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Yates Thompson MS 49/2

Record Id:

040-004392810

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-002354332

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100171587278.0x000001

LARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100182437546.0x000001

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Yates Thompson MS 49/2

Title:

Jean de Vignay, La Légende Dorée, Volume II

Scope & Content:

This manuscript is the second of two volumes containing Jean de Vignay's La Légende Dorée, a Middle French translation of a popular collection of saints' lives known as the Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend), originally compiled by Jacobus de Voragine (b. c. 1230, d. 1298).

The first volume of the text is now Yates Thompson MS 49/1.

Contents:

ff. 1r-126v: Jean de Vignay, La Légende Dorée, written in Middle French; the saints arranged as follows:

ff. 1r-3v: Nativité de saint Jean-Baptiste (Birth of John the Baptist).

ff. 4r-v: De saints Jean et Paul (St John and St Paul).

ff. 4v-5r: De saint Léon (Pope Leo).

ff. 5r-9r: Passion de saint Pierre apôtre (Passion of St Peter).

ff. 9r-13r: Passion de saint Paul apôtre (Passion of St Paul).

ff. 13r-v: De sainte Félicité et de ses sept fils (St Felicity and the Seven Brothers).

ff. 13v-14v: De sainte Théodora (St Theodora).

ff. 15r-16r: De sainte Marguerite (St Margaret).

ff. 16r-v: De saint Alexien (St Alexis).

ff. 17r-v: De sainte Praxede (St Praxedes).

ff. 17v-20r: De sainte Marie Madeleine (Mary Magdalene).

ff. 20r-v: De saint Apollinaire (St Apollinaris of Ravenna).

ff. 20v-21v: De sainte Christine (St Christina).

ff. 21v-23v: De saint Jacques le Majeur (St James the Great).

ff. 23v-25r: De saint Christophe (St Christopher).

ff. 25r-26v: Des sept dormants (The Seven Sleepers).

ff. 26v-27v: Des saints Nazaire et Celse (St Nazarius and St Celsus).

f. 27v: De saint Félix pape (St Felix).

ff. 27v-28r: Des saints Simplice, Faustin et Beatrice (St Simplicius of Vienne, St Faustina and St Beatrice).

ff. 28r-29r: De sainte Marthe (St Martha).

ff. 29r-29v: Des saints Abdon et Sennen (St Abdon and St Sennen).

ff. 29v-30v: De saint Germaine d'Auxerre (St Germanus of Auxerre).

ff. 30v-31v: De saint Eusebe (St Eusebius).

f. 31v: Des Maccabees (The Maccabees).

ff. 31v-33r: De saint Pierre aux lien (St Peter in chains).

ff. 33r-34v: Inventio de saint Etienne (The Finding of St Stephen's relics).

ff. 34v-38r: De saint Dominique (St Dominic).

ff. 38r-v: De saint Sixte (St Sixtus).

ff. 38v-39r: De saint Donat d'Arezzo (St Donatus).

ff. 39r-v: De saint Cyriaque ou Quiriaque (St Cyriac).

ff. 39v-43r: De saint Laurent (St Laurence).

ff. 43r-44r: De saint Hippolyte.(St Hippolitus).

ff. 44r-47r: Assomption de Notre Dame (Feast of the Assumption).

ff. 47r-50r: De saint Bernard de Clairvaux (St Bernard of Clairvaux).

f. 50r: De saint Timothée (St Timothy).

f. 50v: De saint Symphorien (St Symphorian).

f. 50v-53r: De saint Barthelemy (St Bartholemew).

ff. 53r-58v: De saint Augustin (St Augustine of Hippo).

ff 58v-61r: Décollation de Jean-Baptiste (The Beheading of John the Baptist).

ff. 61r-v: De saint Félix (St Felix).

ff. 61v-62v: De saint Savinien et saint Savin (St Savinian of Sens).

ff. 62v-63r: De saint Loup d'Orléans ou de Sens (St Lupus).

ff. 63r-v: De saint Mamertin (St Mamertus).

ff. 63v-63v: De saint Gilles (St Giles).

ff. 64v-67v: Nativité de la Vierge (Birth of the Virgin).

ff. 68r-69r: De saint Adrien (St Adrian).

f. 69v: Des saints Gorgoin et Dorothée (St Gorgonius and St Dorotheus).

ff. 69v-70v; Des saint Prote et Hyacinthe (St Protus and St Hyacinth).

ff. 71r-72v: Exaltation de la Croix (Exaltation of the Holy Cross).

ff. 72v-75r: De saint Jean Chrysostome (St John Chrysostom).

f. 75r: Des saints Corneille et Cyprien (St Cornelius and St Cyprian).

ff. 75r-v: De saint Lambert de Liège (St Lambert of Liège).

ff. 75v-77r: De saint Matthieu (St Matthew).

ff. 77r-78r: De saint Justine (St Justina).

ff. 79r-79v: Des saints Come et Damien (St Cosmas and St Damian).

ff. 79v-80v: De saint Fursi (St Fursey).

ff. 80v-83v: De saint Michel (St Michael).

ff. 83v-85r: De saint Jérome (St Jerome).

ff. 85r-85v: De saint Remi (St Remigius).

ff. 85v-86r: De saint Léger (St Ledger).

ff. 86r-88v: De saint François d'Assise (St Francis of Assisi).

ff. 88v-89r: De saint Pélagie (St Pelagius).

ff. 89v-90r: De saint Thaïs (St Thaïs).

ff. 90r-92r: De saint Denis (St Denis).

f. 92r: De saint Calixte (St Calixtus).

ff. 92r-93r: Des saints Léonard de Noblat et Léonard de Corbigny (St Leonard of Noblat and St Leonard of Corbigny).

ff. 93r-95r: De saint Luc (St Luke).

ff. 95r-v: De saint Ursule et les onze mille vierges (St Ursula and the 11,000 virgins).

ff. 95v-96v: Des saints Simon et Jude (St Simon and St Jude).

ff. 96v-97r: De saint Quentin (St Quentin).

ff. 97r-98v: De saint Eustache (St Eustace).

ff. 98v-100v: Toussaint (All Saints).

ff. 100v-103v: Commémoration des défunts (All Souls).

f. 103v: Des quatre saints couronnés (Four crowned martyrs).

f. 103v: De saint Théodore (St Theodore).

ff. 103v-105v: De saint Martin de Tours (St Martin of Tours).

ff. 105v-106r: De saint Brice (St Brice).

ff. 106r-108r: De saint Elisabeth de Hongrie (St Elizabeth of Hungary).

ff. 108r-109v: De saint Cécile (St Cecilia).

ff. 109v-111v: De saint Clément (St Clement).

f. 112r: De saint Chrysogone (St Chrysogonus).

ff. 112r-113v: De saint Catherine (St Catherine of Alexandria).

ff. 113v-114r: De saint Saturnin (St Saturnine).

ff. 114r-115r: De Saint Jacques l'Intercis (St James the Martyr).

ff. 115r-v: De saint Pasteur (St Pastor).

f. 115v: De saint Moïse (St Moses).

ff. 115v-116r: De saint Arsène (St Arsenius).

f. 116r: De saint Agathon (Abbot Agathon).

ff. 116v-119v: Barlaam et Josaphat (St Barlaam and St Josaphat).

ff. 119v-124r: De saint Pelage (St Pelagius).

ff. 124r-126v: Dédication d'une église (Church dedication).

Decoration:

The manuscript's decoration was undertaken by a group of artists related to the Coëtivy Master.

11 large and small miniatures, accompanied by partial foliate borders, in colours and gold (ff. 1, 3v, 4v, 5, 5v, 9, 13, 13v, 15, 16, 17v).

Large decorated initials, in colours and gold. Initials in gold on red and blue grounds.

In quires 3-5, underdrawing for miniatures and some parts filled with colours; initials and borders executed (ff. 20r, 20v, 21v, 23v, 25r, 26v, 27v (x2), 28r, 29r, 29v, 30v, 31v (x3), 33r, 34v, 38r, 38v, 39r, 39v ).

In quires 7-18, spaces left for large and small miniatures and initials; underdrawing for partial borders (ff. 43r, 44r, 47r, 50r, 50v, 51r, 53r, 53v, 58v, 61r, 61v, 62v, 63r, 63v, 64r, 64v, 68r, 69r, 69v, 70v, 71r, 72v, 75r, 75v, 77r, 78r, 79r, 79v, 80v, 83v, 85r, 85v, 86r, 88v, 89r, 89v, 90r, 92r, 93r, 95r, 95v, 96v, 97r, 98v, 100v, 103v, 104r, 105v, 106r, 108r, 109v, 111v, 112r, 113v, 114r, 115r, 115v, 116r, 116v, 119v, 124r).

The subjects of the completed miniatures are as follows:

f. 1r: The baby John the Baptist is in a crib, with Mary (pregnant), Joseph and saints around the bed where his mother lies, praying.

f. 3v: St John and St Paul are brought before the Emperor and refuse to sacrifice to Jupiter.

f. 4v: Pope Leo with an amputated hand, kneels before the Virgin.

f. 5r: St Peter is crucified upside down by Emperor Nero.

f. 5v: St Peter kneels before Christ.

f. 9r: St Paul is beheaded outside the walls of Rome; Christians are burned.

f. 13r: The martyrdom of the seven brothers.

f. 13v: St Theodora on her deathbed with her son, watched by monks.

f. 15r: St Margaret emerges from a dragon's belly; she is beheaded before Olibrius.

f. 16r: St Alexis on his deathbed with his wife and parents watching as he is recognised by Pope Innocent.

f. 17v: St Mary Magdalene covered by her hair, receives the light, kneeling before the Pope

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Yates Thompson Collection

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002354332
040-004392810

Is part of:

Yates Thompson MS 1-59 : Yates Thompson Manuscripts

Yates Thompson MS 49/2 : Jean de Vignay, La Légende Dorée, Volume II

Hierarchy:

032-002354332[0054]/040-004392810

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Yates Thompson MS 1-59

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100182437546.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)

Thumbnail:

Languages:

French, Middle

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1465

End Date:

1475

Date Range:

c 1470

Era:

Access:

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Physical Characteristics:

Material: Parchment.

Dimensions: 443 x 319 mm (300 x 246 mm), written in three columns.

Foliation: ff. iii + 126 (+ 2 unfoliated paper and 2 parchment flyleaves at the beginning + 1 unfoliated parchment stub after f. 69 + 2 unfoliated parchment and paper flyleaves at the end); ff. i-iii are bookplates affixed to the inside upper cover; medieval foliation in red in the upper margins.

Collation: i-iii⁶ (ff. 1-18), iv-vi⁸ (ff. 19-42), vii⁶ (ff. 43-48), viii⁸ (ff. 49-56), ix⁶ (ff. 57-62), x⁸⁺¹ (f. 70 is a singleton; ff. 63-71), xi-xii⁶ (ff. 72-83), xiii⁸ (ff. 84-91), xiv⁶ (ff. 92-97), xv⁸ (ff. 98-105), xvi⁸ (ff. 106-113), xvii⁶(ff. 114-119), xviii^8-1 (8th leaf excised, probably blank; ff. 120-126).

Quire signatures. Vertical catchwords.

Script: Gothic cursive.

Binding: Post-1600. French citron morocco, tooled in gold, with the monogram of the Comte de Lauraguais (c. 1800) gold-stamped in the four corners of the upper and lower covers; marbled endpapers; gilt edges.

Custodial History:

Origin:

Paris and Rouen, France.

Provenance:

Château d'Anet: the library's added shelfmark(?) 'quarante vii' (Yates Thompson MS 49/1, f. 1r; see Pierre Gandoin, Catalogue des Manuscrits trouvéz après le décès de Madame la Princesse, dans son château royal d'Anet (Paris, 1724), nos 14 and 15 (p. 3)).

Louis-Léon-Félicité (b. 1733, d. 1824), Duc de Brancas et Comte de Lauraguais, peer of France and Lieutenant general of the French royal armies, book-collector: his monogram on the four corners of the binding, identified in Ernst Leopold Schlesinger Benzon's catalogue (see Catalogue des livres rares et précieux: manuscrits et imprimés provenant de la bibliothèque de feu M. Benzon (Paris: Bachelin-Deflorenne, 1875), no. 51 (p. 19)).

Augustus Frederick (b. 1773, d. 1843), Duke of Sussex: his book-plate (inside upper cover); see Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, Bibliotheca Sussexiana. A Descriptive Catalogue (1827), Volume 1, Part 1 (‘French Manuscripts’, no. 3, pp. cciii-cciv); his sale, 31 July 1844.

Ernst Leopold Schlesinger Benzon (b. 1821/22, d. 1873), German industrialist: a pasted cutting on the first flyleaf of the first volume (Yates Thompson MS 49/1, f. vi) from his catalogue (Catalogue des livres rares et précieux: manuscrits et imprimés provenant de la bibliothèque de feu M. Benzon (Paris: Bachelin-Deflorenne, 1875), no. 51 (p. 19)).

Sir Thomas Brooke (b. 1830, d. 1908), of Armitage Bridge, Huddersfield: his book-plate (inside upper cover) and described in his catalogue (A Catalogue of the Manuscripts and Printed Books collected by Thomas Brooke, F. S. A., and preserved at Armitage Bridge House, near Huddersfield, 2 vols (London: Ellis & Elvey, 1891), II, p. 685).

J. J. Holdsworth and George Smith, of Messrs Ellis, booksellers: no. 79 in a cutting from their catalogue pasted on the first flyleaf of the first volume (Yates Thompson MS 49/1, f. vi); purchased by Henry Yates Thompson.

Henry Yates Thompson (b. 1838, d. 1928), collector of illuminated manuscripts and newspaper proprietor: his book-plates inscribed '[MS] Vol. I [cf.] Vol. II / £see [i.e. £600] / [bought from] Ellis / July 1923' (inside upper cover).

Bequeathed to the British Museum in 1941 by Mrs Henry Yates Thompson.

Publications:

Hilary Maddocks, 'Illumination in Jean de Vignay's Légende dorée, Legenda aurea. Sept siècles de diffusion', Actes du colloque international sur la Legenda aurea: texte latin et branches vernaculaires, à l'Université du Quebec à Montréal, 11-12 mai 1983, (Montréal, 1986), pp. 155-69.

Hilary Maddocks, 'Pictures for Aristocrats: the Manuscripts of the Légende dorée' in Medieval Texts and Images: Studies of Manuscripts from the Middle Ages, éd. by Margaret M. Manion et Bernard J. Muir, (Melbourne: Harwood, 1991), pp. 1-23.

Brenda Dunn-Lardeau, Jacques de Voragine. La Légende dorée. Edition critique, dans la révision de 1476 par Jean Batallier, d'après la traduction de Jean de Vignay (1333-1348) de la Legenda aurea (c. 1261-1266), Textes de la Renaissance, 19, (Paris, Champion, 1997).

Olivier Collet et Sylviane Messerli, Vies médiévales de Marie-Madeleine, Textes vernaculaires du Moyen Age, (Turnhout, Brepols, 2008), pp. 42, 687.

Marie-Laure Savoye et Anne-Françoise Leurquin, 'London, British Library, Yates Thompson MS 49', online at IHRT Jonas, Section romane (Paris, CNRS-IRHT, 2015) http://jonas.irht.cnrs.fr/manuscrit/73477 [accessed 7.2.2023].

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Subjects:

Hagiography

Places:

Paris, France
Rouen, France