Ars moriendi : in French

Item Information

Title:
Ars moriendi : in French
Title (uniform):
Ars moriendi. French
Description:
A late 15th-century illustrated manuscript of a French Ars moriendi, likely copied from a blockbook. The illustrations are most similar to Wilhelm Ludwig Schreiber's sets I, II, III, IV and V, all of which were used in Latin blockbooks printed in Germany or the Netherlands around 1467 (Schreiber v. VIII, plates LXXXXVII - CII).
Former owner:
Bernard Quaritch (Firm)
Date:
[1475–1499]
Format:
Manuscripts
Books
Genre:
Manuscripts, French--France
Manuscripts, Medieval--France
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts (Collection of Distinction)
Subjects:
Death--Religious aspects--Early works to 1800
Places:
France
Extent:
11 leaves : parchment, ill. ; 175 x 132 (130 x 95) mm bound to 18 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/cr56rj86x
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
[France]
Language:
French
Table of Contents:
1. fol. 1: (illustration) The Remedy for the First Temptation (Rylands p. [32])
2. fol. 1v: (text) The Remedy for the First Temptation (Rylands p. [33])
3. fol. 2: (illustration) The First Temptation: Faithlessness (Rylands, p. [28])
4. fol. 2v-3v: (text) The First Temptation (Rylands, p. [29])
5. fol. 4: (illustration) The Remedy for the Second Temptation (Rylands, p. [40])
6. fol. 4v-6: (text) The Remedy for the Second Temptation (Rylands, p. [41])
7. fol. 6v: (illustration) The Third Temptation: Impatience (Rylands, p. [44])
8. fol. 7-7v: (text) The Third Temptation (Rylands, p. [45])
9. fol. 8: (illustration) The Remedy for the Third Temptation (Rylands, p. [48])
10. fol. 8v-10v: (text) The Remedy for the Third Temptation (Rylands, p. [49])
11. fol. 11: (illustration) The Fourth Temptation: Pride. (Rylands, p. 51)
12. fol. 11v: (text) The Fourth Temptation (ends imperfectly)
Notes:
Ms. codex.
Bibliographic record created by BPL staff based on description by Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis.
Origin: Written in France around the year 1470. The text here is a translation of what is known as the "short version" of the Ars moriendi adapted from chapter two of the "long version" that appeared in manuscript form around the year 1415. This "short version" is known in numerous xylographic (blockbook) editions of the mid-fifteenth century, each of which is illustrated by one of thirteen related series of eleven woodcuts closely resembling the series of illustrations in the present manuscript, which certainly postdates the first xylographic edition of ca. 1460. That the illustrations were copied from a set of woodcuts is evidenced by their composition (which is in the reverse of the composition of the Wellcome miniatures but in keeping with most of the woodcut sets), the banderoles (which are identical to several sets), and numerous other details.
Notes (ownership):
Provenance: Dealer's numbers 32 and 34 on first flyleaf; offered several times by Quaritch: Dec. 1912, no. 245; May 1919, no. 7; 1931 catalogue, no. 1; Cat. 520 (1936), no. 751; and Cat. 550 (1938), no. 16.
Notes (acquisition):
Immediate source of acquisition: Purchased from Quaritch in November, 1939.
Notes (date):
This date is inferred.
Notes (citation):
Bond, W.H. Supplement to the Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada, 208
Notes (object):
Secundo folio: Et pource que la foy est fondement ...
Collation: Parchment, fol. v (four leaves of modern paper, one of modern parchment) + 11 + v (four leaves of modern paper, one of modern parchment) ; full collation not possible: likely bound out of order and certainly lacking several leaves ; modern arabic pencil foliation, upper right corner of each recto.
Layout: Single column, 28 lines. Bounding and writing lines in brown plummet.
Script: Written in a batarde in black ink. 2-line blue or red capitals throughout.
Decoration: Six full-page illustrations in the tradition of the Ars moriendi woodcuts (see contents and consult description by Lisa Fagin Davis for further detail).
Binding: 19th-century dark green velvet with parchment pastedowns and flyleaves with four paper flyleaves at front and back with elaborate armorial watermark.
Notes (bibliography):
Bibliography: W. L. Schreiber, Manuel de l'amateur da la gravure sur bois et sur métal au XVe siècle (Berlin, 1891-1911), IV: 253-313 and VIII:LXXXXVIII - CIX; A. Shestack, Master E.S.: Five Hundredth Anniversary Exhibition (Philadelphia, 1967), no. 15.
Notes (language):
In French.
Identifier:
06_01_018667
Call #:
RARE BKS MS q Med.87
MS 1514 (no longer used)
Barcode:
39999086835855