The Miroir historial of Jean le Bon : the Leiden manuscript and its related copies

248 Pages·1988·1.27 MB·English

by  Chavannes-Mazel

THE
 MIROIR
 HISTORIAL
 OF
 JEAN
 LE
 BON

The
 Leiden
 Manuscript
 and
 its
 Related
 Copies

Volume
 1

TEXT

Claudine
 A.
 Chavannes-­‐Mazel

Leiden
 University
 1988
Preface
 to
 Claudine
 A.
 Chavannes-­‐Mazel,
 The
 Miroir
 historial
 of
 Jean
 II
 le
 Bon
 and

its
 related
 Copies,
 dissertation
 Leiden
 University
 1988

Amsterdam,
 2013-­‐14-­‐10

Dear
 reader,

This
 is
 a
 pdf
 of
 my
 dissertation
 written
 between
 1983
 and
 1987.
 I
 wrote
 it
 in

Word
 1
 and
 Word
 1a,
 and
 saved
 it
 on
 single-­‐sided
 floppy
 disks,
 later
 on
 double-­‐
sided
 ones
 which
 could
 hold
 as
 much
 as
 800
 Kb.
 A
 row
 of
 those
 floppies
 was
 my

proud
 result
 when
 my
 professors
 gave
 their
 ‘nihil
 obstat’
 in
 1988
 and
 I
 was

allowed
 to
 print
 it
 in
 its
 entirety.
 I
 put
 all
 the
 documents
 together
 in
 order
 to
 get

the
 page
 numbers
 right
 and
 have
 the
 footnotes
 numbering
 continuously,
 and

waited
 by
 the
 printer
 during
 the
 night
 until
 it
 had
 finished,
 since
 it
 was

impossible
 to
 save
 this
 enormous
 document.

Cambridge
 University
 Press
 agreed
 to
 publish
 it
 and
 I
 spent
 many
 years

reworking
 the
 text
 for
 publication.
 I
 kept
 updating
 and
 never
 finished.

It
 took
 my
 son
 several
 of
 my
 old
 and
 miraculously
 still
 functioning
 Macs
 to

convert
 the
 several
 dozen
 1988
 files
 from
 Microsoft
 Word
 1
 to
 Word
 3
 to
 Word

5.1.
 He

 printed
 them
 to
 PostScript
 files
 to
 preserve
 the
 spacing
 and
 pagination
 of

the
 original:
 it
 seems
 that
 2013
 Palatino
 spaces
 differently
 to
 1988
 Palatino.

Using
 a
 Twentieth
 Anniversary
 Mac
 from
 1997
 that
 reads
 800Kb
 and
 1.44
 Mb

floppies
 and
 connecting
 an
 external
 usb
 floppy
 drive
 to
 a
 MacBook
 from
 2006,
 he

got
 the
 files
 onto
 a
 modern
 Mac
 and
 combined
 all
 the
 chapters
 and
 annexes
 to
 a

single
 pdf.

Vol
 1:
 TEXT.
 The
 text
 is
 the
 original
 1988
 version.
 It
 may
 contain
 some
 outdated

views
 and
 certainly
 contains
 some
 typing
 mistakes.
 I
 may
 or
 may
 not
 publish
 a

revised
 edition
 at
 some
 point.
 I
 wrote
 two
 articles
 on
 the
 manuscripts
 in
 1990:

-­‐
 C.A. Chavannes-Mazel, ‘Problems in Translation, Transcription and Iconography:
The Miroir historial Books 1-8’, in: Vincent de Beauvais. Intentions et Réceptions
d’une œuvre encyclopédique au Moyen Age (éd. M. Paulmier-Foucart, S. Lusignan,
A. Nadeau), Paris/St Laurent 1990, pp. 345-374, Figs. 1-9;
- C.A. Chavannes-Mazel, ‘The Expansion of Rubrics for the Sake of the Layout:
Mise-en-page as Evidence for a Particular Workshop?’ in: Medieval Book
Production: Assessing the Evidence. Papers from the Seminar in the History of the
Book to 1500, Oxford 1988, (ed. L.L. Brownrigg), Los Altos Hills 1990, pp. 117-131,
Figs. 1-12, Col.Plates A and B.

and
 one
 article
 on
 royal
 patronage
 of
 historical
 texts
 in
 Dutch:

- C.A. Chavannes-Mazel, ‘De boeken van Jeanne de Bourgogne, koningin van
Frankrijk (r. 1328-1349)’, in J.-C. Klamt en K. Veelenturf eds, Representatie:
kunsthistorische bijdragen over vorst, staatsmacht en beeldende kunst, opgedragen aan
Robert W. Scheller, 2004, pp. 84-110.

Since
 then,
 remarkably
 little
 has
 changed
 with
 regard
 to
 the
 manuscripts.
 New
 is

the
 discovery
 of
 two
 fragments
 of
 part
 of
 A4:
 Tours
 BM
 A.d.-­‐I(002),
 ff
 C
 and
 D.
The
 rubric
 IIIIxx
 et
 VIII
 de
 la
 faim
 et
 de
 la
 pestilence
 de
 celi
 temps
 places
 it
 as
 part

of
 Book

 XXVII-­‐XXVIII.
 For
 a
 quick
 update,
 please
 consult
 the
 articles
 by
 Laurent

Brun
  and
  Mattia
  Cavagna
  (‘Pour
  une
  edition
  du
  Miroir
  historial
  de
  Jean
  de

Vignay’,
  Romania
  124
  [2006],
  378-­‐428),
  and
  the
  entries
  in
  the
  exhibition

catalogue
  by
  Elisabeth
  Morrison
  and
  Anne
  D.
  Hedeman
  Imaging
 the
 Past
 in

France
 1250-­‐1500
 of
 the
 Paul
 Getty
 Museum
 2010,
 nrs
 17
 and
 33
 (Hedeman

accidently
 attributes
 my
 findings
 to
 someone
 else).
 For
 an
 entire
 overview,
 see:

http://www.arlima.net/il/jean_de_vignay.html

Vol
 2:
 ILLUSTRATIONS.
 With
 regard
 to
 the
 illustrations:
 that
 was
 easier
 to
 do.

About
 80%
 could
 quickly
 be
 found
 online,
 in
 colour
 and
 for
 free,
 instead
 of
 the

old
 black
 and
 white
 photographs
 which
 once
 cost
 me
 a
 fortune.
THE MIROIR HISTORIAL OF JEAN LE BON
The Leiden Manuscript and its Related Copies

TEXT

Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor
aan de Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden,
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Dr.J.J.M. Beenakker,
hoogleraar in de faculteit der Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen,
volgens besluit van het College van Dekanen te verdedigen
op donderdag 23 juni1988 te klokke 16.15 uur

door

Claudine Albertine Chavannes-Mazel

geboren te 's-Gravenhage in 1949
Promotiecomissie

Prof.dr. P.P.V. van Moorsel,
Prof.dr. P.F.J. Obbema promotoren

Prof.dr. J.P. Gumbert referent

Prof.dr. A.W.A. Boschloo lid

Dit onderzoek werd mede mogelijk gemaakt door een reissubsidie van de
Stichting voor Zuiver Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek.
THE MIROIR HISTORIAL OF JEAN LE BON.
The Leiden Manuscript and its related copies
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION p. 1
PART I: HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF THE MIROIR HISTORIAL
1. TheSpeculum historiale and Vincent of Beauvais, its Author p. 5
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Contents
1.3. Reception
1.4. The Douai-version
2. The Manuscripts of the First Books of the Speculum historiale p. 12
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Origine and Provenance
2.3. Illumination
3. The Miroir historial and Jean de Vignay, the Translator p. 16
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Date of the Translation
3.3. The Translation Process
3.4. Reception and Influence
PART II: THE MIROIR HISTORIAL OF JEAN LE BON, AND THE
COPY, PRESUMABLY OF JEANNE DE BOURGOGNE p. 25
1. Description of the Oldest Manuscripts: Leiden Un.Libr.,
Voss.G.G. Fol. 3A; Paris BN fr. 316, and their Sequels. p. 27
2. History of Scholarship p. 29
2.1. The Leiden and Arsenal Manuscripts (A1, A2)
2.2. The Paris and Baltimore Manuscripts (J1, J3).
3. Genesis and Provenance of the Leiden Miroir historial p. 37
3.1. Preparation
3.2. Script and Lay-out
3.3. The Corrector
3.4. Pen-drawn Initials
3.5. Painted Initials and Marginal Decoration
3.6. Illustrations
3.6.1. Style
3.6.2. Iconography
3.7. Binding
3.8. Provenance
4. The Second Volume of the Leiden Miroir: Paris, Bibl. de l'Arsenal
MS 5080 p. 61
vi
4.1. Text
4.2. Illustrations
4.2.1. Style
4.2.2. Iconography
4.3. Provenance
5. The "oldest" Manuscript of the Miroir historial: Paris BN fr. 316
5.1. Structure of the Text p. 64
5.1.1. Text and Layout
5.1.2. Rubrics
5.2. Illustrations
5.2.1. Style: The Fauvel Master and the Papeleu Master
5.2.2. Iconography
5.3. Provenance
5.3.1. A Presentation Copy?
5.3.2. Later Owners
5.4. Third volume: Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery W 140.
PART III: OTHER EXTANT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE MIROIR
HISTORIAL p. 78
1. History and Provenance p. 79
1.1. Manuscripts Known from French Royal Inventories
1.2. Extant Manuscripts
1.3. Description of the Extant Manuscripts in Chronological Order
2. Grouping of the Manuscripts, Books 1-8: Text p. 114
2.1. General Remarks
2.2. Division into Volumes
2.3. Rubrics of J1 and Corrections in A1
2.4. Examples from the Story of Joseph and Aseneth.
3. Comparison of the Manuscripts, Books 1-8: Illustration p. 123
3.1. General Remarks
3.2. The Joseph and Aseneth Story
3.2.1. Tale
3.2.2. Illustrations
3.2.3. Evaluation of the Cycle
3.3. Manuscripts not Containing the Joseph and Aseneth Cycle
3.3.1. Miniatures of C1
3.3.2. Miniatures of E
4. The Question of the one Miniaturist Illustrating the Same Text twice
p. 144
PART IV: THE FRONTISPIECE OF THE MIROIR HISTORIAL p. 147
1. Historical Background of the Frontispiece p. 147
2. Description of the Frontispiece of the Leiden Miroir historial p. 156
3. Opening Miniatures in other Manuscripts of the
Miroir historial p. 157
vii
3.1. Double Composition: Identical Image
3.2. Double Composition: Comparable Image
3.3. Single Composition
3.4. Other Frontispieces
4. Provenance of the Iconography of the Frontispiece of the Miroir
historial. p. 167
4.1. Manuscripts with Translations by Jean de Vignay
4.1.1. Translations for Jeanne de Bourgogne
4.1.2. Translations for Philippe VI de Valois
4.1.3. Translations for Jean le Bon
4.1.4. Translations for Unknown Patrons
4.2. Manuscripts of the First Books of theSpeculum historiale
4.3. Conclusions
CONCLUSIONS p. 173
APPENDICES:
A. Manuscripts of the First Books of the Speculum
historiale p. 179
B. Illustrations of the First Books of the Speculum
historiale p. 183
C. Manuscripts of the Miroir historial p. 189
D. Manuscripts with Translations by Jean de Vignay p. 195
E. The Story of Joseph and Aseneth, According to
Leiden Un.Libr., Voss.G.G. Fol. 3A, ff. 59v-62v p. 211
BIBLIOGRAPHY p. 217
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS p. 233
SAMENVATTING p. 241
INDEX OF MANUSCRIPTS p. 247
Curriculum vitae

Introduction 1
INTRODUCTION
The Miroir historial of King Jean II le Bon (1319-1364) at Leiden
University is an outstanding work of art. This study owes a great deal to
this everlasting truism, but it does not deal primarily with beauty, or
even with the history of art as such.
The prime objective of this study is to treat a manuscript as an entity
and to give credit to the function the miniatures were originally
designed to perform: that is, to illustrate a text. Until recently, studies on
manuscripts aimed at getting the specialist world to know them. Every
specialist ploughed his own patch: the philologist and historian wrote
about text and provenance, the paleographer about lettering and
parchment, the art historian about iconography and style.
A more promising approach, strongly propagated by Delaissé and
recently endorsed by Otto Pächt,1 ought be to treat all different aspects of
a manuscript as a whole and to consider them together. Ideally, all
specialists should be gathered around the book in order to contribute
their specific insights. In modern catalogues such an attempt is
sometimes undertaken, but even they are all too often merely
descriptive. And often art historians write about style and iconography,
search for prototypes, and prepare endless lists of miniatures of one
specific text or by one specific master. However, one has to realize that if
by modern standards monumental paintings are not isolated works of
art, miniatures are even less so. They should be placed in a broader
context that is so easily at hand: the manuscript they form part of and
the stories they illustrate.
1 -L.M.J. Delaissé, Towards a History of the Medieval Book, in: Codicologica I: Théorie
et principes, (ed. A. Gruys & J.P. Gumbert), Leiden 1976, [Litterae textuales] pp. 75-83. A
revised version of a contribution of the same title in Miscellanea André Combes II, Rome
1967, pp. 27-39; -O. Pächt, Book Illumination in the Middle Ages, London 1986; two years
earlier published in German under the title: Buchmalerei des Mittelalters, München
1984. Their ideas have been applied by, for instance, R. Schmidt-Wiegand, Text - Bild -
Interpretation. Untersuchungen zu den Bilderhandschriften des Sachsenspiegels,
München 1986, and to a certain degree by S. Hindman, Christine de Pizan's "Epistre
Othéa". Painting and Politics at the Court of France, Toronto 1986.