In Middle English., Script: Written by a single scribe in a formal style of bastard Anglicana; delicately decorated ascenders and descenders along upper and lower edges of written space., On f. 5v a large coat of arms, Carent quartered with Toomer, in a green, orange, and gold frame, against a dark green ground, perhaps a slightly later addition; f. 6r, a small coat of arms, Carent, in the lower margin, against a gold ground, surrounded by a phylactery wrapped around the bar border. Arms supported by two seated dogs, in black pen, set in an oblong landscape, edged heavily in black., One 8-line (f. 6r), four 6-line (ff. 1r, 21r, 52r, 85v) and one 4-line (f. 106r) initials, blue and red with white highlights, filled with large four-lobed flowers and acanthus leaves, orange, green, pink, blue, and light blue, against irregular gold grounds, edged in black, with full (ff. 1r, 6r), 3/4 (ff. 52r, 85v) or single marginal (ff. 21r, 106r) borders. The full and 3/4 have gold, blue and red bands attached to initial, with curling and braided sections sprouting curling acanthus at corners; often against gold cusps, with spiraling black ink hair-spray vines with small green teardrop leaves, pink, brown, green, and blue flowers, and gold dots with small pink and blue leaves. 2-line gold initials on irregular blue and red grounds with white highlights, each with two sprigs of black hair-spray with green leaves and gold dots, as above. 1-line blue and gold initials, with red or pink penwork. Rubrics throughout., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Brown goatskin blind-tooled, with a gold-tooled title. Bound by Francis Bedford (London, 1800-84), who worked with C. Lewis and set up his own shop in 1841.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451? and Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint.
Subject (Topic):
Devotional literature, English (Middle), Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment of John Lydgate (1375?-1449?), Siege of Thebes
Description:
In Middle English., Script: Copied by one hand in Gothica Cursiva Antiquior Libraria/Formata (Anglicana). The scribe has been identified as being Stephen Doddesham, a Carthusian monk, first in Witham Priory, afterwards in the Charterhouse at Sheen, near London, d. 1481/1482., Red headings and running titles. The latter are preceded by alternately blue paragraph-marks with red penwork and golden paragraph-marks with blue penwork. 6-line foliate initials in pale blue and pink with left-margin floral borders extending into the upper and lower margins, at the beginning of Parts II and III (ff. 13v and 33v); the same type of initial with similar but four-margins border at the opening of the Prologue (f. 1r). There were only two 3-line dentelle initials with short marginal extensions, namely on f. 20v (now cut out, v. 1569, speech of Adrastus) and 25r (v. 1901, speech of Tideus)., and Binding: Nineteenth century. White parchment over pasteboard by Edward Parry. On the gold-tooled spine two bordeaux leather labels with gold-tooled inscriptions: "DESTRUCTION / OF / THEBES / BY/ LYDGATE" and "MANUSCRIPT".
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451? and Carthusians.
Subject (Topic):
English poetry |y Middle English, 1100-1500, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Narrative poetry, English (Middle)