COLLECTION NAME:
Medieval Collection
Record
Image Number:
JRL0927443dc
Reference Number:
English MS 2
Link to Catalogue:
Image Title:
Callisthenes and Alexander
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:
91r
Image Sequence Number:
091r
Description:
Fall of Princes. Book four: Callisthenes pointed out to Alexander that he was often in ill health and suffered from the effects of alcohol which disproved the idea of his divinity. Alexander was enraged and accused Callisthenes of conspiracy against him and sentenced him to death. First the hands and feet of Callisthenes were cut off and then his eyes were torn out, his body was horribly mutilated and he was thrown into a cave of dogs. Lysimachus gave Callisthenes poison to quicken his agonising death and Alexander on hearing this shut Lysimachus up with a lion. Lysimachus managed to injure the lion and was restored to Alexander's favour by his bravery. Ink annotation in the margin reads 'A cruel dede off kyng Alexandre'. 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:
Literature, Medieval--Manuscripts
Subject:
Poetry, Medieval
Subject:
English literature--Manuscripts
Subject:
English literature
Subject:
Literature, Medieval
Category of Material:
Manuscripts
Sub-Category:
Codex
Technique Used:
Illumination (image-making process)
Technique Used:
Handwriting
Medium:
Ink
Support:
Vellum
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:
Lindsay family Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, former owner
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.
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:
935
Image Creation Technique:
Digital capture by Heritage Imaging, The University of Manchester Library
Date Image Added (yyyy-mm):
2009-10
Metadata Language:
eng-GB
Callisthenes and Alexander
