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Yates Thompson MS 19
- Record Id:
- 040-002354536
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002354332
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000772.0x000216
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100161506489.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Yates Thompson MS 19
- Title:
-
Brunetto Latini, Li Livres dou Trésor
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript contains a copy of Li Livres dou Trésor (The Book of the Treasure), written by the Florentine philosopher, notary, and statesman Brunetto Latini (b. c. 1220, d. 1294) during his exile in France between 1260 and 1266. The Trésor is an encyclopaedic work, notable as one of the first such texts to be composed in the vernacular Old French, rather than Latin. This copy of the work is arranged in four books. The first is devoted to a universal history of the world, from Creation to the present day, followed by a natural history and compilation concerning astronomy and geography, and ending with an illustrated bestiary section. The second book relates to the study of ethics, and includes a summary of the arguments of classical and contemporary moralists. The third book concerns the vices and virtues of humanity. The fourth book discusses the nature of politics, rhetoric, and the art of government.
The Yates Thompson Trésor is related to at least three other surviving Brunetto Latini manuscripts (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 567; St Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Fr.F.v.III. 4, and Florence, Laurenziana MS Ashburnham 125), all thought to have been made in the diocese of Thérouanne in Northern France towards the beginning of the 14th century (see Stones, 'Brunetto Latini's Tresor' (2007), pp. 70-73; Roux, Mondes en miniatures (2009), pp. 371-72).
Contents:
ff. 1r-162v: Brunetto Latini, Li Livre dou Trésor, arranged in four books, each preceded by a table of contents:
ff. 1r-2r: Table of contents for Book I.
ff. 3r-64v: Book I, beginning, 'Chi coumenche li livres qui est apieles tresors qui parole de la naissance de toutes choses'.
ff. 64v-65r: Table of contents for Book II.
ff. 65r-86r: Book II, beginning, 'Li secons livres parole chi entour des visces et des vertus'.
ff. 86v-87r: Table of contents for Book III.
ff. 87r-117r: Book III, beginning, 'Chi finist li livres aristoteles et coumenche li livres des ensegnemens des visces et des vertus'.
ff. 117r-118r: Table of contents for Book IV.
ff. 118v-162v: Book IV, beginning, 'Chi coumenche li livres de bonne parleure'.
f. 162v: An added French inscription, written in a 15th-century hand, referencing the English defeat of the French army and capture of King John II (r. 1350-1364) at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, 'L'an mil troy sens et cinquante et cinc fut estique advint que li res de frans perdet la batalha qui fut fact a quotre peytier pe tra[yogh]in et fut pris le res de fransa et lemnemey'.
Decoration:
75 miniatures, accompanied, except in the bestiary portion (ff. 48r-64v), by large decorated initials and three-sided borders with grotesque and figural decoration in the margins, the first with a full border, in colours and gold (ff. 3r, 5r, 10r, 18r, 18v, 21v, 23r, 26r, 27r, 28r, 31v, 40r, 48r, 48v (x4), 49r, 49v (x2), 50r (x2), 50v (x3), 51r, 51v (x3), 52r (x3), 52v, 53r, 53v, 54r, 54v, 55r (x4), 56r (x3), 56v (x4), 57r (x2), 58r (x2), 58v, 59r (x2), 59v (x2), 60r (x2), 60v, 61r, 61v, 62v, 63r (x2), 63v, 64r (x4), 64v (x2), 65r, 87r, 118v). Small initials in red with blue pen-flourishing or in blue with red pen-flourishing.
The manuscript's decoration has been associated with the Lancelot Group (see Stones, 'The Medieval Alexander' (1982), pp. 196-97).
The subjects of the marginal scenes include: birds; hybrid figures; rabbits; archers and hunters (ff. 3r, 18r, 65r); dogs chasing rabbits and deer (ff. 21v, 23r, 28r, 87r); a falconer astride a horse (f. 28r); a lion with its cub (f. 21v); musicians (ff. 3r, 23r); a courting couple (f. 18v); jousting scenes, including a squirrel on an antelope jousting an ape on a unicorn (f. 3r), an ape on a camel jousting another on a horse (f. 18r), a knight jousting a hybrid figure (f. 31v), and knights jousting snails (ff. 65r, 87r); a knight riding a horse (f. 5r), a naked woman riding a unicorn (f. 10r), an acrobat (f. 10r), cats with mice in their mouths (f. 18r); a woman wielding a sword (f. 65r); and a man balancing a basin on a pole (f. 40r) (For a discussion of the marginalia, see Hunt, Illuminating the Borders (2007), pp. 128-37).
The subjects of the miniatures are as follows:
f. 3r: A teaching scene; a teacher sat with a group of students, one of whom is writing.
f. 5r: The Creation of Eve; a circular diagram of the world, with the sun and moon, and in the centre God and animals, with Adam lying on the ground.
f. 10r: Noah's Ark; Noah, his family, and the animals inside the floating ark; Noah sending and receiving the dove.
f. 18r: The Tree of Jesse, with the Virgin Mary standing in the centre, holding a palm and crucifix.
f. 18v: St Elizabeth holding the child St John the Baptist, facing St Anne, the crowned Virgin Mary and the Christ Child.
f. 21v: The Throne of Grace (effaced).
f. 23r: The Emperor Charlemagne (r. 768-814) kneeling before Pope Leo III (r. 795-816), with a shield bearing the arms of France and the Holy Roman Empire (effaced).
f. 26r: The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (r. 1220-1250) and a lawyer disputing with two more lawyers.
f. 27r: A group of three lawyers debating before a seated pope.
f. 28r: A circular diagram, with concentric rings representing water (filled with fish), air, and fire, enclosing a sick man lying on a bed and a physician inspecting a bottle.
f. 31v: A circular diagram of the four elements, enclosing a teacher sat before an open book, wearing an academic hat and holding a long rod.
f. 40r: A circular diagram of the world, with concentric rings representing the four elements, and the sun and moon, with a house and trees in the centre.
f. 48r: A sawfish.
f. 48v: Sea-pigs (upper left); a swordfish (lower left); an eel (upper right); an echeneis clinging to a ship's anchor (lower right).
f. 49r: A crocodile eating a man.
f. 49v: A whale with sailors on its back (upper); a scallop (lower).
f. 50r: A crab (upper); a pair of dolphins (lower).
f. 50v: A hippopotamus (upper left); three mermaids (lower left); serpents (lower right).
f. 51r: A group of asps, one of which is biting a man's leg.
f. 51v: A two-headed serpent (upper left); a basilisk (lower left); a dragon (lower right).
f. 52r: A serpent known as a scitalis (upper left); a viper eating its way out of its mother's side (lower left); a lizard (lower right).
f. 52v: An eagle and an eaglet looking up at the sun.
f. 53r: A goshawk and its young in a nest.
f. 53v: Sparrowhawks.
f. 54r: Falcons.
f. 54v: Merlins.
f. 55r: A halcyon (upper left), a heron (lower left); ducks and geese (upper right); bees in a hive (lower right).
f. 56r: A caladrius (upper left); a partridge stealing another bird's eggs (lower left); a parrot (right).
f. 56v: A peacock (upper left); a turtledove (lower left); a vulture (upper right); an ostrich (lower right).
f. 57r: A cockerel (lower left); lions (lower right).
f. 58r: An antelope (upper right); asses (lower right).
f. 58v: Oxen.
f. 59r: Sheep (left); weasels, including one eating a snake (right).
f. 59v: Camels (upper); a beaver, being chased by a mounted hunter blowing a horn (lower).
f. 60r: Roe deer (upper); deer (lower).
f. 60v: Dogs.
f. 61r: A chameleon.
f. 61v: A horse.
f. 62v: An elephant and castle, occupied by soldiers.
f. 63r: Ants (left); a hyena (right).
f. 63v: Wolves.
f. 64r: A leucrota (upper left); a manticore (middle); a panther (lower left); a parandrus (lower right).
f. 64v: An ape carrying its young on its front and its back, being chased by a hunter (upper); a tiger distracted by its reflection in a mirror, while a hunter rides away with its young (lower).
f. 65r: A teaching scene; a teacher sat with a group of students writing.
f. 87r: A teaching scene; a teacher sat with a group of students writing.
f. 118v: A teaching scene; a teacher sat with a group of students writing.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Yates Thompson Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002354332
040-002354536 - Is part of:
- Yates Thompson MS 1-59 : Yates Thompson Manuscripts
Yates Thompson MS 19 : Brunetto Latini, Li Livres dou Trésor - Hierarchy:
- 032-002354332[0020]/040-002354536
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Yates Thompson MS 1-59
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100161506489.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French, Old
- 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:
-
Material: Parchment.
Dimensions: 310 x 220 mm (written space: 215 x 155 mm) in two columns.
Foliation: ff. v + 162 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the end).
ff. i-ii are bookplates pasted on the inside upper cover; f. iii is a 19th-century paper slip mounted on f. iv recto; ff. iv and v are paper flyleaves.
Collation: i2 (ff. 1-2), ii-xx8 (ff. 3-162).
Script: Gothic.
Binding: Post-1600. Red morocco leather, tooled in gold; gilt edges; a green silk bookmark between ff. 50 and 51.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Picardy, France (probably Thérouanne).
Provenance:
An added inscription in French, written in a 15th- century hand, referencing the Battle of Poitiers in 1355/6: 'L'an mil troy sens et cinquante et cinc fut estique advint que li res de frans perdet la batalha qui fut fact a quotre peytier pe tra[yogh]in et fut pris le res de fransa et lemnemey' (f. 162v).
Louis César de la Baume-le-Blanc (b. 1708, d. 1780), duc de la Vallière, peer of France, governor of the Bourbonnais, and book collector: his sale, 1784, no 1468 (see Guillaume de Bure, Catalogue des livres de la bibliothèque de feu M. le duc de la Vallière (1783)).
Bertram Ashburnham, 4th earl of Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878); his Appendix MS 177 (see Catalogue of the Manuscripts at Ashburnham Place: Appendix (1853)).
Bertram Ashburnham, 5th earl of Ashburnham: his sale, May 1897, bought by Yates Thompson together with the entire Ashburnham Appendix: book-plate with an inscribed number, 'From the Library of the Earl of Ashburnham Appendix no. CLXXVII May 1897' (inside upper cover).
Henry Yates Thompson (b. 1838, d. 1928), collector of illuminated manuscripts and newspaper proprietor: with his book-plate inscribed '[MS] 74 / £ree.e.e [i.e. £200.0.0] / [bought from the] Earl of / Ashburnham / 1897' (inside upper cover).
Bequeathed to the British Museum by Mrs Henry Yates Thompson in 1941.
- Information About Copies:
-
Select digital coverage available for this manuscript; see the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/.
- Publications:
-
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Second Series of Fifty Manuscripts (Nos. 51 to 100) in the Collection of Henry Yates Thompson (Cambridge: University Press, 1902), no. 74 pp. 145-50.
Illustrations from One Hundred Manuscripts in the Library of Henry Yates Thompson, 7 vols (London: Chiswick Press, 1907-18), VII: The Seventh and last Volume with Plates from the Remaining Twenty-Two MSS., pp. 18-19, pls. LXIII-LXIX.
Li Livres dou Tresor de Brunetto Latini, ed. by F. Carmody (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1948).
Loren MacKinney, Medical Illustrations in Medieval Manuscripts, Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 5 vols (London: Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1965), I, in 2 parts: Part II, Medical Miniatures in Extant Manuscripts: A Checklist, with Thomas Herndon, p. 143.
Lilian Randall, Images in the Margins of Gothic Manuscripts (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966), pp. 49, 54, 76, 92, 99, 100, 101, 116, 137, 138, 140, 141, 146, 148, 149, 158, 159, 161, 174, 184, 216, 229, 230, 231, 232.
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, 168 [rejected].
Alison Stones, 'The Medieval Alexander and Romance Epic', in The Medieval Alexander Legend and Romance Epic: Essays in Honour of David J. A. Ross, ed. by Peter Noble and others (New York, London, Nendeln: Kraus, 1982), pp. 193-243 (pp. 196-97, 204-05 n. 23 and n. 29, pl. 12).
François Avril, 'Un atelier picard à la cour des angevins de Naples', Zeitschrift fur schweizerische Archaeologie und Kunstgeschichte, 43 (1986), 76-85.
Judith H. Oliver, Gothic Manuscript Illumination in the Diocese of Liège (c. 1250 - c. 1330), Corpus of Illuminated Manuscripts from the Low Countries, 2 vols (Leuven: Peeters, 1988), II, 188 n. 42.
Alison Stones, 'The Illustrations of BNF fr. 95 and Yale 229. Prolegomena to comparative analysis', in Word and Image in Arthurian Literature, ed. by K. Busby (New York: Garland, 1996), pp. 203-83.
D. J. A. Ross and M. A. Stones, 'The Roman d'Alexandre in French Prose: Another Illustrated Manuscript from Champagne or Flanders c.1300', Scriptorium: Revue internationale des études relatives aux manuscrits, 56, 2 (2002), 345-56 (p. 346).
Li livres dou Tresor, ed. by Spurgeon Baldwin & Paul Barrette (Tempe: Arizona Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2003).
Elizabeth Moore Hunt, Illuminating the Borders of Northern French and Flemish Manuscripts, 1270-1310 (London: Routledge, 2007), pp. xviii, 128, 113-14, 124, 126, 128-29, 130, 131, 132-39, 133, 134, 135.
Alison Stones, 'A Note on the North French Manuscripts of Brunetto Latini's Tresor' in Tributes to Lucy Freeman Sandler: Studies in Illuminated Manuscripts, ed. by Kathryn A. Smith and Carol H. Krinsky (London: Harvey Miller, 2007), pp. 67-89 (as 'YT').
Brigitte Roux, Mondes en miniatures: l'iconographie du Livre du trésor de Brunetto Latini (Geneva: Librairie Droz, 2009), pp. 77-87, 194, 196, 208, 230-35.
Julia Bolton Holloway (Biblioteca e Bottega Fioretta Mazzei), Brunetto Latino [http://www.florin.ms/BrunLatbibl1.html] [accessed 08.03.12] (BbI. Li Livres dou Tresor Manuscripts, 43).
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)