Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

A catalogue of Western manuscripts and papyri at Cambridge University Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum and selected Cambridge colleges

Cambridge, Newnham College, MS 5

Christine de Pizan, Epistre Othea

Contents

Introduction: Although today, Christine de Pizan (d. c. 1430) is remembered primarily as the author of Le Livre de la Cité des Dames (Book of the City of Ladies), during her lifetime it was her Epistre Othea (Othea’s Letter) that was something of a bestseller. Christine authored the Epistre Othea sometime between 1399 and 1402. It survives in forty-seven medieval manuscripts and later copies. One of these medieval copies can be found in Newnham College MS 5. While this manuscript is undoubtedly of the fifteenth century, scholars disagree about when exactly it was made: Seymour de Ricci (1926) dates it to c. 1430, Gianni Mombello (1967) more broadly to the first half of the fifteenth century, Neil R. Ker (1977) to the middle of the fifteenth century, Rosamond McKitterick (2005) to the second quarter of the fifteenth century, and Sandra L. Hindman (1986) and Anne-Marie Barbier (2008) to the beginning of the fifteenth century. Hindman’s and Barbier’s early datings are supported by the identification of the manuscript’s likely illuminator as the artist of a copy of the Grandes Chroniques de France, now Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Français 2597 , that has been located to Paris and dated to c. 1400–1410 [Hedeman (1991), p. 189]. This not only suggests that Newnham College MS 5 dates to Christine’s lifetime but also to a period when she was overseeing the copying and illuminating of her works by a group of scribes and artists in Paris (c. 1399–1418). Six copies of the Epistre Othea are known to have been prepared under Christine’s supervision. These so-called ‘author-manuscripts’ date to c.1399–1414. But while Newnham College MS 5 theoretically could be another author-manuscript, there are indications that make it less likely that Christine was involved in this manuscript’s production. Form and Layout The first chapter to the Othea sets out the purpose of the text that follows—to instruct its recipient in the behaviour of a proper knight. The remaining ninety-nine chapters are made up of a mixture of poetry and commentary. The text is presented as an epistle delivered by Othea, Goddess of Wisdom, to the Trojan prince, Hector in a poetic form. Each section of poetry is accompanied by a miniature that depicts an assortment of divinities including Apollo, Minerva, and Bacchus, and mortals such as Pygmalion, Pasiphaë, Medea, and Arachne, among others. The two commentaries take the form of prose readings of the central text: on the left a ‘ Glose ’, or gloss, providing explanations and contextual information to accompany the poem, and on the right an ‘ Alegorie ’, or Christian allegorical reading ending with a line from Scripture in Latin. The text falls into the genre of a 'mirror for princes'; though these didactic texts designed to provide moral guidance for leaders often assumed a male readership, women are likely to have formed part of Christine de Pizan’s intended audience. The allegorical approach to Christianising ‘pagan’ Greek and Roman mythology can also be seen in the fourteenth-century Ovide Moralisé, Boccaccio’s De Genealogia Deorum and De Claris Mulieribus, and Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women. Texts relating to moral instruction, similar to Jacques Legrand’s Livre des bonnes mœurs, were popular too. As would become common in later Othea manuscripts, each chapter in this manuscript starts on a new page. This stands in contrast to Christine’s known author-manuscripts which, except for Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Français 848 , proceed continuously on the same page. The result is a presentation that is uniform across the manuscript’s individual pages but can be visually uneven as the elements of each chapter vary considerably in length, creating irregular gaps. Moreover, in contrast to most author-manuscripts that present the text in a two-column format, the Newnham manuscript features a three-column format. It shares this format with only two other copies of the Othea: MS Français 848 (c. 1400) and Beauvais, Médiathèque municipale, MS 9 which, having only been dated to approximately 1410–1420, may be contemporary with the Newnham manuscript, although the miniatures in the Beauvais manuscript are believed to have been added at a later date [Barbier (2008), p. 283]. In presenting the text in three columns, Newnham College MS 5 features narrow left and right columns and a wider central one. On certain folios, the ruling of the frames that delimit the three column areas can still be seen. These frames feature a central text area that is approximately 73mm wide, whilst the left and right columns are each 40mm wide. Despite being shorter, the verses that contain Othea’s advice are given primary importance, appearing in the wider, central column beneath an equally central image. The left-hand column presents the glose, which often stretches into the space beneath the verses in the central column if there is insufficient space otherwise (see f. 4r as an example). The alegorie, which is usually shorter, then features in the right-hand column, although it too sometimes extends into the space beneath the verses if needed (for instance, see ff. 25v-27r). Script and Decoration Making a medieval manuscript required the skills of a number of craftspeople, from those who treated and prepared the parchment, to scribes, illustrators and illuminators, and, eventually, book binders. Newnham College MS 5 is no exception. Several decorative features serve to help a reader navigate this complex text and to emphasise the beauty of the manuscript. The three textual elements are clearly labelled (as in all manuscript copies of the Othea), in this case with vivid red rubrics. Although the rubrics above the columns feature different forms for the same letters (e.g. see the ‘A’ in the sections devoted to ‘ Alegorie ’ and ‘G’ in the sections for ‘ Glose ’ on ff. 5r, 5v, 9r, 32v, and 51v), they were almost certainly added by one rubricator who may have used different letter forms for aesthetic reasons. The main body of the text is more consistent in its forms, and therefore also likely to be the work of a single scribe. In the first chapter, the rubric is somewhat worn, and parts of some letters have become removed from the surface of the parchment. This could be because the parchment undulates slightly where these letters are found, which might have caused them to become worn. Whilst the parchment is now somewhat discoloured throughout, it is noticeable that the first folio is particularly so and that the surface of folio 1r has become shiny through handling. This might also indicate that the manuscript was not bound for some time. Newnham College MS 5 contains 100 miniatures. The width of the miniatures is consistent, measuring approximately 70mm throughout, but their height varies slightly, ranging from 55 to 70mm. McKitterick describes them as ‘skilfully drawn pen-and-ink miniatures [...] whose colouring is restricted to washes in yellow, green, and blue’. She refers to the artist’s style as ‘swift and sketch-like, so that the faces and gestures of the human figures are often animated and expressive’ [McKitterick (2005), p. 269]. Tinted drawings are also seen in two later Othea manuscripts: Bruxelles, KBR, MS 4373-76 (c. 1460) and Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 421 (dated only approximately to the third quarter of the fifteenth century). When comparing the miniatures of Newnham College MS 5 with those of the author-manuscripts, few similarities can be found. Only the miniatures on ff. 4r and 51v bear a particular resemblance to those in the manuscripts overseen by the author ( Chantilly, Bibliothèque et archives du Château, MS 492 , Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MSS Français 606 , 848 , and 12779 ), and only a few are similar to those found in the latest copy that is known to have been prepared by Christine, now London, British Library, Harley MS 4431 (ff. 95r-141v), dating to c. 1410–1414. Elsewhere, although the composition of the images is different, elements familiar from the author-manuscripts have been rearranged in a simplified manner – characters who had been placed on different levels are presented side-by-side, for instance, and any background or landscape detail has been removed. Another difference between Newnham College MS 5 and the author-manuscripts is that it does not feature an opening miniature that shows Christine either as the Othea’s author or presenting her work to Louis I, Duke of Orléans. This makes the manuscript seemingly comparable to later copies of the work: as it was copied, first by the author and later by translators and notable authors such as Jean Miélot, the Othea’s iconographic programme and layout underwent various changes, and its female authorship was downplayed by erasing textual and visual references to Christine. Yet the absence of a portrait of Christine can be explained by the fact that this miniature typically accompanies the preface to the Othea, which is omitted in the Newnham manuscript. Instead, the Newnham manuscript begins at the first chapter of Othea, illustrated with a miniature of Hector receiving Othea’s letter. This miniature illustrates the first chapter in the author-manuscripts as well. Nevertheless, it is notable that Hector receives the letter from a male letter carrier in the Newnham manuscript whereas it is delivered to him directly by Othea in the author-manuscripts. It is possible that this focus on male protagonists is informed by an expected or intended male audience. Linguistic Features The linguistic features of the glosses and allegories indicate that this example of the Epistre Othea was copied in the northern, central part of France, and most likely in the region of Paris. This can be determined using the overwhelming preference for ‘ et ’ over ‘ e ’ (there is no noted presence of the Tironian ‘ 7 ’) as a conjunction – in fact, there are very few abbreviations throughout, aside from those one might expect, such as contractions of ‘ con ’/‘ com ’ and ‘ que ’. The scribe(s) also tends towards use of the adverb ‘ moult ’ over ‘ tres ’, use of the negation ‘ pas ’ over ‘ mie ’ and show the preference for -ieurs endings (‘ plusieurs ’, ‘ seigneurs ’) over -ors/-urs that is typical of the region. Similarly, though not entirely consistent throughout, there is a general preference for -aage over -aige (though it should be noted that there is at least one example where both ‘ sage ’ and ‘ saige ’ are used). Given that spelling has not yet been fully standardised at this stage of the French language’s development, and the potential for two scribes to be at work on the manuscript or a single scribe who was influenced by the dialect of their exemplar, this is neither troubling nor prevalent enough to shift the hypothesis away from the general Parisian region. Audience Copies of medieval texts created for a wider public are revealing in terms of how texts were adapted, copied and received by contemporary readers [Schieberle (2019)]. Luxury presentation copies such as Christine’s Harley manuscript were the preserve of only a few royal and noble readers, and therefore can only tell us so much about how readers responded to the Othea. Newnham College MS 5 may provide information about the work’s reception among a different stratum within medieval society. This is suggested by the fact that, as mentioned above, it does not (and never did) feature the dedication or preface that is present in most other copies of the text, launching straight into chapter one. The lack of dedication is one of several factors that suggest it was created for the marketplace in order to attract a bourgeois buyer, rather than prepared for a specific, noble individual. Furthermore, the illuminator seems to have had a particular taste for representing gorier details, often pared down in Christine’s manuscripts, as trails of red are often added to the miniatures to represent blood pouring out of wounds in rather dramatic ways (for instance, see ff. 21v-22r). This appears to be the same ink as that used for the rubrications, making it possible that the addition of blood to the images was the work of the rubricator. Martha Breckenridge suggests that representations of increased violence such as these may link it to a bourgeois audience [Breckenridge (2008), p. 159]. An Author-Manuscript? Following a description of various aspects of the manuscript, we can finally consider the question of whether or not it too could have been created in Christine’s own scriptorium. As noted, while the manuscript shares features with some author-manuscripts, there are also marked differences. Whereas it has been suggested that Christine herself might be the creative force behind the preparation of the iconographic programme that can be found in Newnham College MS 5 [Hindman (1986), pp. 141-142], the divergence from the programme of manuscripts produced under her supervision [see Cooper-Davis (2023), pp. 37-44 and 60-62] and the downplaying of themes that were close to her heart, such as the connection between women and literacy, make this unlikely. Nevertheless, the Newnham copy of the Othea appears to have had a significant impact on later copies of the work: Barbier (2008) argues that it was used as an exemplar to prepare the copies that survive in Lille, La médiathèque Jean Lévy, MS 175 and The Hague, KB, nationale bibliotheek, MS 74 G 27 . It therefore forms an important witness to the fifteenth-century transmission of the Othea prior to its first edition in print around the close of the century. Dr Charlotte Cooper-Davis| Author, and specialist of Medieval French Literature| Cambridge University Library Dr Geneviève Young| Research Associate in "Musical Lives: Towards an Historical Anthropology of French Song, 1100–1300"| King's College London (alumna of Newnham College) Select Bibliography
Barbier, Anne-Marie, 'Le Cycle iconographique perdu de l’Epistre Othea de Christine de Pizan: Le Cas des manuscrits Beauvais, BM 09 et Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 421', Cahiers de recherches médiévales, 16 (2008), 279-299
Breckenridge, Martha, 'Christine de Pizan’s Livre d’Epitre d’Othea a Hector at the Intersection of Image and Text’ (unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of Kansas, 2008)
Cooper-Davis, Charlotte, Christine de Pizan: Empowering Women in Text and Image (York: Arc Humanities Press, 2023)
Hedeman, Anne D., The Royal Image: Illustrations of the “Grandes Chroniques de France 1274–1422 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 181-186
Hindman, Sandra L. Christine de Pizan’s “Epitre Othéa”: Painting and Politics at the Court of Charles VI, Studies and Texts, 77 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1986)
Ker, N.R., and Alan J. Piper, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, 5 vols (Oxford: Carendon, 1969–2002), II (1977): Abbotsford-Keele, p. 240
McKitterick, Rosamond, ‘Christine de Pizan, L’Episte d’Othéa’, in The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West, ed. Paul Binski and Stella Panayotova (London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2005), pp. 268-269
Mombello, Gianni, La tradizione manoscritta dell'Epistre Othéa di Christine de Pizan. Prolegomeni all'edizione del testo, Memorie dell'Accademia delle scienze di Torino, Classe di Scienze morali, Storiche e Filologiche, Series 4, 15 (Torino: Accademia delle scienze, 1967)
Pizan, Christine de, Epistre Othea, ed. Gabriella Parussa (Geneva: Droz, 1999)
Ricci, Seymour de, ‘Les manuscrits de la collection Henry Yates Thompson’, Bulletin de la Société française de reproductions de manuscrits à peintures, Année 10 (1926), 42-72
Schieberle, Misty, ‘The Lytle Bibell of Knyghthod, Christine de Pizan’s Epistre Othea, and the Problem with Authorial Manuscripts’, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 118:1 (2019), 100-128

Language(s): Middle French with Latin rubrics and headers

1r-51v
Epistre Othea Christine de Pizan, Epistre Othea Christine de Pizan [Pisan]
Language(s): Middle French with Latin rubrics and headers
Rubric: 1r Ci commence lespitre que Othea la deesse enuoia a Hector de Troye quant il estoit en laage de xv. ans.
Incipit: 1r Othea deesse de prudence / Qui adresse les bons cuers en vaillan[ce] / A toy hector noble prince et puissan[s] / Qui en armes es ades florissans
Explicit: 51v Ace propox dit le saige: Auris bona audiat cum omni concupiscencia sapienciam ecclesiastice iijo co.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r: louenge de dieu
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF)
Extent: Codex: ii + 52 + ii leaves 295 × 220 mm.
Foliation:

17th- or 18th-century (erroneous) foliation:

1-3, 5-7, 6-7, 9-14, 17-18, [?], 19-20, 20-22, 22, 24-30

Numbering in brown ink written in the inner margins of ff. 1r-30r, each accompanied by an elaborate flourish in brown ink. This foliation is ignored is in this catalogue record.
Foliation:

20th-century foliation:

[i]-[ii] + 1-52 + [iii]-[iv]

Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos. This foliation is followed in this catalogue record. For reference purposes in this electronic catalogue record, the manuscript's unfoliated flyleaves have been assigned the numbers: [i]-[iv].

Collation

  • Quires 1-68 (ff. 1-48)
  • Quire 74 (ff. 49-52)

1-68; 74

Catchwords in the lower right-hand corners of the last versos of Quires 2-6 (Quires 2, 3, 6 inside frames of red ink).

Condition

Off-set of initials on f. [ii] verso, and f. 52r. A tear in the upper half of f. 52 has been repaired with a parchment strip on f. 52v.

Layout

200 × 175 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame only, with occasional line ruling. Three columns with ‘Texte’ at the centre (max. 36 lines but typically 4 lines), flanked by ‘Glose’ on the left (max 36 lines) and ‘Alegorie’ on the right (max. 36 lines). 36 lines to the page, written below top line. f. 52r is blank but does have a frame in leadpoint. No pricking marks visible on edges.

Hand(s)

Written in cursive batarde script in two sizes: the larger used for the central ‘Texte’ column, broken and not current; and the smaller one used for the ‘Glose’ and ‘Alegorie’ columns. Perhaps executed by a single scribe but possibly two.

Decoration

100 miniatures in frames of brown ink measuring 70 x 70mm (11 lines), featuring illustrations of the text in colours (predominantly blue, green, grey, pink, red, and yellow). The miniature likely are by the artist of the Grandes Chroniques de France in Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Français 2597 [see Hedeman (1991), p. 189 and the introduction to this catalogue record].

Drawing on Henry Yates Thompson's Descriptive Catalogue of Twenty Illuminated Manuscripts (1907), the miniatures can be described as follows:

f. 1r: Hector, enthroned, receiving a sealed letter (inscribed with the words "A mon cher") from Othéa, (fictitious) goddess of wisdom, delivered by a messenger.

f. 2r: Temperance in a long robe, holding scales in her right hand and a compass in her left hand.

f. 2v: Hercules, clad in a lion skin, shooting and arrow at a winged dragon (Cerberus) before the mouth of Hell.

f. 3v: Two devils drive two men into the open mouth of Hell within which are seen three of the damned, illustrating the story of Minos, judge of the damned.

f. 4r: Perseus on the winged horse Pegasus rescues Andromeda from a dragon.

f. 4v: A statue of Jupiter (Jove) on pedestal, holding a shield and spear.

f. 5r: Venus, enthroned with a canopy of fleurs-de-lis, holding an arrow in either hand, one towards two men on her right and the other towards three women on her left.

f. 5v: A statue of Saturn on a pedestal, holding a shield and sickle.

f. 6r: Phoebus Apollo, crowned with laurel, raising his hands towards the sun shining above.

f. 6v: Phoebe with the Moon shining above.

f. 7r: Mars holding a sword and halberd and facing a group of soldiers with shields.

f. 7v: Mercurius playing on a pipe to a cowherd.

f. 8r: Minerva, enthroned, giving a coat of mail to one man and a helmet to another.

f. 8v: Pallas Athena, enthroned, holding a sword in her left hand and pointing with her right hand to a (empty) shield.

f. 9r: Penthesilea on horseback leading a band of Amazons.

f. 9v: Narcisuss leaning over a fountain.

f. 10r: Athamas with uplifted sword is slaying his child while his wife and another child are lying dead below him.

f. 10v: Aglauros barring Mercury from entering her house out of jealousy over his love for her sister Herse who is standing behind her.

f. 11r: Ulysses taking out the eye of the sleeping cyclops Polyphemus.

f. 11v: Latona carrying her two children Apollo and Diana across a stream with four frogs.

f. 12v: A boy Bacchus, crowned with ivy leaves, holding up a glass of red wine.

f. 12v: Pygmalion contemplating his statue (Galatea).

f. 13r: Diana with two female attendants standing by a stream.

f. 13v: Ceres watching a husbandman who is driving a wheel plough with two horses.

f. 14r: Isis, enthroned, amid a grove of trees.

f. 14v: Midas, crowned, and with ass's ears sitting in judgment while to musicians play before him on a flute and harp.

f. 15r: Two devils dragging a woman, two youths, and a man into the mouth of Hell, illustrating the story of Pirithous and Theseus who, accompanied by Hercules, enter into the Underwold to capture Persephone.

f. 15v: Cadmus slays the dragon with a castle in the background.

f. 16r: Io represented as a cow with a woman's head.

f. 16v: Juno leading a cow (Io) to a cowherd (Argus).

f. 17r: Four armed men contemplate Achilles, lying in his coffin in full armour.

f. 17v: Cassandra, in habit, standing by an altar and addressing two men.

f. 18r: Two men in a boat praying to Neptune's statue on land.

f. 18v: Death (Atropos) with a bow and three arrows riding a grey horse.

f. 19r: A youth in tunic with long sleeves is detained by a woman, representing Bellerophon and his mother.

f. 19v: Memnon in full armour riding a white war horse.

f. 20r: Laomedon, crowned, talking to a messenger with a ship laden with armed men (the Argonauts) approaching his city (Troy).

f. 20v: Pyramus lying dead and Thisbe killing herself with his sword beside a stream.

f. 21r: A physician (Asclepius) examining liquid with a reading desk with books near him.

f. 21v: Achilles, kneeling in prayer before an altar, is slain by two armed men.

f. 21r: Busiris killing a man with two corpses lying nearby.

f. 22v: Hero, from the shore near her tower, watching the body of Leander floating in the Bosphorus.

f. 23r: Helen of Troy, crowned, surrounded by ladies and soldiers.

f. 23v: Aurora standing beside a swan with a human head, representing her son Cycnus who had been killed in the Trojan war and turned into a swan.

f. 24r: Pasiphaë standing beside the Cretan Bull.

f. 24v: A king outside a city with two knights on horseback fighting with swords, illustrating the story of Adrastus.

f. 25r: Cupid, enthroned, crowned and with wings, bidding farewell to a youth with a bow and arrows.

f. 25v: Coronis, lying dead with a wound in her belly, and standing above her is Phoebus Apollo, her lover, who is holding a sword and is accompanied by the crow that informed him of her affair with Ischys.

f. 26r: The figure of Juno in a long dress with a sash.

f. 26v: Adrastus with soldiers approaching Thebes against the advice of Amphiaraus, who accompanies him.

f. 27r: An old man apparently talking too much.

f. 27v: Two birds, representing crows, sitting in a small tree.

f. 28r: Hyacinth, here identified as Ganymede, killed by a discus thrown by Phoebus Apollo, his lover.

f. 28v: Medea holding a casket while Jason speaks to her with uplifted finger.

f. 29r: Perseus killing the dragon, from whose mouth issue flames.

f. 29v: Mars and Venus (with a nightcap) lying in bed are discovered by Vulcan.

f. 30r: Tomyris [Thamyris], identified as the Queen of the Amazons, crowned, lifting her hand up towards Cyrus the Great, who is kneeling before her while a woman behind him lifts her sword to strike his head off.

f. 30v: Medea standing near a dresser with phials filled with drugs and talking to Jason.

f. 31r: Acis and Galatea making love in the crevice of a rock are surprised by the cyclops Polyphemus who seems to be pouring fire out of a cup.

f. 31v: Eris holding up the Golden Apple of Discord in her right hand towards the three goddesses Pallas Athena, Juno, and Venus at the wedding of Peleus.

f. 32r: Laomedon, grievously wounded, standing in front of a walled city while armed men fight.

f. 32v: Two female figures, presumably Semele and Juno, disguised.

f. 33r: Three women on horseback with dogs hunting a buck, which turns its head to look at them.

f. 33v: Arachne weaving at a loom which she works with her feet and, in the upper left corner, a large spider in a web.

f. 34r: Adonis with dogs hunting a boar.

f. 34v: A battle raging near the gate of Troy.

f. 35r: Orpheus playing on his lute to birds and land animals who surround him while listening.

f. 35v: Paris reclining with the three goddesses Pallas Athena, Juno, and Venus standing near, one of whom holds the Golden Apple of Discord.

f. 36r: Actaeon [here: "Antheon"] on horseback with two dogs coming upon Diana and three nymphs bathing.

f. 36v: Orpheus playing to Eurydice, who stands nude in the mouth of Hell.

f. 37r: Ulysses bringing jewels and arms to the house of Thetis, who has disguised her son Achilles as a maiden. Achilles, who is the first of three figures in long dresses, betrays himself by showing no interest in the jewels and reaching for a sword instead.

f. 37v: Atlanta beating one of her lovers in a footrace.

f. 38r: Paris holding the Golden Apple of Discord in his hand with the three goddesses Pallas Athena, Juno, and Venus before him.

f. 38v: The goddess Fortuna turning her wheel, causing some to be lifted to the top and others to go down to the bottom of the wheel.

f. 39r: Paris enjoying the company of women, which he prefers to war.

f. 39v: Cephalus walking through a wood and, hearing the leaves rustle, hurling his lance and killing his wife Procris.

f. 40r: A group of men, the central one crowned, engaged in animated discussion, representing Helenus of Troy giving council.

f. 40v: Morpheus visiting a person lying in bed.

f. 41r: Alcyone walking disconsolately on the shore and watching her husband Ceyx sail away in a ship with two companions.

f. 41v: Troilus advising Priam.

f. 42r: Calchas interpreting the oracle to three Greeks before an altar.

f. 42v: Hermaphroditus bathing.

f. 43r: Ulysses playing chess with a young man.

f. 43v: Briseida [Cressida] riding a horse while accompanied by three male horseriders.

f. 44r: Hector on horseback thrusting a spear through Patroclus, who falls backwards from his horse.

f. 44v: Echo and Narcissus conversing.

f. 45r: Apollo pursuing Daphne, who holds up her dress in her flight.

f. 45v: Andromache relating a prophetic dream to Hector, who is about to mount his war horse, whose helmet is being held by an attendant.

f. 46r: A group of armed men outside a castle, representing the capture of Babylon.

f. 46v: Priam and Andromache endeavour to dissuade Hector, who is on horseback, from going into battle.

f. 47r: Hector, without his shield, kneeling on a prostrate warrior, is thrust through by Achilles from behind with a spear.

f. 47v: Polibetes [Polypoetes] lying on the ground is pierced by Hector's lance; another knight lies dead beside him.

f. 48r: Polyxena and three men standing around the bier of Achilles, her lover.

f. 48v: The death of Ajax, foolishly going into battle without a shield.

f. 49r: Antenor plotting treason against Troy.

f. 49v: The wooden horse is brought over [!] the wall into Troy.

f. 50r: Four warriors setting fire to a tower (Troy).

f. 50v: Circe, crowned, with a page carrying drugs, contemplating a boar with a man's face (Ulysses).

f. 51r: Ino, crowned, attended by two ladies, showing a sack of roasted corn to two husbandmen.

f. 51v: The Sibyl on a mountainside showing Emperor Augustus, crowned, a vision of the Virgin and Child in the sun.

Large Champ-style gold initials (2 lines, but two initials of 3 lines on f. 1r) in frames of blue and purple with white spraywork inside the letters at the beginning of new sections on every page.

The headers ‘Glose’, ‘Texte’, and ‘Alegorie’ and Latin biblical passages below the ‘Alegorie’ columns written in red ink.

Capitals at the beginning of verse lines on ff. 1r-25r are usually highlighted in yellow but sometimes in red (ff. 23v-24r). No capitals highlighted after f. 25r.

Cadels in dark ink on ascenders of letters in the rubricated headers and on those of the first lines. Occasional cadels in brown or red ink on the descenders of letters of the final lines of the three columns (e.g. ff. 2r, 10r, 18r, 40r-41r), sometimes with red dots added to cadels in brown ink (f. 10r).

Additions

Modern note in pencil on the manuscript on : ‘C de Pisan b. 1363 - d. 1431 - This MS. c. 1460. See Catalogue of MSS of H.Y.T. Third Series page 33’.

Binding

18th-century red morroco leather over pasteboards; panelled binding with with a rectangular inner frame of gold-tooled double-filets with fleurons on its corners and a rectangular outer frame with foliate motifs alongside zigzag filets; the spine with six raised bands with gold-stamped fleurons in between them and the gold-stamped title: ‘EPITRE DE OTHOA [sic] MSS.’. Gilt edges. Marbled paper on the insides of the inner covers.

The manuscript is kept in a dark blue storage box with a dark leather label with the gold-stamped classmark: ‘MS 5’ on its side. A paper card is pasted inside the box, containing a printed formula for books that are rebound with funding from the Newnham Associates. This card has been filled in to state that the manuscript was 'rebound' - referring to the production of the aforementioned box in which the manuscript currently lives - in 2004 in memory of ‘Mrs J.M. Pace (Stewart)’ who matriculated from Newnham College in ‘1921’. An entry for this year in the College Register, kindly provided by Eve Lacey, Librarian of Newnham College Library, identifies her as Jean Margaret Stewart (1903-1997; NC 1921-1925, 1926-1927, College Scholar), daughter of Rev. Dr. Hugh Fraser Stewart and Jessie Graham Crum.

Binding height: 305mm; width: 230mm; depth: 25mm.

History

Origin: 1400-1450. ; Paris Hindman (1986), pp. 141-142

Provenance and Acquisition

Perhaps owned by the family De Tascher: Although Mombello (1967), p. 243 states that there are no name inscriptions of "ancient" former owners in the manuscript, the manuscript does feature the word ‘Tascher’ - possibly referring to the family of that name from Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais in the former province Perche - that a (?) 15th- or 16th-century hand has inscribed on the outer margin of f. 27r: ‘Tascher [...]’. Perhaps a member of their family also added the flourishes in brown ink that can be found next to the manuscript's early foliation and in the lower margin on f. 1r next to the number or classmark ‘41’ (? 17th or 18th century) and on f. 52v.

Florentin-Achille Seillière (1813-1873) , baron, banker and art collector: listed as lot no. 1222 in the sale of his manuscripts at Paris, 7 May 1890; see Catalogue de livres rares et précieux, manuscrits et imprimés, composant la bibliothèque de feu M. le baron Ach. S***** (Paris: Charles Porquet, 1890), vol. 1, pp. 308-309 (no. 1222).

Librarie Damascène Morgand, bookselling business in Paris founded by Damascène Morgand and Charles Fatout in 1875 that continued under the name of Morgand alone after Fatout's death in 1882: Purchased the manuscript at the sale of the rare books and manuscripts of Florentin-Achille Seillière in 1890; the name "Morgand" is written next to lot no. 1222 in an annotated copy of the sale catalogue of the library of Florentin-Achille Seillière. The manuscript is subsequently listed in Morgand's catalogues Bulletin mensuel de la Librairie Damascène Morgand, 15 (1889-1892), year 1890: p. 548 (no. 19097); and Répertoire méthodique de la librairie Damascène Morgand, 2 vols (Paris: Librairie Damascène Morgand, 1893), p. 412 (no. 2827). In 1897, Morgand entered into a partnership with Édouard Rahir. By 1903, the business was run by Rahir.

Édouard Rahir (1862–1924) , French bookseller and collector, long associated with the Société des bibliophiles français: acquired the manuscript as part of the Librarie Damascène Morgand and sold the manuscript to Henry Yates Thompson in 1904 as is indicated by a handwritten note on the printed ex libris on the inside of the upper cover [see the entry for Henry Yates Thompson for a transcription].

Henry Yates Thompson (1838–1928) , collector of illuminated manuscripts, newspaper proprietor, and grandson of Joseph Brooks Yates: purchased the manuscript from the French bookseller Édouard Rahir in 1904 as is indicated by a printed ex libris on the inside of the upper cover from the library of Henry Yates Thompson with the gold-stamped inscription: ‘EX MUSAEO HENRICI YATES THOMPSON’ that bears the handwritten number: ‘lxxix’ and the handwritten note: ‘M.G.e.e. Ed. Rahir 13 March 1904’. This manuscript is listed in the following catalogues of his library: Heny Yates Thompson, A Descriptive Catalogue of Twenty Illuminated Manuscripts, Nos. LXXV to XCIV. (Replacing Twenty Discarded from the Original Hundred) in the Collection of Henry Yates Thompson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1907), pp. 33-38 (no. 79); and Heny Yates Thompson, Illustations from One Hundred Manuscripts in the Library of Henry Yates Thompson, 7 vols (London: Chiswick Press, 1918), pp. 16-18, pls 61-62.

Presented to Newnham College Library in memory of Henry Yates Thompson (1838–1928) in 1929: as indicated by a handwritten inscription on the inside cover: ‘Given to Newnham College Library in memory of Henry Yates Thompson 1838-1928’. Newnham College Library's classmark ‘MS 5’ inscribed in pencil on f. [i] verso.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on N.R. Ker and Alan J. Piper Medieval manuscripts in British libraries, 5 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969–2002), II (1977): Abbotsford-Keele, p. 240.

Availability

Researchers should contact the Librarian and make a reader’s appointment to consult the manuscript. For more information, see Visiting the library.

Bibliography

    Bulletin mensuel de la Librairie Damascène Morgand, (Paris, 15, Librairie Damascène Morgand, 1889) Catalogue de livres rares et précieux, manuscrits et imprimés, composant la bibliothèque de feu M. le baron Ach. S*****, (Paris, Charles Porquet, 1890) Répertoire méthodique de la librairie Damascène Morgand, (Paris, 1, Librairie Damascène Morgand, 1893) A Descriptive Catalogue of Twenty Illuminated Manuscripts, Nos. LXXV to XCIV. (Replacing Twenty Discarded from the Original Hundred) in the Collection of Henry Yates Thompson, Thompson, Henry Yates (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1907) Illustrations from One Hundred Manuscripts in the Library of Henry Yates Thompson, Thompson, Henry Yates (London, 7, Chiswick Press, 1907) L’Epitre d’Othea: Etude sur les Sources de Christine de Pisan, Campbell, Percy Gerald Cadogan (Paris, Champion, 1924) Les manuscrits de la collection Henry Yates Thompson Bulletin de la Société française de reproductions de manuscrits à peintures, Ricci, Seymour de (Année 10, 42-72, 1926) Per un’edizione critica dell’ ‘Epistre Othea’ di Christine de Pizan I-II Studi francesi, Mombello, Gianni (24, 401-417, 1964) La tradizione manoscritta dell'Epistre Othéa di Christine de Pizan. Prolegomeni all'edizione del testo Memorie dell'Accademia delle scienze di Torino, Classe di Scienze morali, Storiche e Filologiche, Mombello, Gianni (Torino, 15, Accademia delle scienze, 1967) Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries: Abbotsford-Keele, Ker, N.R. (Oxford, 2, Clarendon Press, 1977) Christine de Pizan’s “Epitre Othéa”: Painting and Politics at the Court of Charles VI Studies and Texts, Hindman, Sandra L. (Toronto, 77, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1986) A List of Miniatures of Goddess Fortune in Mediaeval Manuscripts Bulletin of the Faculty of Education, Kagoshima University, Cultural and Social Sciences, Todoroki, Yoshiaka (41, 71-114, 1990) The Royal Image. Illustrations of the “Grandes Chroniques de France 1274–1422, Hedeman, Anne D. (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1991) La descente d’Orphée aux enfers dans l’Epistre Othea de Christine de Pizan: un véritable échec Studi Urbinati: B, scienze umane e sociali, Marcolini, Serena (69, 239-264, 1999) Myth, Montage, & Visuality in Late Medieval Manuscript Culture: Christine de Pizan's Epistre Othea, Desmond, MarilynSheingorn, Pamela (Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press, 2003) The Manuscripts of Henry Yates Thompson: Their Subsequent Provenance and Present Whereabouts, Where Known Provenance: Marks in Manuscripts, Kidd, Peter (2005, http://manuscripts.org.uk/provenance/dispersed/HYT.htm) Christine de Pizan, L’Epistre d’Othéa The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West, McKitterick, RosamondBinski, Paul (London, pp. 268-269 (no. 125), Harvey Miller, 2005) Le cycle iconographique perdu de l’Epistre Othea de Christine de Pizan: Le cas des manuscrits Beauvais, BM 09 et Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 421 Cahiers de recherches médiévales, Barbier, Anne-Marie (16, 279-299, 2008) Epître Othéa Jonas-IRHT/CNRS, , Anonymous (2013, http://jonas.irht.cnrs.fr/oeuvre/6200) L’Epistre Othea de Christine de Pizan: mise en page et tempo des séances de lecture Sens, rhétorique et musique. Études réunies en hommage à Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet Colloques, congrès et conférences sur le Moyen Âge, Regalado, Nany F. (Paris, 1, pp. 217-228, Champion, 2015) Fit For A Prince: The Ten Alternative Commandments in Christine de Pizan’s Epistre Othea The Ten Commandments in Medieval and Early Modern Culture Intersections, Cooper, Charlotte E. (Leiden, 52, 49-74, Brill, 2017) The Lytle Bibell of Knyghthod, Christine de Pizan's Epistre Othea, and the Problem with Authorial Manuscripts The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Schieberle, Misty (118, 1, 100-128, 2019) Le lien des images avec le texte dans les manuscrits tardifs de l’“Epistre Othea”: un indice de leur parenté avec les cycles iconographiques des manuscrits de présentation? Studi Francesi [Special issue: Christine de Pizan en 2021: traditions, filiations, genèse et diffusion des textes], Barbier, Anne-Marie (195, 3, 501-514, 2021) L’epistre Othea’ Les Archives de littérature du Moyen Âge (ARLIMA), Brun, Laurent (2023, https://arlima.net/no/10282)

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