Okay--this should be a good one.  Last quarter of the 15th-century.  This is a 10-for-10 ms--gorgeous hand, extreme clarity.  

Try to describe how the letter forms touch each other.  This will be easier if you study the ductus--the pen-draw--as you work.  Of course, you'll note that there are two different hands...

To the end of understanding both hands: our forgery will be 1) the last two lines of the first rubric ("Et sont divisees...") and 2) the entirety of the right-column rubric on the second scanned leaf ("Comment le duc de Bretaigne...")

Our reading should go very smoothly.  By next class period, please transcribe each rubric, and the column that follows it.

Austin, University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, HRC 048

Description: ff. i + 160 + i; i + 224 + i - Previous binding (retained, housed separately) was one volume with oak boards covered in (now threadbare) brown velvet, sheepskin back, 5 large brass bosses on each board. Rebound in 1988 in two volumes, in full vellum over boards with clasps. - St. Martin of Tournai monastery; Augustins Déchaussées de la Croix-Rousse; Thomas Hobart (d.1728); Sir Roger Mostyn (1675-1739); John Barrymore; Elliot Nugent; Edward A. Parsons (1878-1962) (see Regine Reynolds Cornell, UT Library Chronicle n.s. no. 22)
Notes: - Foliated at the bottom of the page in the inside margin of the recto. Foliated from 1 - 384, as if it were still one volume.

March 11 2013

Okay, this could be fun.  Let's follow all the directions as carefully as possible.  The first thing: please don't read into the bibliographic materials, as I want you to try this out my way first.  (I include the biblio citation below the image, for purposes of academic honesty).

Then, let's do this in order, just to see how this works.

• Make a forgery of the left column, beginning at the eighth line from the bottom, P[ar]quoy... up to the 5th line from the bottom, ...sont issu. Do this first, before going on to the next bullet point.
• Transcribe, as best you can, the section immediately preceding what you just forged, from the 19th line from the bottom (left column), Oultre le gue..., to ...la mo[n]tee.  Just for reference, "un gué/guet" is a crossing point or lookout point.

Cambridge, Harvard University, Houghton Library, MS Typ 0555
Description: - ff. 293 and 274 - 18th-century red morocco, with arms of Cardinal François Paul de Neufville, Maréchal de Villeroy, by Boyer or possibly Duseuil - Made for King Charles V of France; Villars family, successive archbishops of Vienne, 1576-1693; acquired by Gayot de la Regasse in 1697; acquired by Cardinal François Paul de Neufville, Archbishop of Lyons, 1714-1731; Prince Galitzine, 1825 - Wieck, Late Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts, 2-3 and 136-137.  Folio 38r.  Likely 3rd quarter of the 14th century.

Two (unreleated) leaves from the Roman de la Rose

Tonight, we're taking it all easy--a little bit of the St Alexis--a little of the Grail reading we had just begun, and then a few minutes getting started on a couple loose leaves from the Roman de la Rose.

First thing: have you noticed that we're moving forward in time?  We looked at some (really very early) Gothic, and here we are, 150+ years later (both leaves today are from the 1st quarter of the 14th century), and look how the hands have evolved!

The first leaf is of the very first words of the monumental (and hilarious) Roman de la Rose, a tour de force of medieval scholarship and allegory.  The leaf comes from

Cambridge, Harvard University, Houghton Library, Ms Fr 039

Description: ff. 152 - Brown calf binding with the Soubise armorial emblems on spine - Jacques-Auguste de Thou (1553-1617); Jean Jacques Charron Menars (1643-1718); Charles de Rohan Soubise (1715-1787); William Gibbons Medlicott (1816-1883); Dawson W. Turner (1815-1885) - De Ricci, I, p. 970

The leaf is, of course, extraordinary.  Between the leafing, the trefeuilles (actually very helpful in dating a manuscript) and the highly individual, decorative hand (which we will examine in detail), this is a marvel.

(Do note that I understand that one or several of you have read passages of the Roman de la Rose before, in Medieval--and I know we worked on this passage in excruciating detail.  We will use this leaf principally as ductus practice--can you do the first 10 lines?)

Our second work is an unbound leaf also from the Roman de la Rose.  Can you think of reasons why there would be a wide supply of unbound leaves of this work?  What must be true of the Roman de la Rose for this to happen?

Columbia, University of Missouri, Ellis Library, Special Collections, Fragmenta Manuscripta 156

Description: f. 1r-v - Not bound - John Bagford (1650s-1716) to St. Martin-in-the-Fields; sale 1861 to Sir Thomas Phillipps, n.15758; his sale 22 May, 1913, lot 742; Sir Sydney Cockerell (1867-1962) sale Sotheby's 3 April, 1957; William Salloch (Ossining NY) Cat. 258 (1968) to U. Missouri. - M. McC. Gatch, "Fragmenta Manuscripta and Varia at Missouri and Cambridge," Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society9 (1990) 434-75.

For our reading/transcription for next week, let's start in the left column: the first rubric above the illumination ("[C]o[m]ment Cortoisie prie l'Amant de karoler"), through to just above the rubric in the right column, ("Si je vous dirai qui il estoient").

Good luck! 

Berkeley, University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library, BANC MS UCB 073

Description: ff. iii + iii + 164 + iv + ii - Straight-grained red morocco, 18th century; gilt border and spine; bound by Richard Wier. - Record of purchase June 8, 1479, f. i; Count MacCarthy-Reagh (18th century); bought of Paris bookseller Royez by Phillipps (c. 1823-6), his n. 4377; sold at Sotheby's (30 November 1965, lot 12); acquired by TBL from Kraus (1965). Formerly 2MS PQ1475 G7.

Two bits... we'll work out their interaction in time!  

Your forgery: second leaf, left column, first 8 lines.  I think this should be the transcription exercise, too!

January 28 2013

Hand

• Forgeries
• What can we know about Gothic Textura?

Language

II       Al tems Noe ed al tems Abraam
         Ed al David, cui Deus par amat tant, 
         Bons fut li siecles: ja mais n'iert si vaillanz;
         Vielz est e fraieles, toz s'en voit declinant,
         Sist empeiriez toz biens vait remanant.

III      Puis icel tems que Deus nos vint salver
         Nostre anceisour ourent crestiantet,
         Si fut uns sire de Rome la citet;
         Riches om fut, de grant nobilitet:
         Por çol vos di d'un son fil vueil parler.

IV       Eufemiiens, si out a nom li pedre,
         Coms fut de Rome, del mielz qui donc i eret;
         Sour toz ses pers l'amat li emperedre.
         Donc prist moillier vaillant ed onorede,
         Des mielz gentils de tote la contrede.

V        Puis converserent ensemble longement.                   
         Qued enfant n'ourent peisent lour en fortement;       
         Deu en apelent amdui parfitement:
         "E! reis celestes, par ton comandement
         Enfant nos done qui seit a ton talent!"

VI       Tant li preierent par grant umilitet
         Que la moillier donat feconditet:
         Un fil lour donet, si luin sourent bon gret.
         De saint batesme l'ont fait regenerer:
         Bel nom li mistrent solanc crestiantet.

VII      Batisiez fut, si out nom Alexis:
         Qui l'out portet volentiers le nodrit;
         Puis li bons pedre ad escole le mist:
         Tant aprist letres que bien en fut guarniz;
         Puis vait li enfes l'emperedour servir.

Transcription ©1997, 2009 by Joseph E. Price. 
Use permitted with appropriate citation.

Theory

Transcription

Another version of Garin le Loherin, second quarter of the 13th c.  A beautifully clear hand.

Berkeley, University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library, BANC MS UCB 072

Description: ff. 164 - Calf over wooden boards, 14th century; decorated in blind with impressions of small square tools, including a pelican, bee, fleur-de-lys, and rosette. - Pierre Séguier (1588-1672); Pierre Jean Grosley (1718-1785); Frederick North (1766-1827); Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), his n. 24827 (originally Cheltenham 2937); acquired from Sotheby's (30 November 1965, lot 11). Formerly f2MS PQ1463 G25.

January 21 2013

Greetings, Paleo Spring 2013!  Can't wait to work with you this semester.

We have much to accomplish.  To this end, let us plan on a broadly and boldly variegated concept this semester--a bit of Old French (the grammar Nazi in me gets first crack at you), a bit of reader theory, a lot of squinting our eyes at old manuscripts, a touch of forgery, and a dash of salt perhaps?

We begin with the Old French.  In my mind, there are three broad categories of French: 

• "Old French", from the year 841 to about 1450, marked by a case system and pretty loose syntax (yes, there are eras and stages within this huge time period--Old French becomes truly Anglo-Norman after 1066 etc), 
• Middle French (not exactly a category, just a useful allusion to time period) from 1450-1610 (marked by modern--eg no-case-system--declension, but still with some flexibility of syntax and spelling), and 
• Modern French--with strict Académie Française reforms of spelling and syntax

In our efforts to learn some basic Old French, we will look at the opening bits to the 11th-century Vie de Saint Alexis:

Ici cumuncet amiable cançun e spiritel raisun d'iceol noble
    barun, Eufemien par num, e de la vie de sum filz boneürét
    del quel nus avum oït lire e canter; par le divine volentét, il
    desirrables icel sul filz angendrat. Après la naisance ço fut
v   emfes de Deu methime amét e de pere e de mere par grant 
    certét nurrit; la sue juvente fut honeste e spiritel. Par l'amistét
    del surerain pietét, la sue spouse juvene cumandat al spus vif de
    veritét, ki est un sul faitur e regnet an trinitiet. Icesta istorie
    est amiable grace e suverain[e] consulaciun a cascun memorie
x   spiritel, les quels vivent purement salunc castetheét, e digne-
    ment sei delitent es goies del ciel ed es noces virginels.

I        Bons fut le siecles al tems anciënour,                      
         Quer feit i eret e justisie ed amour,     
         S'i ert credance, dont or n'i at nul prout;             
         Toz est mudez, perdude at sa colour:                
         Ja mais n'iert tels com fut as anceisours.          

II       Al tems Noe ed al tems Abraam
         Ed al David, cui Deus par amat tant, 
         Bons fut li siecles: ja mais n'iert si vaillanz;
         Vielz est e fraieles, toz s'en voit declinant,
         Sist empeiriez toz biens vait remanant.

III      Puis icel tems que Deus nos vint salver
         Nostre anceisour ourent crestiantet,
         Si fut uns sire de Rome la citet;
         Riches om fut, de grant nobilitet:
         Por çol vos di d'un son fil vueil parler.

IV       Eufemiiens, si out a nom li pedre,
         Coms fut de Rome, del mielz qui donc i eret;
         Sour toz ses pers l'amat li emperedre.
         Donc prist moillier vaillant ed onorede,
         Des mielz gentils de tote la contrede.

V        Puis converserent ensemble longement.                   
         Qued enfant n'ourent peisent lour en fortement;       
         Deu en apelent amdui parfitement:
         "E! reis celestes, par ton comandement
         Enfant nos done qui seit a ton talent!"

VI       Tant li preierent par grant umilitet
         Que la moillier donat feconditet:
         Un fil lour donet, si luin sourent bon gret.
         De saint batesme l'ont fait regenerer:
         Bel nom li mistrent solanc crestiantet.

VII      Batisiez fut, si out nom Alexis:
         Qui l'out portet volentiers le nodrit;
         Puis li bons pedre ad escole le mist:
         Tant aprist letres que bien en fut guarniz;
         Puis vait li enfes l'emperedour servir.

Transcription ©1997, 2009 by Joseph E. Price. 
Use permitted with appropriate citation.

Transcription Exercise

We will look this week at a number of puzzle pieces dated to the beginning of the 13th century:

Garin le Loherain : manuscript, [12--]. MS Fr 323. Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

I'd love to have a chance to look at these truncate fragments first-hand--my best guess right now is that they were part of a manuscript that, once deemed too antiquated or damaged for normal use, got cut and sized to become a binding for another book.  Hard to tell.

Note the scale on the side of these (excellent) scans.

Your forgery for next time will come from the second scan, left column, 4th line and following:

"Hernaud apele & son frere Gerin
Par les sains deu merueilles plusor
Qui na auoir certes il est m[ou]lt vilz"

He or she with the best forgery wins a cup of coffee/tea!

A wee bit of ductus help, from Mediavilla, Histoire de la Calligraphie Française:

Okay--our last manuscripts of the season!

These are both very important.  The first is maybe not the prettiest hand in the world--but I guarantee you'll be interested in the author.  From before 1536, our reading assignment:

And the second is a secretarial hand (from the last quarter of the sixteenth century).  The scribe, therefore, is anonymous, but the signature is not...

It'd be too bad to have you copy anything from the first manuscript--so your forgery, I think, should be from the second manuscript: first two lines, beginning with "Msr de Poyanne, jay sceu par vos le[ttr]es du xvii du mays passe ce qui est[oit] passé en l'entreprise" etc.

Can you copy the signature, too?

For the record, here is the verso of the same letter:

Good luck!  See you in class.