di Prisciano', Sussidi eruditi, 29 (Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1978), no. 318.
T.S. Pattie, Astrology as Illustrated in the Collections of the British Library and the British Museum (London: British Library, 1980), pp. 22, 25.
Diane Bolton, ‘Illustrations in Manuscripts of Boethius’ Works’ in Boethius, His Life, Thought and Influence, ed. by Margaret Gibson (Oxford: Blackwell, 1981) 428-37 (pp. 428, 431-32, 434 n. 2).
Alison White, ‘Boethius in the Medieval Quadrivium’ in Boethius, His Life, Thought and Influence, ed. by Margaret Gibson (Oxford: Blackwell, 1981), 162-205 (p. 201 n. 113).
Gugliemo Ballaira, Per il catalogo dei codici di Prisciano (Turin: Giappichelli, 1982), no. 318.
The First Latin Translation of Euclid’s ‘Elements’ Commonly Ascribed to Adelard of Bath: Books I-VIII and Books X.36-XV.2, ed. by H. L. L. Busard, Studies and Texts (Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies), 64 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1983), p. 25 (as 'L').
John Murdoch, Album of Science: Antiquity and the Middle Ages (New York: Scribner, 1984), nos. 44, 59, 60, 62, 104, 178, 241, and 252; see also p. 370.
Calvin M. Bower, ‘Boethius’ De Institutione Musica: A Handlist of Manuscripts’, Scriptorium: Review internationale des études relatives aux manuscrits, 42 (1988), 205-51 (p. 220 no. 41).
Bernhard Bischoff, Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and the Middle Ages, trans. by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín and David Ganz (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), p. 217 n. 3..
Patricia Basing, Trades and Crafts in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 1990), p. 98, pl. XII.
Claudius Ptolemäus: Der Sternkatalog des Almagest: Die arabisch-mittelalterliche Tradition, ed. by Paul Kunitzsch (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1986- ), II: Die lateinische Übersetzung Gerhards von Cremona (1990), p. 14 (‘lb’).
Christopher De Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, 2nd edn (London: Phaidon, 1994), pl. 92.
Codices Boethiani: A Conspectus of Manuscripts of the Works of Boethius, ed. by M. T. Gibson, Lesley Smith and others, Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts, 25 (London: Warburg Institute, 1995- ), I: Great Britain and the Republic of Northern Ireland, no. 106.
Peter Whitfield, The Mapping of the Heavens (London: British Library, 1995), pl. on p. 46.
Janet Backhouse, The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), no. 79.
François Avril, catalogue entry in L'art au temps des rois maudits: Philippe le Bel et ses fils (1285-1328) (Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1998), p. 268.
Michael Camille, ‘Bestiary or biology? Aristotle's animals in Oxford, Merton College, MS 271’, in Aristotle's Animals in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, ed. by Carlos Steel, Guy Guldentops, and Pieter Beullens, Mediaevalia Lovaniensia, Series 1: Studia, 27 (Leuven: University Press, 1999), pp. 355-96 (p. 364, n. 22).
Richard H. Rouse and Mary A. Rouse, Manuscripts and Their Makers: Commercial Book Producers in Medieval Paris 1200-1500, 2 vols (Turnhout: Harvey Miller, 2000), II, App. 4C.
H. L. L. Busard, Johannes De Tinemue’s Redaction of Euclid’s Elements, The So-Called Adelard III Version, 2 vols (Stuttgart: Steiner, 2001), I, 20, no. 3 (as ‘Lb).
Michael Camille, ‘Illuminating Thought: the Trivial Arts in British Library, Burney Ms. 275’, in New Offerings, Ancient Treasures: Studies in Medieval Art for George Henderson, ed. by Paul Binski and William Noel (Stroud: Sutton, 2001), pp. 343-66.
Margaret Scott, Medieval Dress & Fashion (London: British Library, 2007), pp. 84-85, pl. 45.
Joe Flatman, Ships and Shipping in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2009), pls 46-47.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)