COLLECTION NAME:
Medieval Collection
Record
Image Number:
JRL0927382dc
Reference Number:
English MS 2
Link to Catalogue:
Image Title:
Prologue to the third book
Alternative Image Title:
Book three
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:
60v
Image Sequence Number:
060v
Description:
Fall of Princes. Book three: red rubrication introduces the third book which begins with the story of Andalus the astronomer. Andalus believed that the stars were not to blame for earthly misfortune, but that the Fall of Princes was caused by the free will of men. Red rubrication and an illuminated initial 'Q' introduces a fable told by Andalus. Glad Poverty in the form of a tattered old woman sat where three roads met. Fortune came along and on seeing her laughed at her ragged appearance. Poverty spoke to Fortune asking why she laughed at her. There is a partial floriated, illuminated border and initial 'A' which begins the text. 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
Subject:
Literature, Medieval
Subject:
Poetry, Medieval
Subject:
Literature, Medieval--Manuscripts
Subject:
English literature--Manuscripts
Category of Material:
Manuscripts
Sub-Category:
Codex
Technique Used:
Handwriting
Technique Used:
Illumination (image-making process)
Medium:
Ink
Support:
Vellum
People Covered:
Fortuna (Roman deity)
People Covered:
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451?
Item Height:
417 mm
Item Width:
292 mm
Current Repository:
John Rylands University Library, The University of Manchester, U.K.
Provenance:
Child, Francis, Sir, 1735-1763, of Osterley Park, Middlesex.
Provenance:
Fairfax, Brian, 1676-1749, the commissioner of customs and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Provenance:
Lindsay family Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, former owner
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:
Bergen, Henry, 'Lydgate's Fall of princes.' (London: Pub. for the Early English Text Society by H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1924-27.)
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
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:
630
Image Creation Technique:
Digital capture by Heritage Imaging, The University of Manchester Library
Date Image Added (yyyy-mm):
2009-10
Metadata Language:
eng-GB
Prologue to the third book
