30 January 2014
A Medieval Comic Strip
Egerton MS 1894, better known as the Egerton Genesis Picture Book, has been described as one of the most fascinating – and puzzling – of all the manuscripts in the British Library collections. The Egerton Genesis Picture Book (one of our most recent uploads to our Digitised Manuscripts site) was produced in England in the 3rd quarter of the 14th century. It contains a cycle of 149 illustrations of the Book of Genesis, running from the Creation through the story of Joseph. The images are described in short captions in Anglo-Norman French, based upon text from Peter Comestor’s Historia Scholastica.
The artist responsible for the paintings in this volume has been named the Master of the Egerton Genesis, in honour of his work in this manuscript. His hand appears in a number of other contemporary manuscripts, and he was clearly highly skilled, but also displays a unique and sometimes rather irreverent perspective on familiar subjects. For example, in the final image of the Creation the Master depicts the Lord God fast asleep among the flowers he has just made, his bare feet exposed. If it weren’t for the halo and the elegant pose, he could be a shepherd who has dozed off after his lunch.
Detail of God the Father resting, from the Egerton Genesis Picture Book, England (Norwich or Durham?), 3rd quarter of the 14th century, Egerton MS 1894, f. 1v
In many ways, the Egerton Genesis Picture Book can be seen as an early comic book, with four pictures on most pages, each illustrating an episode in a well-known tale.
Here, for example, is how the Tower of Babel story is treated:
Nimrod and the Tower of Babel
Nimrod, grandson of Ham and great grandson of Noah, the proud hunter and tyrant who defied God, is mentioned in the book of Genesis, and in Hebrew and Christian tradition he is usually seen as the leader responsible for the building of the Tower of Babel. On ff. 4v-6r his story is told in pictures.
First Nimrod is shown holding a spiked club and towering over his ancestors, looking back at them in a rather haughty manner:
Detail of a miniature of the ancestry of Nimrod, Egerton MS 1894, f. 4v
The story continues on the facing page, with four scenes from the life of Nimrod. He is shown using a rod to force his people to worship fire, and as a young man, being instructed by Jonitus, the fourth son of Noah, in astronomy. These episodes are taken from the Historia Scholastica rather than the Bible. The descendants of Ham and Japheth are shown in the other two images on this page.
Detail of a miniature of Nimrod and the descendants of Ham and Japheth, Egerton MS 1894, f. 5r
In the full-page image of the building of the Tower of Babel on the following page, an older Nimrod, still standing head and shoulders above everyone else, consults with his kinsmen, who may be telling him not to anger the Almighty. The image is full of activity as workmen construct a rather Italian-style tower. In the upper left part, a mason holds up his trowel, while another lays blocks above him.
Detail of a miniature of the building of the Tower of Babel, Egerton MS 1894, f. 5v
The final image, showing the destruction of the Tower of Babel, occupies the whole left hand side of the page. God is directing the four winds, which huff and puff and blow the tower down (eat your heart out, big bad wolf – this one is made of bricks!)
Detail of a miniature of the destruction of the Tower of Babel, Egerton MS 1894, f. 6r
Of course, violence is a key ingredient of most comic strips, and the Egerton Genesis Picture Book is no exception. How is this for a healthy display of weapons and carnage?
- Chantry Westwell
The Medieval Manuscripts Blog is delighted to be shortlisted for the National UK Blog Awards (Arts & Culture category). For more information about the nomination, see the Awards website.
25 January 2014
'She cares not a turd': Notes on a 16th century Squabble
While we were preparing the catalogue entry for Harley MS 7334, one of our most recent uploads to Digitised Manuscripts, we came across a very curious marginal note, and would like to solicit your ideas about it.
Decorated initial ‘W’(han) at the beginning of the Canterbury Tales, England (London or East Anglia, c. 1410), Harley MS 7734, f. 1r
But first a bit of background. This manuscript is a relatively early copy of Chaucer’s famous Canterbury Tales, and was created c. 1410 in England, probably in East Anglia. The scribe who penned it was responsible for other manuscripts containing the Canterbury Tales (such as Corpus Christi College, Oxford, MS 198, for example), leading some scholars to propose that it was a production of a commercial scriptorium specialising in such texts. Harley MS 7334 has a rather complicated ownership history, and passed through a number of different hands during the tumultuous 15th and 16th centuries. The task of untangling its provenance is both aided - and complicated - by the profusion of notes, signatures, and inscriptions that can be found throughout the manuscript, many of which were added by later hands.
Detail of an inscription concerning Elizabeth Kympton [Kimpton] and Edward Waterhouse, Harley MS 7734, f. 81r
It is one of these inscriptions that caught our eye, for reasons that will shortly become clear. In the right-hand margin of f. 81r (above) is a note in a mid-16th century hand. It reads ‘Mrs Kympto[n] shall have an ill name by Mr Waterh[ows] but she cares not a turd and yet she is a gentlewo[man] clerly enoug[h] how say you she Kna[ves?]’ with the later part of the inscription much rubbed away.
Well. This is very strange indeed. And it is not the only such note in the manuscript.
Detail of an inscription concerning Elizabeth Kympton [Kimpton] and Edward Waterhouse, Harley MS 7734, f. 187r
On f. 187r can be found a similar sentiment. This note reads: ‘Mrs Kimpton is like to have an ill name by mr waterhous but she cares not a…’. Again, the rest of this communication has been effaced, although one imagines that it expresses a similar idea to the previous. So what are we to make of this?
These odd addenda have received little attention in the literature about this manuscript. One scholar describes the first inscription only fleetingly as a 'bit of gossip' and, perhaps overly-concerned with the delicate sensibilities of his readers, he declines to transcribe it. Our own research has yet to turn up much of substance about the mysterious woman who 'cares not a turd', save a few brief details. An Elizabeth Kympton is listed in the will of Lady Anne Grey (d. 1557/8), who owned this manuscript in the mid-16th century. Lady Anne also named an Edward Waterhouse as one of her legatees; the two were probably part of Lady Anne's household, although the precise nature of their relationship to her and to each other remain unknown. Several more clues can be found in the manuscript itself.
Detail of an inscription reading ‘Elizabeth Kympton’, Harley MS 7734, f. 129r
The name 'Elizabeth Kympton' is written in the margin of f. 129r, and we find it again on f. 61r. Intriguingly, this time her name is coupled with that of Edward Waterhouse, and conveniently dated to 1557.
Detail of an inscription reading ‘1557 / Elizabeth Kympton / Edward Waterhows’, Harley MS 7734, f. 61r
We know a bit more about Edward Waterhouse (later Sir Edward); he was born in 1533, and was the youngest son of the auditor to Henry VIII. As a young adult he came under the patronage of Sir Henry Sidney, and became Sir Henry's personal secretary when the latter was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1565 (Sir Henry's name is also inscribed in this manuscript, apparently by Edward, see f. 170r). But prior to embarking on his career Edward must have spent some time in the household of Lady Anne Grey. He was clearly a prodigious annotator; he was responsible for a number of notes throughout the manuscript, including a line on the final folio: '1556. Anne Grey Wife to the Lord John Grey and dowghtor to Wyllim Barlee Esquier owith this book. E. W.'
Detail of an inscription by Edward Waterhouse about Lady Anne Grey, Harley MS 7734, f. 286v
The handwriting here is comparable to that in the much-effaced note on f. 187r. Could Edward have been the author of the two 'ill name' inscriptions? And what could have been the motivation for such an odd fit of pique? Did this arise from a lovers' quarrel, or from some other cause?
One final point, which may or may not be relevant: the bizarre inscription on f. 81r can be found in the midst of the Man of Law’s Tale, the fifth of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. This is a story about a Christian princess named Custance who was bethrothed to the Sultan of Syria. According to the tale, the Sultan’s mother intervened to prevent the marriage, and set Custance (or Constance) adrift at sea. She eventually came ashore on the Northumbrian coast, where she met the king, Alla, and they fell in love. In a horrible stroke of luck, the now-pregnant Custance again found herself the victim of a meddling mother-in-law, who intercepted and altered a letter from her. Custance was banished yet again to sea by an angry Alla, ending up in Italy, but the story had a happy ending when the repentant Alla went in search of her and they were eventually reunited. The Edward/Elizabeth note on f. 81r can be found next to a description of Alla’s despairing and angry response to his mother’s forged letter from Custance. He then wrote his own letter to give to the drunken messenger who delivered his mother’s epistle; the Man of Law's Tale then continues (we're providing the modern English translation):
'This letter he seals, secretly weeping / Which to the messenger was given soon / And forth he goes; there is nothing more to do. / O messenger, filled with drunkenness / Strong is thy breath, thy limbs ever tremble / And thou betray all secrets. / Thy mind is lost, thou chatter like a jay / Thy face is completely changed. / Where drunkenness reigns in any group / There is no secret hidden, without doubt. / O Donegild [Alla's mother], I do not have any English suitable to describe / Unto thy malice and thy tyranny! / And therefore to the fiend I thee consign; / Let him write about thy treachery! / Fie, like a man, fie! O nay, by God, I lie / Fie, like a fiendish spirit, for I dare well tell / Though thou here walk, thy spirit is in hell!'
On that note, we'll turn this over to you; please do let us know your thoughts on this still mostly-hidden secret. You can leave a comment below, or contact us on Twitter @BLMedieval.
- Sarah J Biggs
18 January 2014
A Map at the End of the World
Now fully digitised on our Digitised Manuscripts site, and currently on loan to the National Library of Australia for the Mapping Our World exhibition, Royal MS 14 C IX is one of the British Library’s copies of Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon, and one of numerous manuscripts in our collection containing medieval maps of the world.
Higden coined the name Historia Polychronicon – meaning ‘a history of many ages’ – to encapsulate the universal scope of his chronicle, which encompassed not only the history of the entire world from Creation to his own era of the fourteenth century, but also its geography as well.
Map of the world from Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon, England, c. 1350, Royal MS 14 C IX, ff. 1v-2
This marrying of history and geography can be seen with particular clarity in the large mappa mundi at the beginning of Royal MS 14 C IX, unique among the nearly 150 surviving copies of the Polychronicon in containing two maps (see above). Unlike their modern counterparts, medieval maps were not concerned solely with landmasses, mountains, rivers, borders and cities, nor with ‘to-scale’ representation. They were conceptual objects, upon which time as well as space were plotted, with historical events shown alongside visual or prose descriptions of the topography and people of the world.
Detail of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, from Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon, England, c. 1350, Royal MS 14 C IX, f. 1v
Following a pattern laid down by earlier maps, this one divides the world into the three known continents: Asia in the upper half (f. 1v), Africa stretched along the right and Europe in the lower left-hand corner (f. 2r), with England coloured in red.
Detail of England, from Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon, England, c. 1350, Royal MS 14 C IX, f. 1v
All is surrounded by green ocean, and buffeted by the winds, which are represented by twelve heads, each huffing and puffing. Major rivers are shown: the Euphrates and the Tigris enclosing Mesopotamia (which means ‘between two rivers’; see above), the Nile snaking its way across Africa, the Rhine coming down from the Alps, and even the Thames meandering past Oxford and London. Many of the descriptive labels are excerpted from the text of the Polychronicon, indicating that its creator was familiar with Higden’s book, and perhaps used this very copy to annotate the map.
Detail of the Garden of Eden, from Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon, England, c. 1350, Royal MS 14 C IX, f. 2v
The map also charts the flow of Christian history. The blank panel at the top is intended to feature a drawing of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (as seen on the other map in this Polychronicon on f. 2v; see above). Babylon and the Tower of Babel are beneath it, followed by a rather charming sketch of Noah in his ark with a ram, a lion and a stag.
Detail of Noah in the ark with a ram, lion, and a stag, from Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon, England, c. 1350, Royal MS 14 C IX, f. 1v
Jerusalem is given particular prominence, but most remarkable is possibly the tiniest representation of the Crucifixion in a manuscript in the British Library.
Detail of the city of Jerusalem and the Crucifixion, from Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon, England, c. 1350, Royal MS 14 C IX, f. 1v
Beneath the label ‘Mons Caluarie’ (Mount Calvary), we see Christ on the cross, the nails in his hands and feet and the wound in his side all clearly visible, accompanied by two figures, presumably the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist.
Important sites in subsequent Christian history are marked in the lower half of the map: Rome and St. Peter’s as the centre of the Catholic Church, and Santiago de Compostela as the last stage in the Christianization of Europe.
Detail of the pilgrimage trail ending in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, from Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon, England, c. 1350, Royal MS 14 C IX, f. 1v
In Genesis, there are six days of Creation, followed by a seventh day of rest. St Augustine interpreted this as a prefiguration of the course of human existence, dividing history into six ‘ages of the world’ and proposing that the Last Judgement would occur at the end of the sixth age. Although Higden divided the historical books of the Polychronicon along different lines, nevertheless he retained the sixfold structure that had been a common feature of universal history since Orosius’s Historia aduersos paganos. Higden wove together universal and insular historical divisions of time, concentrating the first five ages in the first two historical books of the Polychronicon, and dividing the remaining four according to successive invasions – Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, and Norman – which had long been depicted in history books as divine punishment for people’s sinfulness. God was immanent in the medieval world and his intervention in human history in the sixth age an imminent possibility. The reader of this copy of the Polychronicon found themselves at the end of the world in more ways than one.
- James Freeman
16 January 2014
The Three Living and the Three Dead
Inspired by the massive success of our recent Knight v Snail post, we thought it might be interesting to have a look at some other tropes of medieval art which feature in many of our manuscripts. One such is that of the Three Living and the Three Dead.
Miniature of the Three Living and the Three Dead, with the Anglo-Norman poem 'Le dit des trios morts et trios vifs' below, from the De Lisle Psalter, England (East Anglia), c. 1308 – c. 1340, Arundel MS 83, f. 127v
The precise origins of the Three Living and the Three Dead are still somewhat mysterious, but there are many versions of the tale dating back to the 13th century, with the best-known coming from England and France. The basic version of the story goes like this: three young noblemen are out hunting when they suddenly come across three corpses, which are in varying states of decay, but nonetheless still animated. Unsurprisingly, the young men express shock and dismay at the sight, while the three corpses admonish them to consider the transience of life and to improve their behaviour before it is too late.
Detail of a miniature of the Three Living and the Three Dead, from the De Lisle Psalter, England (East Anglia), c. 1308 – c. 1340, Arundel MS 83, f. 127v
The dialogue between the two groups is sometimes explicit, as in the relatively early example above from the early 14th century De Lisle Psalter (Arundel MS 83). Beneath a miniature of three kings encountering three corpses is an abridged version of the Anglo-Norman poem Le dit des trios morts et trios vifs which describes the ensuing conversation. Interestingly, above this double-register miniature is a series of inscriptions in the English vernacular, giving additional voice to the characters. The Three Living cry out: ‘I am afraid’ (Ich am afert), ‘Lo, what I see!’ (Lo whet ich se), and ‘Methinks these be devils three’ (Me þinkes hit bey develes þre). And the Three Dead reply: ‘I was well fair’ (Ich wes wel fair), ‘Such shall you be’ (Such schel tou be), and ‘For God’s love, beware by me’ (For godes love bewer by me).
Detail of bas-de-page miniatures of the Three Living and the Three Dead, from the Taymouth Hours, England, 2nd quarter of the 14th century, Yates Thompson MS 13, ff. 179v-180r
Similar rubrics can be found in the illustrations of this scene in the mid-14th century Taymouth Hours (Yates Thompson MS 13; see our previous post about this magnificent manuscript). The Three Living can be found in the bas-de-page of f. 179v, confronting the Three Dead on the following folio (f. 180r). One of the Living cries out that he is aghast at the spectacle (Ich am agast), while the others recoil in horror. The Dead respond in almost identical fashion to those in the De Lisle Psalter, exhorting the Living to take their message to heart and change their ways.
These bas-de-page scenes can be found in the Taymouth Hours towards the end of the Office of the Dead, a set of prayers for the dead and dying that were included in virtually every medieval Book of Hours. In some later medieval Hours, the visual motif of the Three Living and the Three Dead was ‘promoted’ to the leading role, prefacing the text of the Office proper. One interesting example comes from Add MS 35313, a manuscript variously called the ‘London Rothschild Hours’ or the ‘Hours of Joanna I of Castile’, which was produced, probably in Ghent, about the year 1500. It was almost certainly created for a female patron, possibly Joanna I of Castile, who was often called Joanna the Mad (for more information about Joanna and her manuscripts, see also The Mystery of the Hours of Joanna the Mad, A Medieval Menagerie, and our calendar series for 2012).
Detail of a miniature of the Three Living and the Three Dead at the beginning of the Office of the Dead, from the Hours of Joanna I of Castile, southern Netherlands (Ghent?), c. 1500, Add MS 35313, f. 158v
The Office of the Dead in Add MS 35313 opens with a scene of the Three Living encountering the Three Dead while out hawking, and is unusual in including a woman among the hunting party. This miniature may be a copy of a similar scene in a Book of Hours that belonged to Mary of Burgundy, who was the mother-in-law of Joanna I of Castile; these hours are now in Berlin (Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett MS 78 B 12, f. 220v). There are no rubrics or explanatory text associated with this miniature, which implies that these sorts of images were widespread enough to be instantly recognisable to a reader. The Three Dead, however, appear much more threatening here than in earlier versions, going so far as to chase after the escaping riders with arrows in hand.
Miniature of the Raising of Lazarus and a scene of the Three Living and the Three Dead, from the Stuart de Rothesay Hours, Italy (Padua? And Perugia), c. 1508 – c. 1538, Add MS 20927, f. 119v
Another group of ominous Dead appear in the Stuart de Rothesay Hours, produced in Italy c. 1508 – c. 1538. Beneath a miniature of the Raising of Lazarus is a small panel of the Three Dead, who appear to be attacking the Three Living; note the terrified horses and hunting dogs circling the scene (see detail below). Rather than exhorting the living to change their ways, the dead are here presented as a danger in themselves.
Detail of the Three Living and the Three Dead, from the Stuart de Rothesay Hours, Italy (Padua? And Perugia), c. 1508 – c. 1538, Add MS 20927, f. 119v
Several more images from our collections are below. As always, please let us know what you think; you can leave a comment below, or contact us on Twitter at @BLMedieval.
Bas-de-page scenes of the Three Living and the Three Dead on facing folios, from the Smithfield Decretals, southern France (probably Toulouse), c. 1300, with illuminations added in England (London), c. 1340, Royal MS 10 E IV, ff. 258v-259r [for more on this manuscript, see Finishing the Smithfield Decretals]
Detail of a miniature of the Three Living (a pope, an emperor, and a king) and the Three Dead (wearing matching crowns), at the beginning of thee Office of the Dead, from a Book of Hours, France (Paris), c. 1480 – c. 1490, Harley MS 2917, f. 119r
Miniature of the Three Living and the Three Dead on a tipped-in leaf, from a Psalter, Germany (Augsburg?), first half of the 16th century, Harley MS 2953, f. 19v
Sarah J Biggs
14 January 2014
Yet Another Giant List of Digitised Manuscript Hyperlinks
A new year, a newly-updated list of digitised manuscript hyperlinks! This master list contains everything that has been digitised up to this point by the Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts department, complete with hyperlinks to each record on our Digitised Manuscripts site. We'll have another list for you in three months; you can download the current version here: Download BL Medieval and Earlier Digitised Manuscripts Master List 14.01.13. Have fun!
Diagram of a cherubim, based on Alanus ab Insula (Alain of Lille)'s De sex alia cherubim, from the De Lisle Psalter, England, c. 1308 - c. 1340, Arundel MS 83, f. 5v
- Sarah J Biggs
09 January 2014
An Even Older View of the New World
Our recent blog post An Old World View of the New got us thinking about other sources of New World images from within our medieval collections. One excellent example, currently on exhibition in Australia (more below), can be found in Harley MS 2772, which we’ve recently fully-digitised and uploaded to our Digitised Manuscripts site. This manuscript is a collection of fragments of Latin texts, including Macrobius’ Commentary on Cicero's Somnium Scipionis (The Dream of Scipio). Included in the commentary on the ocean is one of the earliest maps ever produced. It is a round diagram of the earth showing the known and unknown lands and oceans, including Italy and the Caspian Sea.
Diagram of the earth and oceans, Harley MS 2772, Germany 11th century, f. 70v
Although this is an eleventh-century copy, the map was first created in the early 5th century, when Macrobius originally wrote his commentary. Most of the maps made at this time focused on the known world of the Roman Empire, but Macrobius was interested in the idea that other parts of the earth might be inhabited. Starting with a commentary on Cicero’s work, in which Scipio views the earth from the heavens in a dream, he writes at length on the nature of the planet and its peoples. He argues against the biblical world-view that Noah’s three sons populated Asia, Europe and Africa, and that, as he had no other son, the remainder of the earth must be uninhabited.
Detail of a diagram of the earth and oceans, Harley MS 2772, Germany 11th century, f. 70v
This diagram divides the earth into five zones, the extreme north and south which are labelled ‘INHABITABILIS’ (uninhabitable), the torrid zone at the Equator with its boiling hot sea, ‘RUBRUM MARE’ (red sea) and in between the two temperate zones. The one in the north is ‘TEMPERATA NOSTRA’ (our temperate zone), with Italy at the centre and bordered by the Caspian Sea and the Orkney Islands (‘ORCADES’). To the south is ‘TEMPERATA ANTETORUM’, which probably means something like ‘outside temperate zone’, i.e. outside the known world an area which is not designated as unpopulated.
So could this be the earliest map of the antipodes? The Australians certainly think so! A current exhibition in The National Library of Australia in Canberra entitled Mapping our World: Terra Incognita to Australia features this manuscript from the British Library.
Other medieval maps on loan for the exhibition are:
The Anglo-Saxon World Map, one of the earliest surviving maps from Western Europe, which shows nothing further south than Ethiopia, and after that there are only monsters.
Anglo-Saxon world map, England (Canterbury) 2nd quarter of the 11th century, Cotton MS Tiberius B V, f. 56v
The Psalter World Map, a very small but detailed depiction of the earth with Jerusalem at the centre in a book containing a collection of psalms and prayers, made in south-east England in the mid-13th century. As this is a religious work, God and the angels preside over the earth.
Psalter World Map, England, c. 1265, Additional MS 28681, f. 9r
And finally, the map from Higden’s Polychronicon (or universal history) from Ramsay Abbey focuses on England (in red), but contains details of provinces and towns in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Map of the World from the Polychronicon, England, c. 1350, Royal MS 14 C IX, ff. 1v-2
Of course, Australia does not appear on any of the above, and it is not until the 16th century that an unknown southern continent ‘Terra Australis’ or perhaps even the ‘Londe of Java’, as depicted in Henry VIII’s Boke of Idrography can be found.
Jean Rotz, Map of the Two Hemispheres, France and England, 1542, Royal 20 E IX, ff. 29v-30
The exhibition catalogue contains these and many more gorgeous reproductions of maps of the world and Australia, including coastal maps and diagrams by the early settlers. Please have a look at Mapping our World: Terra Incognita to Australia (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2013), and as always, you can follow us on Twitter @BLMedieval.
- Chantry Westwell
23 December 2013
Medieval Top Ten
It’s that time of the year when we all look back at what we have accomplished (and also when we so frequently resort to clichés like ‘it’s that time of year’). It has been a fantastic 12 months for our blog, due in large part to our fabulous readers. We thought we’d take this chance to highlight our ten most popular posts, which were chosen by you (or at least chosen by your clicks!). In true countdown fashion, we’ll start with:
10. Anglo-Saxon Treasures Online: the announcement about our department’s very first uploads to Digitised Manuscripts (it seems so long ago!); we were off to an excellent start with the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Old English Hexateuch.
Beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, from the Lindisfarne Gospels, Cotton MS Nero D IV, f. 27r
9. Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts Online: an exciting announcement about the inclusion of more than 100 Hebrew manuscripts to our Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts site, with a full list of hyperlinks included!
Initial word panel Shir (‘song’ inhabited by a unicorn and a bear, from the Duke of Sussex’s German Pentateuch, Add MS 15282, f. 296v
8. Robert the Bruce Letter Found at British Library: a post highlighting the exciting discovery by Professor Dauvit Broun, University of Glasgow, of a previously-unknown letter from Robert the Bruce to Edward II.
Detail of the letter from Robert the Bruce to Edward II, Cotton MS Titus A XIX, f. 87r
7. St Cuthbert Gospel Saved for the Nation: a celebration of the British Library’s acquisition of the late 7th century St Cuthbert Gospel after the most successful fundraising campaign in the Library’s history. Now in our collections as Add MS 89000, you can now view the fully-digitised manuscript online.
Front binding of the St Cuthbert Gospel, Add MS 89000
6. White Gloves or Not White Gloves: not to wreck the surprise or anything, but the answer (almost always) is not.
5. Loch Ness Monster Found at British Library: another amazing discovery by our unstoppable research team! We’ll just leave it at that.
Image of the Loch Ness Monster, as recovered using RZS©
4. Hwæt! Beowulf Online: we were thrilled to publicise the digitization of one of the Library’s great treasures, the Beowulf manuscript (Cotton MS Vitellius A XV; click the link for the fully-digitised version). And many of you seemed equally thrilled!
Detail of the opening words of Beowulf: ‘Hwæt!’ (‘Listen!’), Cotton MS Vitellius A XV, f. 132r
3. Lolcats of the Middle Ages: far and away the most popular post from our on-going series on medieval animals – for obvious reasons, we think.
Detail of a miniature of mice laying siege to a castle defended by a cat, from a Book of Hours, Harley MS 6563, f. 72r
2. Knight v Snail: this piece on the prevalence of images of knights fighting snails in the margins of 13th and 14th century manuscripts was great fun to write, and it was even more enjoyable to see the fantastic response it received. It set a British Library record for the most hits in a single day, was picked up by the Guardian, and most gratifying, many of you wrote in with some excellent thoughts on this mysterious marginalia; thank you so much!
Detail of a knight battling a snail in the margins of a 14th century Psalter, Add MS 49622, f. 193v
So now, with no further ado, we come to…
1. Unicorn Cookbook Found at the British Library: the discovery of this gem of a manuscript, shrouded in secrecy for months, met with an amazing reaction when it was finally revealed on 1 April 2012, and it continues to be a perennial favourite.
Detail of a unicorn on the grill in Geoffrey Fule’s cookbook, Additional MS 142012, f. 137r
Thanks from all of us in the Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts section! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @BLMedieval.
- Sarah J Biggs
27 November 2013
Marginali-yeah: Take 2! The Incomparable Luttrell Psalter
It is almost impossible to discuss the fabulous and incomparable Luttrell Psalter (Add MS 42130) without resorting to hyperbole. Produced in Lincolnshire, England c. 1320-1340, for Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, its namesake and patron (please see our earlier blog post for more details), the manuscript is a glorious explosion of visual delights. Besides the illuminated and historiated initials, the Psalter contains hundreds of marginal and bas-de-page images which display a staggering and creative diversity. A very few (compared with the overwhelming numbers in the manuscript!) selected details are below; please have a look at the fully digitised manuscript here for much much more.
A lady with a pet squirrel, Add MS 42130, f. 33r
A monkey riding a goat whilst hawking (except with an owl, so not hawking), Add MS 42130, f. 38r
The martyrdom of Thomas Becket, with a grotesque nearby, and later 'x' marks effacing the painting, Add MS 42130, f. 51r
A dejected, nude, and tonsured man (a winning combination!) with an archer below, Add MS 42130, f. 54r
A man being bled into a bowl while an attentive bird looks on, Add MS 42130, f. 61r
A blue-skinned man (perhaps a Saracen or Ethiopian?) doing battle with a dragon (not a snail in sight), Add MS 42130, f. 83v
Medieval Angry Birds, Add MS 42130, f. 145r
Two grotesques fighting and fighting dirty, Add MS 42130, f. 153r
A monkey being extremely rude, as far as we can tell, Add MS 42130, f. 189v
A cat (of course!), Add MS 42130, f. 190r
Stealing fruit, Add MS 42130, f. 196v
A female grotesque riding, um, herself, Add MS 42130, f. 198v
This grotesque is unimpressed, Add MS 42130, f. 202r
Eeyore-ish, Add MS 42130, f. 208v
Check me out, Add MS 42130, f. 210r
This won't end well, Add MS 42130, f. 211r
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- Sarah J Biggs
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