Manuscript on paper of a collection of texts by Nicolas de Locques, in which practical laboratory procedures are mingled with speculative and mystical alchemy
Description:
In French., Script: Written in a practiced scribal hand in a flowing cursive sloping to the right with infrequent standard abbreviation; a second similar, but finer hand on p. 358 only., Watermarks: Paper with unidentified watermark of a griffin rampant (?), the hind paws on a staff incorporating letters and numbers "Y49" (?), countermarked with 2 lines of capitals, the first word perhaps "JUVIMAL" (sic)., and Binding: Original French binding of mottled calf, the sides plain, the edges of the covers gilt-stamped a la grotesque, back (repaired and restored at foot) with seven bands, the compartments gilt-stamped to a rectangular pattern, a lozenge of leafy sprays in the center of each, with triangular elements of the same at the corners, original title label in the second compartment from the top, marbled endpapers, edges speckled red.
Manuscript on parchment of 1) Le livre de Lancelot du Lac, part III. 2) La queste del Saint Graal. 3) La mort au Roy Artus
Description:
In French., Script: Written in elegant gothic textura by one scribe, with a few interlinear corrections in later hands (14th and 15th centuries)., The decoration of this lavishly illuminated manuscript consists of seventy-seven large column miniatures, fifty-one smaller miniatures, and thirty-six historiated initials. Miniatures and historiated initials by at least two artists, the scale and quality of whose work distinguish the manuscript from contemporary and most fourteenth-century Arthurian manuscripts., Large miniatures, 12- to 11-lines, one column, framed and usually divided into two registers by thin bands, gold, red and/or blue with white highlights, edged in black, sometimes with arched canopies, often with architectural elements protruding (a few frames composed of thicker bands); figures in black pen against burnished gold (occasionally with painted gold diaperwork), blue or black grounds; chief colors: light blue, dark blue, grey, light brown, white, maroon, with some orange, green and gold. Borders on folios with large miniatures of a variety and inventiveness that defy strict classification: gold, red, and blue bands, edged in black, also running between, below and/or above text columns, terminating in dragons, dragon or human heads, groteques or, most commonly, floral spirals, some with frets, blue and red with white highlights and orange and green dots, against gold, blue and/or maroon cusped grounds, often with pinwheel-like projections. The borders are populated with magnificent grotesques and marginalia in the same style as the miniatures, many of them of a narrative or satirical character; some of these incorporate coats of arms., Small miniatures, 5- to 6-line, 1/2 text column, often with a 2-line initial inserted in upper right corner, otherwise as above, with border decoration on a smaller scale and unattached to miniature. Historiated initials, 5-line (letters without ascenders or descenders) to 13-line, red and/or blue, with geometric motifs in paler shades of red and blue, white, with touches of orange, against gold grounds, edged in black, with long dragon and floral serifs, as above, against cusped gold grounds; figures in same style as miniatures, against gold grounds., Illuminated initials, 3- to 1-line, gold, with globular serifs, edged thickly in black, against irregular red and blue grounds, also edged in black, with white floral filigree or heraldic birds, in white; flowers touched in with orange. On folios without miniatures (except ff. 2v-8v), a thin gold band runs along the left side of each text column, interrupted by initials, with a thin red pen-line on either side; adjacent, to the left, a column of I's each 3-line and blue and red alternately, with small spiral and curlicue flourishes, terminating in large flourishes in red or blue on alternate openings, each with pinwheel-like arms projecting from a central spiral with small petals and flourishes in blue and red; design of the terminal flourishes varies from one gathering to another; some with naturalistic leaves and flowers or fleurs-de-lis; terminals on ff. 1v-2r by the same hand as penwork initials on those folios. Line-fillers of varying design: two pairs of blue and red tapering bands, heraldically arranged and joined at center by red flower; undulating red line with red and/or blue balls under and over each crest and trough; red zigzag with blue infilling and spiral flourishes at terminals; alternating red and blue flowers; red and blue dots, etc., Some folios stained; f. 253 slashed in margin; f. 361 cut right across and glued together., and Binding: 2003. Full alum-tawed goatskin. See conservation treatment report for full description. Former binding stored in separate box: 18th century. Light brown calf blind- and gold-tooled. Sewing holes in inner margins.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Arthurian romances, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (trimmed) of 1) Robert de Borron, Joseph d'Arimathie. 2) Robert de Borron, Lestoire de Saint Graal. 3) Robert de Borron, Lestoire de Merlin. Lestoire de Merlin was copied in 1357, by Jehan de Loles. The other two works are probably contemporary, but rubbing on the first folio of each work suggests that they were once bound separately
Description:
In French., Script: Written by five scribes in gothic textura. Scribe 1: ff. 1r-11r (Joseph d'Aramathie). Scribes 2: ff. 12r-83v and 3: ff. 84r-140r (Lestoire de Saint Graal). Scribe 4: ff. 141r-317v (Lestoire de Merlin), except ff. 149r-156v, the second gathering, written by Scribe 5. Scribe 4 is identified as Jehan de Loles from the colophon. Guides for rubrics written in lower or inner margin. Inscriptions adjoining miniatures in 14th-century cursive, brown or black ink, are possibly either later identifications or instructions to the minaturist., The decoration, the work of four hands, is of relatively poor quality. Three large miniatures, 11- to 13-line and two column, blue and/or red frames, gold squares in corners, surrounded by a thin gold band, with gold ivy leaves on black hair-lines at midpoints and corners. Miniatures accompanied by 3/4 bar borders, red, blue and gold, with white highlights; dragon and ivy terminals, with additional ivy extending from the gold segments. 182 small miniatures, 8-line, one column, most in bottom margin, suggesting execution after the original illumination had been completed: thin gold, red, and blue frames, single gold ivy leaf on hair-line stem at each corner; gold and diapered grounds., One historiated initial, f. 186v, 3-line, red against a blue and gold ground, knight and three men outside tent. Illuminated initials, 6- to 4-line, for books and chapters, red against irregular blue grounds with white highlights; gold dots in cusps at corners, infilled with blue and red ivy against gold. 2-line initials (guide-letters remain), gold, against irregular blue, orange, and red grounds with white highlights; black hair-lines at corners. Rubrics in red throughout, with guides for rubrics written in lower or inner margin., and Binding: Sixteenth century. Worn purple velvet over boards, with massive brass corner pieces and fastenings; plaque with arms removed from front cover. Made for Henri, comte de Clermont-Tonnerre.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Robert, de Boron, 13th cent.
Subject (Topic):
Arthurian romances, French literature, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (trimmed) of 1) Unidentified preface. 2) Sallust, Bellum Catilinae. 3) Unidentified scholia on Sallust, Bellum Catilinae. Although the commentary of Beinecke MS 358 belongs to the medieval school tradition rather than to the Renaissance tradition, neither the text of this article or of art. 5 below resembles closely any medieval texts currently known. 4) Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum. 5) Unidentified scholia on Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written in batarde, with scholia in a smaller version of the same hand., One miniature, 12-line, f. 74v, a T-O mappa mundi, in a red and gold frame, slightly waterstained at the edges. One 4-line initial, f. 3r (pink), and one 3-line initial, f. 57r (blue), both with white highlights, filled with red and blue ivy on gold against a gold ground. Twenty 2-line initials, gold, filled with pink and blue against pink and/or blue grounds, square or irregular, with white filigree. Capitals stroked in yellow, red or blue between ff. 1r and 26v; in yellow for the remainder of the text. Borders were perhaps added later (between 1425 and 1450) on folios with initials only; between ff. 1r and 57r, flowering vines, gold, green and blue with gold dots in lines above, below or in written space; blue and gold acanthus mixed with flowering vines, red, pink, blue, and green with gold ivy in line above written space and in inner margin within rulings for scholia; on a few folios, outer vertical bounding line reinforced in red with small acanthus terminals. Between ff. 57v and 162v pink, blue and/or green acanthus, with flowering vines, pink, blue and green, with gold ivy and dots, disposed as above; on f. 85v vertical bounding line repainted as a green stem with lopped off stalks. Lemmata underlined in red., and Binding: 18th-19th centuries. Limp vellum case with title in ink. Rodent damage.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Catiline, approximately 108 B.C.-62 B.C. and Sallust, 86 B.C.-34 B.C.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Jugurthine War, 111-105 B.C., Latin literature, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Scholia
Manuscript on parchment of the Vulgate Bible, with interpretations of Hebrew names
Description:
In Latin., Script: Copied in small Northern Gothica Textualis (Pearl Script), Decoration: Historiated initials, with a normal height of 6 lines, at beginning of each book (further on this, see the catalog description); 4-line foliate initials, half inserted, at the beginning of each prologue; running headlines and chapter numbers alternately in red and blue majuscules or roman numerals., and Binding: 18th or 19th century romantic binding by François Bozerian (Bozerian Jeune): red morocco over cardboard; both covers gold- and blind-tooled with cruciform and floral motifs; gold-tooled spine with four raised bands and a gold-tooled title, "BIBLIA SACRA."
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Remigius, of Auxerre, approximately 841-908.
Subject (Topic):
Versions, Vulgate, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript fragment on parchment of Lamentations, 3.13-51 (52-56 obscured). Written at Luxeuil or one of its affiliated houses. Fifteen folios from the original codex survive, most of which may be traced to the Benedictine abbey of Admont in Austria. Most of the verses in the Beinecke fragment have received neumes, possibly added later (11th century?).
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written in elegant Luxeuil minuscule, with headings in uncials., Large initial at beginning of each verse filled with yellow, red, and/or green; headings in green or red., and Removed from a bookbinding; text suffers from holes, stains, creases, and repairs.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Music
In Latin., Script: Written by a single scribe in small, neat, gothic bookhand; note in his hand on f. 209r, too trimmed to be legible., Approximately half the historiated initials have been excised. The initials, 51- to 9-line, painted gold, red and blue with white highlights and punctuated with gold dots, terminate in spiralling floral serifs, often with biting animal heads, with long projecting stems against cusped grounds. The figures are red, blue, orange and grey, against red or blue grounds, some of them diapered and decorated with groups of three white dots and gold dots. Illuminated initials, 51- to 5-line, occasionally for books (f. 74v [Joshua] and f. 175r [Nehemiah]), for the most part for the prologues, similar to the historiated initials, except infilled with interwining and angular vines with biting head terminals, red and/or blue against red or blue grounds with gold dots and set in frames of painted gold. 2-line calligraphic initials for chapters, red or blue with blue or red penwork, each attached to a column of superimposed I's, red and blue, running the full length of the text column, with penwork flourishes, especially at the terminals. Capitals for verses stroked in red. Running headings and chapter numbers in alternating red and blue letters or numbers., and Binding: Date? Resewn on four single, round, vegetable fiber cords which are frayed out and adhered inside the oak boards. There are no endbands, but traces of alum tawed endband cores and sewing supports remain in the holes in the boards. The spine is square. Some lettering in ink on the fore-edge. Covered in red-brown calf, with an exceptionally large stamp of the Virgin and child in an aureole within concentric frames, one with an inscription, on the upper board and diamonds filled with crosses, roses and IHS in circles on the lower. The latter ornaments are also stamped on the turn-ins underneath the pastedowns. Rebacked and edges repaired. Upper board detached. Not the original and possibly not an early binding. Rebacked in the Yale Conservation Studio in 1982. The upper and lower covers are lined with single leaves, pasted down, of a missale plenum (11th century?). Portions of Dominica VI post Pentecosten, Feria IV of that week (upper cover), an unidentified mass of the Sanctorale, Dominica III post Pentecosten (lower cover). Where they occur, the texts of the proper chants are notated in German neumes in campo aperto. Some of the chants are cited by incipit; these are usually not noted. The Alleluia for DMC III is Domine in virtute; that for DMC VI is Eripe me. (We thank K. D. Hartzell for his assistance with these fragments.)
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Versions, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Missals
Manuscript on parchment (trimmed). The codex is probably a normal French Bible but is so badly bound, with lacunae throughout, that we cannot be certain
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by a single scribe in a neat, but slightly round, gothic bookhand, on the top line. Notes for initials and chapter numbers in margins, in an informal cursive script. Numerous corrections between rulings in lower margin; the corrections were then written in a neat gothic bookhand next to the text., The surviving historiated initials, 8-, 7-, 6-, and 5-line, are of varied design, and are all badly damaged. In type and style they are somewhat comparable to initials in mid-13th century Parisian manuscripts. For the most part, the initials are red or blue, with white highlights; the body of the letter on a dark blue, pink, or grey ground, with white dots; curling floral and dragon serifs, some with cusps (orange, red, and green); descenders (up to 2/3 of text column) same color as body of letter, with adjoining strips of pink, blue, or grey, often with cusped floral terminals, rampant dragons; all sections thickly edged in black. Other historiated initials, blue or pink, with cusped serifs, against a brown ground with delicate floral filigree in white; thick black edging. Three historiated initials (ff. 25r, 90v, and 117v) in architectural settings, in dark blue, blue, red, pink, and gold, with elaborate floral pendants below. The historiated initials for two books, f. 1r (Proverbs) and f. 63v (Philippians) were cut out; script and decoration have been restored with unusual care (15th century); large floral buds (green, orange, yellow, and/or pink) on short green stems against purple or black grounds., Illuminated initials, 4- to 2-line for prologues, pink or blue with white highlights, occasionally with gold; otherwise, diminutive versions of historiated initials types (f. 63 [Prologue to Philippians] with a small bird); one initial of this type f. 35v (John), originally historiated, has also been restored. 4- to 2-line initials for chapters, set into text columns, red and blue with blue and red penwork flourishes running along column into margins, some with animal-head terminals; some initials in bottom line with unusual penwork pendants. Capitals in text stroked in red. Chapter numbers, red and blue, often with flourishes; running headings, red and blue; rubrics in red throughout; corrections surrounded by undulating red lines, occasionally with trailing penwork flourishes., and Binding: 18th-19th centuries. Vellum case. Paper boards are composed of fragments of several French legal documents of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Versions, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript fragment on parchment of the biblical book of Genesis with commentary borrowing from Augustine, Jerome, Gregory, and Andrew of St. Victor
Description:
In Latin., Script: written in two sizes of gothic script (littera textualis) with the script of the biblical text approximately twice as large as the script of the commentary., and Decoration: 1-line initials are in red with blue penwork; smaller 1-line initials are in brown; paragraph marks, letters of running titles, and the roman numerals which are in the margins to designate chapters alternate in red and blue; biblical text written in the inner column although on fol. 2r commentary also appears to the left of the biblical passage; occasional interlinear glossing; punctuated with the punctus; hyphenation in the same ink as the text.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Gregory I, Pope, approximately 540-604., Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430., and Jerome, Saint, -419 or 420.
Manuscript fragment on parchment of a Book of Hours containing: the Hours of the Virgin; full-page miniature of mediocre quality depicting the Adoration of the Magi; full-page miniature of mediocre quality depicting the Office of the Dead; the Office of the Dead; and Suffrages
Description:
In Latin., Script: written in a hybrid gothic script mixing elements of littera bastarda and littera cursiva formata., and Decoration: rubrics written in red in the same script as the text; punctuated with the punctus; hyphenation is in the same ink as the text.