L'arbre des batailles ... [etc.]

Item Information

Title:
L'arbre des batailles ... [etc.]
Title (uniform):
Bonet, Honoré, active 1378-1398. Arbre des batailles
Description:
A composite manuscript comprised of at least eight distinct pieces. Primary among these are Honoré Bonet’s L’arbre des batailles, John Lydgate’s The churl and the bird, and the anonymous 15th-century poem on English sea power, The libel of English policy. Also present are several smaller items. The two principle parts of this codex (ff. 1-163v and ff. 164-190), existed as at least three distinct manuscripts before they were bound together into the present volume in the Burgundian Netherlands/northern France during the third quarter of the 15th century. Based on geographic origin, age, contents, and three inscriptions bearing the name "Will[el]mo Caston," the ownership of this volume has sometimes been attributed to William Caxton, the first English printer. See the provenance note below. Some contents also cataloged separately.
Creator:
Bonet, Honoré, active 1378-1398
Contributor:
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451?
Scribe:
Moris, V.C.
Former owner:
Caxton, William, approximately 1422-1491 or 1492
Former owner:
Sonnyng, William
Former owner:
Sonnyng, John
Former owner:
Wall, Thomas, 1504-1536
Former owner:
Spelman, Henry, Sir, 1564?-1641
Former owner:
Macro, Cox, -1767
Former owner:
Patteson, John, 1755-1833
Former owner:
Gurney, Hudson, 1775-1864
Former owner:
Gurney, J. H. (John Henry), 1848-1922
Former owner:
Gurney, Q. E. (Quintin Edward), 1883-
Binder:
Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Hasnon (Hasnon, France)
Former owner:
Maggs Bros.
Date:
[1450?–1471?]
Format:
Manuscripts
Genre:
Calf bindings
Blind tooled bindings
Wooden boards
Inscriptions
Autographs
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)
Manuscripts, French
Manuscripts, English
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts (Collection of Distinction)
Subjects:
Military art and science--Early works to 1800
War (International law)--Early works to 1800
Chivalry--Early works to 1800
Places:
England
France
Extent:
206 leaves : paper, ill. ; bound to 292 x 225 mm.
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/nc581732x
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Restrictions:
Access to physical item by appointment only. Please contact Boston Public Library Rare Books and Manuscripts Department for further information.
Place of origin:
Calais [and England]
Language:
French
Table of Contents:
1. ff.1-143: L'arbre des batailles / Honoré Bonet.
2. f. 143v: Prophecies in Latin verse (this leaf originally blank, contents written in a different 15th-century hand)
3. ff. 144-150: Cy ensuyvent les loys et drois et coustumes de mare.
4. ff. 150v-162: Cy ensuyvent les loys et coustumes de la ville et eschevinage de Calais.
5. ff. 162v-163: Blank.
6. f. 163v: Forma littera obigantur (this page originally blank, contents written in a different 15th-century hand)
7. ff. 164-166v: Blank.
8. ff. 167-184v: Lyble of Englysh polecie (the "B" Text, 2nd version, after 1441)
9. ff. 185-186v: [The Retinue of Edward III at Calais (1346)]
10. ff. 187-189: The churl and the bird / John Lydgate.
11. f. 189v: Disputation sompniorum per philosophes (ca. 15th-century addition, in Latin)
12. f. 190: [Medical recipes for the flux] (ca. 15th-century addition, in English)
13. f. 190v: [List of receipts] (ca. 15th-century addition, in English)
14. ff. [190+1]-[190+8]: Tipped-in, ca. mid-17th-century transcriptions of letters and journals concerning sea travel and North America, some taken from The Principal Navigations (published by Hakluyt in 1598)
Notes:
Ms. composite codex.
Title derived from contents of part I. Date range based on contents and on ownership inscription on f.1. Bibliographic record created by BPL staff based primarily on description by Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis.
Origin: The contents of parts I (ff. 1-163v) and II (ff. 164-190v) were written in the mid-15th century. Part I was written in Calais by the scribe V.C. Moris (see colophon, f. 143). Part II was written in England, but on both French and Italian paper stocks. Part III consists of 8 tipped-in leaves of mid-17th-century manuscript materials in various hands, all likely produced in England. The retention of the binder's flyleaves between parts I and II suggests that each part may have previously been bound separately.
Consult curatorial file for fuller description.
Notes (ownership):
Provenance 1: This volume contains three autographs of one "Willelmo Caston," conjectured by some to be William Caxton, the first English printer. These inscriptions are present on f. 1 ("Iste liber co[n]stat Will[el]mo Caston"), f. 143, and on the rear pastedown. N.F. Blake suggests that this autograph is more likely attributable to a different man: William Caston, a member of the English Staple at Calais, whose documented presence in the area is roughly contemporaneous to that of Caxton's time in Bruges.
Provenance 2: In 1471 "Willelmo Caston" gave the volume to William Sonnyng, who appended this information to the inscription on f. 1 ("...quy dedit Will[el]mo Son[n]yng An⁰ m[^i]iiij[^c]lxxj"). William Sonnyng's name also appears on the front and rear pastedowns. The book was then passed to Sonnyng's son and grandson (both named John). The autograph of the elder John Sonnyng, dated "anno 1522 le 23 Juin" is appended to his father's autograph on the rear pastedown. In 1528, the younger John Sonnyng presented the volume to Thomas Wall, Windsor Herald, adding to the inscriptoin on f. 1: "...qui genuit Johannem qui genuit Johannem quem Johannes de ordinies sancti francisci dedit istius liber thome wall alias windesor herald a⁰ 1528." Later, the volume was likely owned by Henry Spelman (d. 1641), whose collection was purchased by Cox Macro in 1709/10. The Macro collection was purchased by John Patteson. Hudson Gurney purchased the volume from Patteson in 1820 (Christie's, Feb. 1820, lot 68). H. Gurney passed it on to J.H. Gurney (his "VII" label on spine), who passed it on to Q.E. Gurney (d. 1932). The volume was then purchased by Maggs through Sotheby's on March 30, 1936 (lot 146).
Notes (acquisition):
Purchased by the BPL from Maggs, of London, in 1939.
Notes (citation):
Bond, W.H. Supplement to the Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada, page 209
Schoenberg database of manuscripts, entry 18005
Schoenberg database of manuscripts, entry 57041
Notes (object):
Collation: Paper (some sheets similar to Briquet 386 and others to Piccard 86054-64), fol. iii + 166 + iii + 23 + iii + i⁸ ; iii 1-6²⁰ 7²²+¹ (f. 143=singleton) 8²⁰ iii 9¹⁶ 10¹⁰-² (innermost bifolium, between 186 and 187, wanting) i⁸ (ca. 17th-century additions) ; signed i-vii in lower left corner of first recto; first half of each quire signed ia, ib, ic.../...viia, viib, viic. Quire 8 signed "i," quire 9 signed "i," quire 10 unsigned. Modern arabic pencil foliation, upper/outer corner of each page.
Layout: Part I (ff.1-143): 285 x 210 (197 x 100) mm., single column, approximately 35 lines.
Layout: Part II (ff. 144-163): 285 x 210 (208 x 231) mm., single column, 37 lines.
Layout: Part II (ff. 167-190): 285 x 210 (207 x 122) mm., single column, approximately 35 lines.
Layout: Part III (ca. 17th-century additions): one or two columns, approximately 75 lines.
Script: Parts I and II are written in a Gothic cursive in brown ink with brown rubrics by three scribes: V.C. Moris, ff. 1-143; (unidentified hand I), ff. 144-163; (unidentified hand II) ff. 164-190. Part III: written in a ca. 17th-century cursive hand in brown ink.
Decoration: Spaces left for two- to four-line initials unfilled (guide letters only). The tree of battle illustration in brown ink on f. 5v.
Binding: Bound ca.1471 in blind stamped calf over wooden boards. Spine with raised bands, ruled in blind. Three paper labels are present. The primary label contains a manuscript list of contents in a ca. 19th-century hand ("Arbre de batailles / The libel of English / policy / &c. / MS"). Conservation treatment in 2018 revealed that the underside of the parchment hinge at front contains two lines in a medieval French hand. In 1936, Dr. Robin Flower, Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum, attributed this binding to the Abbey of St. Peter of Hasnon. Currently housed in a tan cloth box.
Notes (bibliography):
Bibliography: For further information on the provenance of this volume vis-a-vis William Caxton, see: McCusker, H. "A Book from Caxton's Library." More Books 15 (1940): 275-285; Sotheby & Co. Catalogue of a Selected Portion of the Valuable Library and Collection of Manuscripts, the Property of Major Q.E. Gurney, D.L. London: The Firm, 1936 (lot 146, pp. 35-40); Blake, N.F. Caxton and His World. London: Andre Deutsch, 1969. pp. 36-38, 222-223; Crotch, W.J.B. The Prologues and Epilogues of William Caxton. London: Oxford University Press, 1928. pp. xvli-xlviii; Painter, G. William Caxton, a Biography. New York: Putnam, 1977. p. 161.
Notes (language):
In Latin, French, and Middle English.
Identifier:
MS-f-Med-92_001 - MS-f-Med-92_420
Call #:
RARE BKS MS f Med. 92
MS 1519 (no longer used)
Barcode:
39999085232724