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This large manuscript is a fifteenth-century copy on parchment of the first volume of the Bible historiale complétée (Genesis-Esther), which was taken from the Bible historiale of Guyart des Moulins, together with Job, Psalms, the Gospels from the second volume of the Bible historiale complétée and an otherwise unknown French translation of Revelation. The text of the French translation of the Vulgate Bible originated in the thirteenth century, and there are few extant manuscripts; this manuscript was produced in Rouen in the third quarter of the fifteenth century. It has text in two columns of bâtarde script, two large miniatures with full page borders at the Old and New Testament divisions, and thirty-three column miniatures with column borders at book divisions and divisions within the book of Psalms. The miniatures are the work of two different artists from the Workshop of the Master of the Échevinage de Rouen. In the early eighteenth-century, the manuscript was rebound by French bookbinder Jacques-Antoine Derome.
Support: Parchment; Extent: ii+383+ii; 453 x 315 mm bound to 475 x 330 mm; Foliation: Modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto; Collation: 1-38 (8), 39 (7, +1), 40-48 (8); Catchwords: Horizontal catchwords in ink, lower right last verso; a few missing or trimmed away; catchword at the end of Quire 26 does not match following text, but no text is missing (fols. 208v-209r)
Two columns of fifty-two lines; frame-ruled in red ink; written area: 295 x 197 mm
Bâtarde
Two half-page miniatures with full borders (the first border inhabited) at the Old and New Testament divisions (fols. 1r, 312r); thirty-one arched column miniatures with foliate (rinceaux-type) borders framing the text column at book divisions and sections of Psalms (fols. 51r, 68r, 79v, 98v, 115v, 127r, 139r, 141r, 157r, 170r, 185r, 199v, 212v, 229v, 234v, 242r, 249v, 254r, 260v, 266v, 279v, 284r, 287r, 290r, 293r, 294v, 300r, 303v, 329r, 359v, 374v); the miniatures are by two different artists of the Workshop of the Master of the Échevinage de Rouen, according to Roger Wieck (Leaves of gold, p. 40); thirty-three large decorated foliate initials, ranging from three to six lines; small (from one line to two lines) decorated initials (dentelle-type), some with foliate sprays, throughout; running titles of small decorated initials for Genesis in the first two openings (fols. 1v-3r) and then G and S only to the end of the book (fols. 3v-50v); decorated line-endings throughout; rubrication in red
For a full list of Decorations in this manuscript please see the Content and Decorations section by clicking on the [i] button in the top left corner of the image viewer above.
Each Psalm of the French translation is preceded by the first verse of the Psalm in Latin. Latin inscriptions also appear on some miniatures.
Paper flyleaves
Some water stains on fols. 30-41; red ink stains on fol. 283v from miniature on facing page
These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.
Rouen, France
Third quarter 15th century
Early eighteenth-century French, gilt-tooled red morocco with gilt tooling on spine, gilt edges, marbled pastedowns and flyleaves, by Jacques-Antoine Derome (1696-1760)
Middle French (ca. 1400-1600); Latin
Ambroise Firmin-Didot (bookseller), Paris; sale, l'Hôtel des Commissaires-Priseurs, Paris, May 26-31, 1879, no. 3; Fontaine (dealer?), 1879; library of Prince Liechtenstein; placed by Édouard Rahir (Paris bookseller) in a sale at Sotheby's, London, June 20, 1092, lot 32; Bernard Quaritch (bookseller), London, 1902; George C. Thomas, Philadelphia, before 1907; A.S.W. Rosenbach, Philadelphia, c. 1910; Joseph E. Widener, Philadelphia (through Rosenbach, cat. 24, 1916, no. 15); given by Widener's children, Josephine Widener Wichfeld and Peter A.B. Widener, to the Free Library of Philadelphia in 1944 in memory of their father
Rouen, France
Third quarter 15th century
Middle French (ca. 1400-1600); Latin
Ambroise Firmin-Didot
This large manuscript is a fifteenth-century copy on parchment of the first volume of the Bible historiale complétée (Genesis-Esther), which was taken from the Bible historiale of Guyart des Moulins, together with Job, Psalms, the Gospels from the second volume of the Bible historiale complétée and an otherwise unknown French translation of Revelation. The text of the French translation of the Vulgate Bible originated in the thirteenth century, and there are few extant manuscripts; this manuscript was produced in Rouen in the third quarter of the fifteenth century. It has text in two columns of bâtarde script, two large miniatures with full page borders at the Old and New Testament divisions, and thirty-three column miniatures with column borders at book divisions and divisions within the book of Psalms. The miniatures are the work of two different artists from the Workshop of the Master of the Échevinage de Rouen. In the early eighteenth-century, the manuscript was rebound by French bookbinder Jacques-Antoine Derome.
Each Psalm of the French translation is preceded by the first verse of the Psalm in Latin. Latin inscriptions also appear on some miniatures.
Paper flyleaves
Some water stains on fols. 30-41; red ink stains on fol. 283v from miniature on facing page
Bâtarde
Two half-page miniatures with full borders (the first border inhabited) at the Old and New Testament divisions (fols. 1r, 312r); thirty-one arched column miniatures with foliate (rinceaux-type) borders framing the text column at book divisions and sections of Psalms (fols. 51r, 68r, 79v, 98v, 115v, 127r, 139r, 141r, 157r, 170r, 185r, 199v, 212v, 229v, 234v, 242r, 249v, 254r, 260v, 266v, 279v, 284r, 287r, 290r, 293r, 294v, 300r, 303v, 329r, 359v, 374v); the miniatures are by two different artists of the Workshop of the Master of the Échevinage de Rouen, according to Roger Wieck (Leaves of gold, p. 40); thirty-three large decorated foliate initials, ranging from three to six lines; small (from one line to two lines) decorated initials (dentelle-type), some with foliate sprays, throughout; running titles of small decorated initials for Genesis in the first two openings (fols. 1v-3r) and then G and S only to the end of the book (fols. 3v-50v); decorated line-endings throughout; rubrication in red
For a full list of Decorations in this manuscript please see the Content and Decorations section by clicking on the [i] button in the top left corner of the image viewer above.
These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.
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