Manuscript on paper (trimmed), with parchment bifolios interspersed, of Julius Caesar, Commentary on the Gallic Wars, translated into French by Jean Duchesne. Written for Jacques Donche, counselor of Charles the Bold of Burgundy
Description:
In French., Watermarks: similar to Briquet Armoires: Trois fleurs de lis 1741., Script: Written in neat batarde script by Hellin de Burchgrave., Ten half-page miniatures, each in an arched frame composed of two thin bands, gold and red highlighted with white, edged in black, the arch with tiny cusps; beneath, initials, 6-, 4-, or 3-line, blue or blue and red with white highlights on a gold ground of irregular shape conforming to the letter, edged in black, with serifs protruding into the left margin; filled with green and/or red and crimson trilobe leaves on curling stems with white and/or yellow highlights, or with a blue, green, crimson, and gold diapered ground with white highlights. Three smaller miniatures, 12- or 14-line, occasionally cut off at the upper edge so as to fill only part of a line of text; frames rectilinear, otherwise identical to those described above, Beneath, 2-line initials, blue, with white highlights, filled with trilobe leaves, as above, once (f. 25r) with one leaf of spiky acanthus added, and once (f. 256r) with a pink ground with gold filigree. There is a blank space on f. 27r for another miniature of this type. Other decoration consists of 2-line calligraphic initials, paragraph marks, line fillers (spirals and heraldic dragons), page and chapter headings, all executed in red. The first one or two lines of some books (as well as occasional lines within the text) are underlined in red., A few folios have tears in the margins., and Binding: Eighteenth century. Spattered and gilt edges. Red goatskin, gold-tooled, with the arms of Eugene of Savoy on cover and his monogram on spine.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., and Gaul
Subject (Name):
Caesar, Julius.
Subject (Topic):
French literature, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Literature, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and History
Manuscript on paper of Jean Faucket (or Faucquet), Commonplace Book: Holograph. Completed 1497 or later
Description:
In French., Four distinct watermarks: one resembles Piccard, vol. 2, IX 96 (Xanten, 1452), one resembles Piccard vol. 2, IX 182 or 190 (Rhine valley, 1470-1480 or Flanders, 1463-70), one closely resembles Briquet 9196 (St. Omer, 1491), and a fourth closely resembles Briquet 8992 or 8993 (Vaudrevange, 1499 and 1493, respectively)., Script: written by the author in a gothic bastarda script., Numerous full color illuminations of coats of arms. Ornate initials in black and red throughout. Rubricated., and Binding: heavy black cloth over boards made of early printed material. Several parchment manuscript fragments which were used in binding are visible in the spine. One contains 12th-century Caroline minuscule and the other contains a gothic bookhand of the 13th-14th century. Damaged, front board detached.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Faucket, Jean, fl. 1488-1497.
Subject (Topic):
Commonplace-books, Heraldry, French literature, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript of Honore Bonet, L'Arbre des Batailles. With Diego de Valera, Espejo de verdadera nobleza, translated into French by Hugues de Salve; and other treatises on arms
Description:
In French., Script: Written in formal batarde script. Folios 7r-9r, also in formal batarde, but in a different hand., The fine miniatures, by the Master of Bruges of 1482, are in arched frames composed of thin gold and pink bands. Between ff. 147r and 152r there are sixty-three painted armorial bearings, perhaps a later addition (16th century?) as indicated by the type of pigment, the occasional lack of correspondence with the original preparatory drawings, and the fact that some drawings were never overpainted. 5-, 4-, 3-, and 2-line initials, gold, edged in black, against irregular blue and red grounds with white highlights. 1-line initials in the table of contents, red and blue, with guide-letters to illuminator; ff. 7r-9r (the section for the L'Arbre des batailles) in darker shades and without notes, suggesting, as does the change of hand, that this section of the table as well as the portion of the text to which it refers were added to the manuscript in a second stage of its production. Paragraph marks, 1-line, red and blue. Pages foliated in red, upper right recto. Headings in red throughout., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Edges gilt. Purple goatskin case with brilliant gold tooling and elaborate doublures.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., Burgundy (France), and France
Subject (Name):
Bonet, Honoré, fl. 1378-1398.
Subject (Topic):
Chivalry, Heraldry, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and History
