Medieval manuscripts blog

Bringing our medieval manuscripts to life

11 posts from July 2015

07 July 2015

New uploads to the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts

We continue to add manuscripts from the Additional collection with selected images to the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts. Here is a selection of favourites from the upload in June.

Perhaps the most spectacular of these works is Additional MS 16997, a Book of Hours produced in Paris, with 17 jewel-like miniatures, mostly attributed to the Boucicault Master, whose advanced depiction of light and perspective can be seen in the following miniature. The border, too, is a work of art, with naturalistic birds among the lustrous foliage. This treasure was owned by none other than Étienne Chevalier, Treasurer of France in the mid-15th century.

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The celebration of Mass, with two owls, two other birds and a butterfly in the border, France, Central (Paris), 1st quarter of the 15th century, Additional MS 16997, f. 145r.

 

A number of these illustrated historical works have been catalogued. The Histoire Universelle was featured in a blogpost in February and two of the manuscripts are currently on display in our Treasures gallery. The Histoire begins with the biblical story of Creation and includes Greek and Roman legends. The following images have recently been published from two French manuscripts, one of the 13th century and one of the late 14th century:

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A four-part miniature of (1) the death of Hector, (2) Achilles and Polyxena on Hector's grave, (3) Achilles with Hecuba in the temple, and (4) the death of Achilles. , France, N., 2nd half of the 13th century, Additional MS 19669, f. 84r.

 

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The Creation of the animals and the Creation of Eve, France, Central (Paris), last quarter of the 14th century, Additional MS 25884, f. 2r.


Two manuscripts associated with women appear for the first time in the catalogue. The first contains a version of the Miroir des Dames, a treatise on queenship translated from Latin for Jeanne de Navarre (b. c. 1271, d. 1305) and other instructional works. It was made for Jean, Duke of Berry and of Auvergne (b. 1340, d. 1416), son of the king of France and collector of some of the greatest manuscripts and works of art of the era.

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Mary instructing three women at the beginning of St Anselm's first meditation, France, 1407 to 1410, Additional MS 29986, f. 152v.


The other is the unique copy of the Dialogue de la duchesse de Bourgogne a Jesus Christ, a devotional work written especially for Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV, who married the Duke of Burgundy in 1468.  The image shows Christ visiting her in her chamber.  As always, Margaret is attired in the latest Burgundian fashion, and even Christ wears a rather luxurious red garment. 

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Margaret of York kneeling before the Resurrected Christ, Netherlands, S. (Brussels), between 1468 and 1477 Additional MS 7970, f. 1v.

Newly included in the catalogue are nine liturgical manuscripts in the Mozarabic tradition, all from the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos, near Burgos, produced in the 10th and 11th centuries.  Some contain musical notation and the style of illumination is unique.   The most highly decorated is an antiphonal with 23 large decorated initials. Petrus, one of the artists who worked on the Silos Apocalypse was responsible for some of the decoration.

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Monogram at the beginning of the Office of Easter with zoomorphic and interlace decoration; visigothic neumes, Spain, N. (Burgos, Silos), 4th quarter of the 11th century of 1st quarter of the 12th century, Additional 30850, f. 105v.

Another early manuscript, this time from Italy, is known as the ‘Montecassino Exultet Roll’ as it includes the Exultet, a hymn sung by a deacon during the consecration of the Paschal candle, during the Easter Vigil. The roll was made of 12 parchment membranes sewn together in c. 1075 and the text is in Beneventan minuscule. It includes this image of bee-keeping.

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Bees gathering nectar and a bee-keeper collecting wax for the Paschal candle, Italy, S. (Montecassino), c. 1075, Additional MS 30337, membrane 10.

 

- Chantry Westwell

04 July 2015

Happy Birthday, Declaration of Independence!

Today is the 4th of July, the birthday of one of the most famous documents in the world, the United States Declaration of Independence. This year we are celebrating another very important birthday at the British Library, namely the 800th anniversary (yes, eight hundred years) of the granting of Magna Carta by King John of England in 1215.

But we do like to do things in style at the Library. And so, this summer, for the very first time in the United Kingdom, we have on display not only Magna Carta BUT ALSO Thomas Jefferson's own copy of the Declaration of Independence AND the Delaware manuscript of the United States Bill of Rights!!! These are all truly sensational documents in their own rights, each of them testament to the fight for establishing rights and liberties in various forms across the ages, and for attempting to limit the rule of tyrants.

We have kindly borrowed Jefferson's Declaration of Independence from New York Public Library, and it's a fascinating artefact. Made a few days or so after the Declaration was ratified by the Second Continental Congress at Philadelphia on 4 July 1776, this manuscript preserves the original state of Jefferson's text, before it had been amended by his fellow delegates. Some of its words and phrases are underlined, and these represent passages which were omitted from the final version of the text. One of those omissions is highly poignant, since it contained Thomas Jefferson's proposal that the slave trade be abolished -- he described this trade in the manuscript draft on loan to us as an 'execrable commerce', and he labelled King George III a tyrant for presiding over the transportation of men from one hemisphere to another. It's extremely moving to see this manuscript in the flesh.

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HRH The Prince of Wales and exhibition curator Claire Breay looking at the Declaration of Independence at the opening of the British Library's Magna Carta exhibition

And just for good measure, the British Library's Magna Carta exhibition also contains a manuscript of the US Bill of Rights. This is the copy sent to Delaware in 1790, which was then sealed and returned to the federal government. We have been extremely fortunate to borrow this item from the US National Archives in Washington, DC, and we are extremely grateful to both of our lenders, and to the law firm White & Case for making these loans possible.

Magna Carta Exhibition DSC00581 (credit Tony Antoniou)

The Delaware manuscript of the United States Bill of Rights, currently on show at the British Library

And did you know another thing? If you're a big fan of American constitutional history, we're sure you'd like to know that you can also see one of the original printed copies of the US Declaration of Independence at the British Library this summer. Known as a 'Dunlap' printing (after its printer, John Dunlap), our copy was discovered by an American researcher in the United Kingdom National Archives in 2009, and has kindly been loaned to us by our friends at The National Archives.

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A Dunlap printing of the Declaration of Independence, found at the UK National Archives in 2009

So don't miss the opportunity to see all these magnificent documents alongside Magna Carta! It truly is a feast for anyone interested in the history of England and the United States of America. The exhibition is open until 1 September 2015, and you can buy tickets here. Alternatively, you can read more about these items in the exhibition catalogue and on our dedicated Magna Carta website.

Julian Harrison

Co-curator, Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy

01 July 2015

A Calendar Page for July 2015

To find out more about the London Rothschild Hours, take a look at our post A Calendar Page for January 2015

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Calendar page for July, with decorative border comprising a Zodiac sign, roundels, and bas-de-page scene, from the London Rothschild Hours, Southern Netherlands (?Ghent), c. 1500,
Add MS 35313, f. 4v 

The agrarian labours continue in this month’s bas-de-page scene. Amidst a gently rolling landscape, two men are mowing grass with scythes. To the left, a woman is using a pitchfork to turn the grass to dry into hay in the sunshine. Another woman approaches from the background, bearing a basket on her head and a satchel in her hand – perhaps containing refreshments for the workers. Note how the artist has included little details to convey a sense of the midsummer heat: the broad-brimmed hats the labourers are wearing to protect their faces from the sun, and the rolled-up sleeves of the man on the right. The roundels for July show the key religious dates for the month: the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, the Translation of the Relics of St Thomas the Apostle, and the feast days of St Benedict, St Mary Magdalene, and Sts James and Christopher. A lion – the Zodiac sign for Leo – is included as a header in the calendar. 

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Detail of a bas-de-page scene of peasants making hay,
Add MS 35313, f. 4v 

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Detail of a roundel showing St Mary Magdalene,
Add MS 35313, f. 4v 

- James Freeman