A catalogue of Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries and selected Oxford colleges

OR BROWSE BY

MANUSCRIPTS
WORKS
PEOPLE
PLACES

MS. Douce 79

Summary Catalogue no.: 21653

Contents

Language(s): Anglo-Norman

(fols. 2r–3v)

Miniatures: see decoration. Separately framed in 1987.

(fols. 4r–13v)
André le Moine, La Penitance Adam (extract (?), imperfect)
Incipit: ||charroy par mon orgoil et auoyt tut purueu
Explicit: la nuit quant seint Peter reneya nostre seignor

The Old French text, otherwise known from Paris, BnF, MS. Français 95, translates the life of Adam and Eve, the legend of the Cross, the legend of Judas, and (in Français 95) the Gospel of Nicodemus and letter of Pilate. The present copy was identified by Sylviane Messerli and its variants included (siglum O) in her edition (pp. 115-128), with description of the manuscript at pp. 21-2. The text begins imperfectly in section 14 (p. 69 of the printed text), due to the loss of two leaves at the beginning, and ends in section 77 (p. 95); Messerli suggests (p. 22) that this was the original ending of our copy, which did not include the final sections of the text as found in the Paris manuscript. The author, 'André la Moine', is only known from this text.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: 14 leaves
Dimensions (leaf): 204 × 128 mm.

Collation

(fols. 4-13, after Messerli:) 1(8-2) (wanting 1, 2) (fols. 4-9), 2(4) (fols. 10-13). Fols. 2-3 are a bifolium.

Decoration

Four full-page minatures: Annunciation (fol. 2r), Nativity (fol. 2v), Assumption of the Virgin (fol. 3r), Coronation of the Virgin (fol. 3v), attributed to the Master of the Queen Mary Psalter (Sandler, cat. 59).

2-line decorated initials by the Master of the Queen Mary Psalter (attribution to the Ancient 6 Master, reported in Douce Legacy cat. 224, was corrected by Dennison in her later article, n. 27).

Initials extending into partial borders.

Binding

Green leather with blind and gold tooling, signed 'Bozerian', i.e. Jean-Claude Bozerian or François Bozerian.

History

Origin: 1320s ; English, probably London

Provenance and Acquisition

Almost certainly formerly part of Paris, BnF, MS. Français 13342: see Dennison 290-1. On Français 13342 see Sandler, cat. 58, and François Avril and Patricia Stirnemann, Manuscrits enluminés d'origine insulaire. VIIe-XXe siècle, (Paris, 1987), cat. 179.

Francis Douce, 1757–1834: part of a set of books bought from Samuel Woodburn in April 1818.

Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1834.

Record Sources

Adapted (Feb. 2023) from The Douce Legacy (1984), no. 224, with additional reference to published literature as cited. Previously described in the Summary Catalogue (1897).
Summary Catalogue, vol. 4, p. 513
Summary Catalogue, vol. 4, p. 514

Availability

To ensure its preservation, access to this item is restricted, and readers are asked to work from reproductions and published descriptions as far as possible. If you wish to apply to see the original, please click the request button above. When your request is received, you will be asked to contact the relevant curator outlining the subject of your research, the importance of this item to that research, and the resources you have already consulted.

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (full digital facsimile)
Digital Bodleian (10 images from 35mm slides)

Microfilm

Microfilm available in the open shelf collections in the Weston Library (R. Films 101)

Bibliography

    Online resources:

    ARLIMA

    Printed editions and descriptions:

    André Le Moine, La Penitance Adam, ed. S. Messerli, Classiques Français Du Moyen Age 198 (Paris, 2022)
    L. F. Sandler, Gothic Manuscripts 1285-1385, A Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles (1986), cat. 59.
    L. Dennison, 'An Illuminator of the Queen Mary Psalter Group: The Ancient 6 Master', The Antiquaries Journal, 66(2) (1986), 287-314. doi:10.1017/S0003581500028092
    Otto Pächt and J. J. G. Alexander, Illuminated Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library Oxford, III (1973), no. 539

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2023-02: Description revised with reference to published literature.