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: