Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal.

Accession number
MS M.888
Object title
Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal.
Created
England, ca. 1225-1250
Binding
16th-century dark brown leather, greatly worn, 3 strips of paper pasted onto spine, the lowest one inscribed 51 in brown ink; front flyleaf has pencilled inscription, "The Valiant Actes & Prowesses of Sir John Marshall, tempore Regis Stephani"; fore edge inscribed "RITHME GALLICE"; in mottled paper-covered cardboard boxcase by Marguerite Duprez Lahey.
Credit line
Gift of the Fellows, 1958.
Description
127 leaves (2 columns, 38 lines), bound : vellum, illuminated ; 244 x 172 mm
Provenance
Acquired by the Savile family in the late 1500's (probably Sir John Savile the Elder, and rebound at this time); Savile sale of manuscripts collected by Sir John Savile the Elder, Sir Henry Savile, Provost of Eton, and Sir John Savile the Younger, London, Sotheby's, 6 February 1861, lot 51; bought by Pours; Sir Thomas Phillipps (Phillipps MS 25155); Lionel Robinson [W.H. Robinson, Ltd]; purchased from Robinson as gift of the Fellows with assistance of a grant from the Beinecke Foundation in 1958.
Notes
Ms. historical chronicle in Anglo-Norman verse written and illuminated in England, ca. 1225-1250. It is the only surviving contemporary biography of William Marshal (Earl of Pembroke, 1144?-1219) commissioned by his family; a rare biography of an actual knight.
Decoration: 1 large illuminated initial with marginal vine spray at upper margin (fol. 1), 1 drawing of a dragon in red ink on fol. 65.
Unicorn watermark on flyleaves; this general type dated ca. 1530 - 1570 - close to Briquet 10369, which is 16th century - supporting the theory that the MS was rebound for the Savile family in the 16th century; note in folder gives Paul Needham opinion that binding could be dated 16-17th century.
Script
minuscule
Language
Norman French
Century
Classification