COLLECTION NAME:
Medieval Collection
Record
Image Number:
JRL0927284dc
Reference Number:
English MS 2
Link to Catalogue:
Image Title:
Story of Cadmus
Parent Work Title:
Fall of Princes
Alternative Parent Work Title:
Falle of Pryncys
Creator:
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451?
Creator Role:
Author
Display Creator:
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451?
Date Created:
15th-16th century
Page:
11v
Image Sequence Number:
011v
Description:
Fall of Princes. Book one: Semele the daughter of Cadmus had a son by Jupiter, Bacchus (Dionysus) the god of wine, but jealous Juno burns Semele and her palace as a punishment. Actaeon, the son of Autonoë, another daughter of Cadmus, was eaten by his own hounds as a punishment for seeing the goddess Diana naked. Agave the youngest daughter of Cadmus murdered her own son Pentheus because he scorned the worship of Bacchus. The fortunes of Cadmus were thus reversed, more grieveous because of his high position. The fourth of Cadmus' daughters was Ino and her husband Athamas went mad, killing one their sons and chasing Ino and their remaining son into the sea where they drowned. Small illuminated and coloured initials introduce the verses. The written space is 285 x 200 mm in two columns and the script is rather an ugly and unstable anglicana formata.
Language Code:
enm-GB
Subject:
English literature--Manuscripts
Subject:
English literature
Subject:
Poetry, Medieval
Subject:
Mythology, Greek--Poetry
Subject:
Mythology in literature
Subject:
Mythology, Greek, in literature
Subject:
Literature, Medieval--Manuscripts
Subject:
Literature, Medieval
Category of Material:
Manuscripts
Sub-Category:
Codex
Technique Used:
Handwriting
Technique Used:
Illumination (image-making process)
Medium:
Ink
Support:
Vellum
People Covered:
Diana (Roman deity)
People Covered:
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451?
People Covered:
Dionysus (Greek deity)
People Covered:
Athamas (Greek mythology)
People Covered:
Juno (Roman deity)
People Covered:
Jupiter (Roman deity)
People Covered:
Ino (Greek mythology)
People Covered:
Agave (Greek mythology)
People Covered:
Semele (Greek mythology)
People Covered:
Cadmus (Greek mythology)
People Covered:
Pentheus (Greek mythology)
People Covered:
Actaeon (Greek mythology)
Item Height:
417 mm
Item Width:
292 mm
Current Repository:
John Rylands University Library, The University of Manchester, U.K.
Provenance:
Lindsay family Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, former owner
Provenance:
Fairfax, Brian, 1676-1749, the commissioner of customs and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Provenance:
Child, Francis, Sir, 1735-1763, of Osterley Park, Middlesex.
Rights Holder - Image:
The University of Manchester Library
Rights holder - Work:
The University of Manchester Library
Access Rights:
References:
Tyson, Moses, 'Hand-List of the Collection of English Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library' (1928), p.7.
References:
Parts of this catalogue have been reproduced from Ker, N.R., 'Medieval manuscripts in British libraries, vol. III, Lampeter-Oxford' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), p. 400. By kind permission of Oxford University Press
References:
Bergen, Henry, 'Lydgate's Fall of princes.' (London: Pub. for the Early English Text Society by H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1924-27.)
Bibliographic Citation:
Morgan, Margery M., 'A specimen of early printer's copy: Ryland English MS 2', Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, vol. 33 (1950), pp. 194-6.
Notes:
Ostensibly the work is an adaptation of Laurent de Premierfait's 1409 translation of Giovanni Boccaccio's 'De casibus vivorum illustrium', a collection of moralized tragedies, extending from Adam to King John of France, that were designed to illustrate Fortune's fickle nature and the downfalls brought on by sinful living and unjust government.
Date Captured (yyyy-mm-dd):
2009-08-11
Multi Page Number:
140
Image Creation Technique:
Digital capture by Heritage Imaging, The University of Manchester Library
Date Image Added (yyyy-mm):
2009-10
Metadata Language:
eng-GB
Story of Cadmus
