Shelfmark
MS 3
Main entry--uniform title
Bible
Title
Bible historiale [manuscript]
Varying form of title
Title in M.R. James catalogue: Bible hystorial
Varying form of title
Title in Ker, MMBL: Bible Historiale (in French)
Publication, distribution, etc.
France, 1350-1400.
Physical description
1 v. : ill. ; 440 x 305 mm.
Language
Written in Old French.
Note
Secundo folio: mal et sante.
Note
Material: membrane. Gregory's rule FHHF.
Note
Format: codex.
Note
Written space: c.285 x 200-210 mm.
Note
Number of leaves: iii + 241 + ii.
Note
Collation: 1¹² 2¹² (wants 3 and 10) 3-9¹² 10¹² (wants 6 and 7) 11¹² 12¹⁰ 13¹² (wants 1) 14-17¹² 18¹² (wants 11) 19¹² 20⁸ 21¹² + 1 leaf (f. 241).
Note
Quire and leaf signatures and catchwords: leaf signatures indicated with ad hoc symbols that mostly use tallies and/or a combination of letters and Roman numerals. Catchwords.
Note
Page preparation: ruled in ink; no pricking visible.
Note
Mise-en-page: double columns (50 lines) written in a set hand just above the first ruled line. Rubrics. Running titles and capitulum marks.
Note
Decoration: illuminated half-page on f.1r, presenting four miniatures summarising the narrative of King Solomon; the same folio includes a bas-de-page with a hunting scene, where dogs chase hares into their warren. Smaller miniatures throughout (ff. 11v, 15v, 36r, 56v, 76v, 78v, 80v, 99r, 109r, 110r, 113r, 113v, 114v, 115v, 116r, 119v, 120v, 153r, 162v, 179v, 192r, 197r, 201v, 205r, 206v, 217v, 235v). Illuminated initials (2-12 lines) in blue, red, and gold with ivy-leaf tendrils throughout. Full or partial border frames with ivy-leaf tendrils in gold, blue, and pink extending from finials of initials, sometimes including zoomorphic details. Capitals of running headers in alternating blue and gold ink with red or blue pen flourishes.
Note
Handwriting: northern littera textualis with rounder proportions than usual. Mainly written by one scribe, although two other hands have copied quires 10, 13, 14 (scribe 2) and the text between ff. 224-241 (scribe 3).
Note
Correction: none.
Note
Marginalia, later additions: one 16th-century motto on f. 242v: "une sans plus".
Formatted contents note
Contents: Bible historiale complétée, second part only: Proverbs-Apocalypse.
Citation/references note
N.R. Ker, Medieval manuscripts in British libraries, v. 2 (1977), pp. 633-634
Citation/references note
M.R. James, A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Eton College (1895), p. 3
Citation/references note
S. Berger, La Bible française au moyen âge (1884), pp. 187-199
Summary, etc.
Scope and content: The Bible historiale is a vernacular paraphrase that merges the biblical narrative with Peter Comestor's historia scholastica, a core text of the university curriculum in Paris which aimed to present the history of mankind as a cohesive unit. In this period, bibles of this size were still divided into multiple volumes, and in this case the first one of the set has not survived: the narrative starts with the episode of King Salomon. Whilst most bibles historiales present illuminations, in this manuscript one in particular stands out: a hunting scene decorating the bottom of the first folio. At first glance, it may feel like an odd decorative choice, since it accompanies the biblical parable of Salomon. However, the hunt engages with its larger themes of world order and justice, endorsing and validating noble skill, superiority, and governance. It therefore fits Salomon's wise and strong stance.
Cite as
Eton College Library, MS 3.
Provenance
Origin: France.
Provenance
Provenance: One pencil note on f.ii verso: "Time of Rich.d the 2nd Sam' R Meyrick L.L.D." (i.e. Samuel Rush Meyrick, 1783-1848). Former ECL shelfmarks: Bo.2.4, Bk.1.3, Bl.1.3. Eton College book label on front medieval pastedown (f.i verso).
Binding
18th-century cream-coloured calfskin over ?pasteboards. Covers decorated with concentric sets of single and triple blind fillets to form borders; blind tools at the four corners. Spine rebacked with nine raised bands and gilt titling over red morocco label ("Bible. French"). Endpapers of modern paper and medieval parchment, which shows green stain on its bottom corner likely left from a copper-based metal clasp or chain; three leaves at the upper end of the textblock, two at the lower end. Repaired in 1963.
Subject
Bible. Picture Bibles Manuscripts.
Added entry--name
Meyrick, Samuel Rush, 1783 - 1848 former owner.
Added entry--place
France.
Language code
fro
Identifier
B49953