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^Uummateti iBmaments 
 
 SELECTED FROM 
 
 MANUSCRIPTS AND EARLY PRINTED BOOKS 
 
 FROM THE SIXTH TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 
 DRAWN AND ENGRAVED 
 
 BY HENRY SHAW, F.S.A. 
 
 WITH 
 
 DESCRIPTIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 SIR FREDERIC MADDEN, K. H. F. R. S. 
 
 F. S. A. M. R. S. L. HON. M. It. I. A . CORH. F. S. A. E. 
 ASSISTANT-KEEPER OF THE MSS. IN THE 
 BRITISH MUSEUM 
 
 LONDON 
 
 WILLIAM PICKERING 
 1833 
 
C. Whiltingham, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The art of ornamenting Manuscripts in gold, silver, and colours, which 
 prevailed in Europe from the fourth to the sixteenth centuries, inclusive, 
 and which forms the connecting link between the ancient and modern 
 schools of painting, has hitherto received only a portion of that attention 
 it is justly entitled to claim. With the exception of those works which 
 treat of manuscripts chiefly in reference to their antiquity and character 
 of writing, such as Montfaucon, Mabillon, the " Nouveau Traite de 
 Diplomatique," and Astle, only two exist which seem to deserve 
 particular notice, namely, in England, the " Bibliographical Deca- 
 meron" of Dr. Dibdin,* and, in France, the " Histoire de l'Art 
 par les Monumens" of M. D'Agincourt.j- It is true that, previous 
 to the appearance of either of these,lj: the Abbe Rive announced an 
 essay on the subject, and actually caused a few copies of some en- 
 gravings to be struck off, but these are so wretchedly and faithlessly 
 executed, that no regret can be felt at the discontinuance of the Abbe's 
 design. § In regard to the works of Dr. Dibdin and M. D'Agincourt, 
 they both labour under the same disadvantage, that of not represent- 
 ing the subjects to the eye by means of colours, without which it is 
 impossible to form a just idea of the style or execution of a miniature. 
 Many of the specimens in the Decameron are engraved with a beauty 
 beyond all praise, but they rather exhibit a tasteful selection from a 
 certain number of beautiful MSS. accompanied by a running com- 
 mentary, than a critical history of the progress of art. The author, 
 
 * Published in 1817. f Published in 1823. $ In the year 1782. 
 
 § Only eighty copies were printed, each consisting of twenty-six plates, chiefly selected 
 from MSS. in the La Valliere collection, and nearly all of the same period, — the latter half 
 of the fifteenth century. No letter press was ever published, but in the Print Room of the 
 British Museum is a copy, with descriptions in MS. of the originals. 
 
 b 
 
2 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 indeed, very modestly, assumes only the merit of producing a Sketch, 
 capable, as he owns, of being filled up in a more costly and elaborate 
 manner. In this respect M. D'Agincourt has the superiority, but his 
 work is by no means complete, for, were his specimens always faithfully 
 delineated, (which there is often reason to doubt) they are confined 
 almost wholly to manuscripts executed by Greek and Italian artists, 
 and afford only a casual and very unsatisfactory glimpse of the state of 
 art in the greater portion of Europe. Great Britain, indeed, is wholly 
 neglected, yet there are well founded grounds for belief, that more con- 
 siderable progress in design and colouring had been made during the 
 tenth and eleventh centuries in England and France, than in Italy.* 
 
 The chief cause of only partial success in all attempts hitherto made, 
 has been, no doubt, the immense expense required to colour a series of 
 engravings so accurately as to give a faithful representation of the 
 originals ; an expense which would, in all probability, never be repaid 
 by the sale of the work, and only to be accomplished by the united muni- 
 ficence of distinguished patrons of art, and the support of those Societies 
 more particularly formed to promote undertakings of such a description. 
 
 Under these circumstances it is believed, with some degree of confi- 
 dence, that an attempt like the present, which aims merely at the 
 correct illustration of a humbler branch of the art, may not prove un- 
 welcome to the admirer of those tasteful and elaborate ornaments which 
 decorate the books of the middle ages. Leaving, therefore, the history 
 of the higher grade of miniature painting, — its rise, decline, revival, 
 and final extinction, — to those who may hereafter be enabled to enter 
 on it more fully, (and how desirable would it be, even if accomplished 
 in regard to Great Britain alone !) it will be the object of the present 
 Introduction to offer some general remarks on the practice and style of 
 ornamenting manuscript volumes in gold and colours, more particularly 
 as exemplified in borders, arabesques, and initial letters ; on all of which 
 the pencil has been exercised with an elaborate minuteness and beauty 
 of execution, which, in some respects, may challenge more admiration 
 than the larger and more masterly efforts of the limner. 
 
 * See Mr. Ottley's Letter to Mr. Gage, printed in the Archseologia, vol. xxiv. p. 30. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 The use of minium or vermilion in marking the commencement, 
 titles, or particular words of manuscripts, seems to be of very high 
 antiquity, since we find it commonly in the Egyptian papyri, the earliest 
 specimens of writing which have descended to modern times. In the 
 same papyri often" occur mythological figures, painted in red, blue, 
 green, yellow, and white colours. From Egypt the practice may have 
 passed to Greece and Rome, but, previous to the Christian era, no 
 evidence exists of the mode of writing manuscripts in either country, 
 and in the rolls of papyri discovered at Herculaneum (written in Italy, 
 in the early half of the first century,) there is no trace of any ornament 
 whatever. These rolls, however, appear to have been of an inferior 
 description in point of decoration, since we know from Ovid and Pliny, 
 that the Romans, long before^ the destruction of Pompeii, were accus- 
 tomed to rubricate their MSS., and adorn them with paintings. But 
 in the most ancient MSS. now remaining, red letters are used but 
 sparingly, and only at the beginning of books, or for titles. Such is 
 the case in the Medicean copy of Virgil, in the Alexandrian Codex, 
 and in the St. Cyprian and St. Augustine, formerly in the monastery 
 of St. Germain des Pres ; in each of which the books commence with 
 three lines written in vermilion. All the above volumes are assigned by 
 the best judges to the fourth or fifth centuries. 
 
 Among the Greeks of the Lower Empire, the use of cinnabar, pre- 
 pared in a peculiar manner, and termed by them the sacred iyicavarov, 
 was appropriated especially to the Emperor, on the signature of his 
 name to the imperial rescripts, as confirmed by an edict of Leo, A.D. 
 470. This usage continued till the thirteenth century, and, in the 
 Western Empire, was adopted by Charles the Bald, in the ninth, but 
 does not seem to have been continued by his successors. Whether any, 
 and what difference existed between this cinnabar and the vermilion 
 used in manuscripts, we are ignorant, but, in appearance, none can be 
 discovered, as we are assured by the learned Montfaucon.* 
 
 The process of laying on and burnishing gold and silver appears to 
 have been familiar to the oriental nations from a period of remote anti- 
 
 Palaeographia Graeca, cap. i. 
 
4 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 quity, and although there are no instances of its use in the Egyptian 
 papyri, yet it is not unreasonable to believe that the Greeks acquired 
 from Egypt or India the art of ornamenting manuscripts thus, which 
 they, probably, conveyed to the Romans. Among the later Greeks, 
 the usage became so common, that the scribes or artists in gold were 
 termed x? V(70 y? a( P ol > and seem to have constituted a distinct class. Pliny 
 is silent as to the practice in his time, therefore we may suppose it com- 
 menced among the Latins at the beginning of the second century. The 
 luxury thus introduced was augmented by writing on vellum stained of 
 a purple or rose colour, the earliest instance of which* is recorded by 
 Julius Capitolinus in his Life of the Emperor Maximinus the Younger, 
 to whom his mother made a present of the poems of Homer, written on 
 purple vellum, in golden letters. This took place at the commencement 
 of the third century. For upwards of a hundred years the practice 
 seems to have continued of rare occurrence, but, towards the end of the 
 fourth century, we learn from a well known passage of St. Jerome, that 
 it had become more frequent. It was, however, confined solely to 
 copies of the Scriptures and devotional books, written for the libraries 
 of princes, and the service of monasteries. The celebrated Codex 
 Argenteus of Ulphilas, written in silver and gold letters on a purple 
 ground, about A.D. 360, is, perhaps, the most ancient existing specimen 
 of this magnificent mode of calligraphy, after which may be instanced 
 the copy of Genesis at Vienna, the Psalter of St. Germain des Pres, 
 and the fragment of the New Testament in the Cottonian library, Titus, 
 C. xv. all executed in the fifth and sixth centuries. This taste for gold 
 and purple manuscripts seems only to have reached England, at the 
 close of the seventh century, -f when Wilfrid, archbishop of York, enriched 
 
 * By some writers Ovid is supposed to allude to purple vellum for writing, in his first 
 elegy De Tristibiis 1. 5, but the passage has certainly been misunderstood. By a comparison 
 of this with the corresponding passages in Martial, lib. 3. ep. 2, Tibullus, lib. 3. el. 1. and 
 Lucian, De Philosophis mercenariis, it is evident that the substance of the volume was 
 of papyrus ( charta) unstained, which was rolled up, for the sake of ornament or preser- 
 vation, in an outer covering of parchment, dyed purple or yellow. 
 
 t Yet, if we may credit an Annalist of the reign of Henry V. the Bible sent over by Pope 
 Gregory to St. Augustine, and preserved at Canterbury at that period, contained several 
 leaves stained of a purple or rose colour. See Wanley's Catalog, libr. Sepient. p. 173. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 his church with a copy of the gospels thus adorned, and it is described 
 by his biographer, Eddius, (who lived at that period, or shortly after) as 
 " inauditum ante seculis nostris quoddam miraculum," almost a miracle, 
 and before that time unheard of in this part of the world. But in the 
 eighth and ninth centuries the art of staining the vellum appears to 
 have declined, and the colour is no longer the same bright and beautiful 
 purple, violet, or rose colour of the preceding centuries. It is rare also 
 to meet with a volume stained throughout ; the artist contenting himself 
 with colouring a certain portion, such as the title, preface, or canon of 
 the mass.* 
 
 An unique example of a MS. written and illuminated on gold grounds, 
 on both sides of the leaf, is preserved in the British Museum, and a 
 faithful fac-simile of this precious fragment will be found in the four 
 first plates of the present work. 
 
 Manuscripts written in letters of gold on white vellum are chiefly 
 confined to the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries. Of these, the Bible 
 and Hours of Charles the Bald, preserved in the royal library at Paris, 
 and the Gospels of the Harleian collection, No. 2788. are, probably, 
 the finest examples extant. In England, the art of writing in gold 
 seems to have been but imperfectly understood in early times, and the 
 instances of it very uncommon. Indeed, the only remarkable one that 
 occurs of it is the Charter of King Edgar to the New Minster at Win- 
 chester, in the year 966.f- This volume is written throughout in gold, 
 
 * See the " Nouveau Traite de Diplomatique," torn. ii. pp. 98 — 101. In the British 
 Museum are two MSS. of this description worthy notice. The first is in the royal library, 
 marked 1 E vi. and was executed, unquestionably, in the eighth century, by the Hiberno- 
 Saxon school of art. It is a copy of the Gospels, in folio, several of the leaves of which are 
 stained of a beautiful rose colour (visible by holding- them to the light), with inscriptions on 
 them in gold and silver capital letters, an inch in height. The second instance occurs in 
 the Cottonian Collection, Tib. A. ii. and is a copy of the Gospels given by King Athelstan 
 to the church of Canterbury. The three first leaves are stained of a purple colour, with 
 titles in gold and silver. 
 
 -f MS. Cott. Vesp. A. viii. Prefixed is a representation of Edgar between the Virgin 
 and St. Peter, presenting his charter to Christ, who sits above, supported by angels. The 
 whole is within an elegant foliated border of gold and colours, and painted on a purple 
 ground. On the reverse of folio 2 is a gold inscription on a light blue ground, but not 
 stained through the leaf. 
 
6 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 but the ink has been so badly prepared, that great part of the writing 
 has ceased to adhere to the parchment. Some later additions have 
 been made, likewise in gold, in the reign of Henry the First, but the 
 chalk size on which the gilding is laid has caused it to rub off, and 
 become, in many places, illegible. 
 
 Writing in gold was less employed in the eleventh, twelfth, and thir- 
 teenth centuries than in earlier times,* but it again came into usage in 
 the fourteenth, particularly in devotional books of persons of rank. It 
 then exhibits, however, a totally different appearance from the ancient 
 art, and the gilding seems to be applied, not in a liquid state, but in 
 leaves. Among the Greeks the usage of writing whole pages in gold 
 continued to the latest period of the Empire, for in 1408, the Emperor 
 Manuel Palaeologus gave to the monastery of St. Denis, in France, a 
 copy of the works of Dionysius the Areopagite, thus ornamented. 
 
 The use of gold and silver was not confined to the Greeks and Latins, 
 but is found also in oriental MSS. Pietro della Valle mentions a copy 
 of the Gospels in Syriac, written in gold, which he saw at Aleppo in 
 1625, and reputed to be four hundred years old. At Berlin, according 
 to Wolf, is a Hebrew MS. of the thirteenth century, the titles and 
 initial words of which are in gold. In the Sloane collection, Nos. 
 2835 — 2838, are rolls in the language of Thibet, written in gold and 
 silver, on dark blue paper, and among the Arabians and Persians ex- 
 amples of later MSS. written and ornamented in gold and silver are 
 found in abundance, and display a beauty and minuteness so truly 
 wonderful, as to surpass the efforts of any European artist. 
 
 The initial letters of manuscripts in the earliest period were not dis- 
 tinguished in size from the rest of the text, (the whole of which was 
 then written in capitals) and when coloured, were of a much simpler 
 taste than began to be used at the end of the seventh century. In this, 
 as in every other change relative to the art of calligraphy or painting, 
 the Greek school took the lead, and afforded models which the rest of 
 
 * In the History of Walter Whitleseye, apud Sparke, p. 173, it is stated that Godfrey, 
 abbot of Peterborough, elected in 1299, gave to an Italian cardinal a Psalter, written in 
 letters of azure and gold, and wonderfully illuminated. See also Dibdin's Bibliographical 
 Tour, vol. iii. p. 465, for some account of an Evangelistarium, written in Germany, in letters 
 of gold, in the year 1368, and of a Missal, in letters of silver, p. 466. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 Europe was content for a long time to copy. In the famous MS. of 
 Dioscorides at Vienna, of the beginning of the sixth century, great 
 elegance of design is often exhibited in the borders, and still more so 
 in the golden fragment of the Canons, engraved in the present work. 
 Even as early as the close of the sixth century there would appear to 
 have been a school of art in the east, the productions of which are 
 far from contemptible, as may be judged by the Syriac MS. of the 
 Gospels in the imperial library at Vienna, written in the monastery of 
 Zagba, a city of Mesopotamia, in the year 586. The illuminations of 
 this MS. are engraved by Biscioni, and afford a great variety of patterns 
 of borders, of very chaste and elegant design, painted in gold and 
 colours. 
 
 From the eighth to the eleventh century occur in Greek and Latin 
 MSS. initial letters of a large size at the commencement of books and 
 chapters, fancifully composed of human figures, animals, birds, fish, 
 flowers, &c. In Montfaucon an alphabet is given, selected from MSS. 
 of the ninth and tenth centuries, many of which are sufficiently sin- 
 gular and ingenious, such, for instance, as an H, composed of two men, 
 each placing one foot on a blazing altar ; a T, represented by a fox on 
 its hind legs, holding a pole on its mouth horizontally, from the ends of 
 which hang two cocks, &c. These letters are called by the Bene- 
 dictines historiees, because they often bear reference to or illustrate the 
 text to which they are prefixed. Thus, a MS. of the thirty-fourth 
 Homily of St. Chrysostom, commencing " Yesterday we returned from 
 battle," is headed by a capital E, in which is depicted a warrior, 
 armed with a spear. So, in another tract on the Pains of Hell, the 
 initial letter K represents an enormous serpent, swallowing a man. 
 The imagination of the illuminator supplied an inexhaustible source for 
 this species of letters. The Latins were more careful even than the 
 Greeks in making these letters correspond with the subject they orna- 
 mented, of which the Sacramentary of Gellon, quoted in the " Nouveau 
 Traite," offers many curious examples. They occur most frequently in 
 the Visi-gothic and Franco-gallic MSS., and vary in size from a foot to 
 two inches in height.* The era during which these were most in vogue 
 
 * See PI. 19. torn. ii. of the work cited above, which contains a copious selection of these 
 letters from MSS. of the ninth century. 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 comprises the eighth and ninth centuries, and they often afford in style 
 an accurate test of the antiquity of a MS. which is, moreover, earlier in 
 proportion to the rarity of their occurrence. The same description of 
 letters, but of more elegant design, is to be met with at a later period, 
 of which some good examples are furnished by a Greek Evangelisterium, 
 written about A.D. 1200 (formerly in the library of Mr. Dent), and in 
 a copy of St. Paul's Epistles, preserved in the library of Christ Church, 
 Oxford, of the twelfth century.* The barbarous remains of this taste, 
 degenerated into mere grotesque, may be seen in Plate LVI. of the 
 present work, taken from a MS. in the Ashmolean Museum, and at a 
 still more recent date, in Jeremy Hay's copy book, presented to Henry 
 VIII. among the royal MSS.-j- 
 
 The Irish or Hiberno-Saxon school of illumination merits distinct 
 notice, since it is of a peculiar and marked style, originally, no doubt, 
 borrowed from the Latins, but characterised by a design and execution 
 not found in MSS. of other nations. The most convincing proof of the 
 skill of the artists of this school may be seen in the celebrated Durham 
 Book of the eighth century, from which a specimen is given in the present 
 work. Similar to this must have been the copy of the Gospels seen at 
 Kildare in the twelfth century, by Giraldus Cambrensis, supposed to 
 have been written in the sixth century. The traveller speaks of it 
 with rapture, and describes its paintings and ornaments, " tarn delicatas 
 et subtiles, tarn actas et arctas, tam nodosas et vinculatim colligatas, 
 tamque recentibus adhuc coloribus illustratas intricatui *as, as fully to 
 justify, in his opinion, the legend of its miraculous execution, by the 
 intercession of St. Brigit, from patterns brought by an angel to the 
 illuminator.^ The chief features of the ornaments and letters prevalent 
 in MSS. of this class are, extreme intricacy of pattern, interlacings of 
 knots in a diagonal or square form, sometimes interwoven with animals, 
 and terminations in heads of serpents or birds, to which may be added 
 the use of red dotted lines round the edge of the larger letters. All 
 
 * See Dibdin's Decameron, vol. i. pp. xcii. and cviii. 
 
 f MS. Reg. 17. A. xxviii. 
 
 | Topogr. Hibern. lib. ii. cap. 38. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 this seems to the worthy Benedictines to be the result of a gloomy 
 imagination, acted on by the influence of the atmosphere ! " Tout se 
 ressent," say they, " de la durete, du climat," yet it would be difficult to 
 assign any solid reason why the interlaced and serpentine letters of the 
 Hiberno-Saxon school should be more harsh or less interesting than the 
 tesselated or embroidered capitals met with in Lombardic and Visi- 
 gothic MSS. Certain it is, that both on monuments and in manu- 
 scripts, not only of France, but of Italy, Germany, and the northern 
 countries, evident traces of imitation of this peculiar style may be 
 found.* 
 
 The patronage afforded by Charlemagne and his grandson, Charles 
 the Bald, to the art of illuminating MSS. caused a greater number of 
 beautiful volumes to be executed during the eighth and ninth centuries 
 than at any other period, perhaps, that could be named. It is presumed, 
 that Italian or German artists (who worked after the models of the 
 Greek school) were chiefly employed, and as a splendid instance of the 
 mechanical skill thus exercised, the Bible of Charlemagne, preserved in 
 the church of St. Paul at Rome, is, probably, not to be equalled, even 
 at the present day. It affords also a decisive proof that the taste and 
 execution displayed in ornamental accessories of MSS. did not decline 
 in the same manner as the higher branches of composition and colouring, 
 
 * The pages of Dr. O'Connor, in his prefatory volume to the Herum Hibernicariim Scrip- 
 tores, may be consulted for a more detailed account of the Hiberno-Saxon school of art, 
 from the sixth to the ninth century. In addition to the Durham Book may be mentioned 
 as specimens of this style, the Psalters of St. Salaberg, of St. Owen, and of the Cottonian 
 library, Vesp. A. i. the Missal of St. Columbanus, at Bobio, the Gospels of St. Kilian, at 
 Wirtzberg, of St. Boniface, at Fidda, of St. Columba, at Dublin, of St. Chad, at 
 Litchfield, of St. Germain des Pres, No. 108., of the Royal library, British Museum, 
 marked 1 E. vi., of the Monastery of St. Gall, and those written by Mac-Regol, 
 in the Bodleian, and by Maelbrith-Macdurnan, in the Lambeth libraries. All the 
 above are to be ascribed to the sixth, seventh or eighth centuries. This note is already 
 too long, but it is absolutely necessary to add, that the Cotton MS. Vesp. A. i. is the 
 identical volume described by a monk of St. Augustine's, in the reign of Henry V. 
 as one of those which was sent over by Pope Gregory to St. Austin, in the sixth century, 
 and reputed to be the "primitiae librorum totius ecclesise Anglicanee." See Wanley's Cata- 
 logue, p. 173. The monk may, however, have been deceived by the tradition respecting it, 
 as it clearly exhibits the Hiberno-Saxon character of art of the seventh century. 
 
 C 
 
10 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 nor are to be judged by the same rules,* but gradually advanced in 
 perfection from the eighth to the sixteenth centuries. 
 
 Among the Saxons, towards the close of the tenth century, a style of 
 ornament prevailed which must be considered peculiar to themselves, 
 and which, for boldness, correctness of design, and richness, cannot be 
 surpassed by any works executed on the continent at the same period. 
 The magnificent Benedictional of the Duke of Devonshire, written and 
 illuminated between 963 and 970,-f is alone sufficient to prove the truth 
 of this assertion, which is farther corroborated by the Benedictional at 
 Rouen, the Psalter in the Arundel collection, No. 155, the Cottonian 
 Psalter, (of which specimens are given in PI. VI.) and the Gospels of 
 the royal library, 1 D. ix. the whole of which betray evident marks of 
 having proceeded from the same school of design, and which, in all 
 probability, was principally established at Winchester, where we know 
 that most of the above MSS. were written.^. Some singular examples 
 of co-eval Saxon initial letters, formed after the continental taste, of 
 serpents, birds, and foliage, may be found in the MS. of Csedmon, pre- 
 served in the Bodleian library. § 
 
 Manuscripts of the eleventh century exhibit very beautiful instances 
 of borders, particularly Greek MSS. executed for persons of rank, such 
 as the copy of St. Chrysostom's writings, illuminated for the Emperor 
 Nicephorus Botoniata, between the years 1078 — 1081. || Some smaller 
 specimens, from the hand of an Italian artist, are engraved in PI. VII. 
 
 In the commoner Latin MSS. of this period, written in England and 
 France, the use of a very delicate light blue and bright green may be 
 observed in the titles and initial letters, and continued till the middle of 
 the succeeding century. The writing, in general, is extremely beautiful, 
 in a fine Roman lower-case letter. 
 
 The twelfth century is remarkable for a profusion of ornament, 
 and a graceful but intricate mode of illuminating capital letters, 
 
 * See D'Agincourt, Histoire de l'art, torn ii. pi. 45, and torn iii. p. 47. 
 T See Archseologia, vol. xxiv. p. 22. 
 % lb. pp. 40—42. 
 
 § Engraved in the Archseologia, vol. xxiv. pi. ciii. civ. 
 || See Montfaucon, Bibl. Coisliniana, p. 133. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 which renders it more easy to recognise manuscripts of this period 
 than any other. The numerous specimens in Plates IX. — XVII. 
 will give some idea of this style, which by the aid of gold and silver, 
 was carried to an excess of extravagance scarcely to be conceived. 
 In elegance and elaborate art the decorations of this century will 
 yield to none, but they occasionally betray a portion of that false 
 taste which gradually crept into the patterns of a later period. The 
 arabesques of Greek MSS. of the same interval, executed in azure and 
 gold, are often strikingly beautiful, and a good example of them is 
 offered by the Ebner Codex, engraved in PI. VIII. About this time it 
 became the practice for the scribes to leave blanks for the initial letters, 
 to be filled up by one or more limners, and this accounts for the imper- 
 fect state, and sometimes total omission of them which we find in manu- 
 script volumes of this and the two succeeding centuries. The fashion, 
 also, of writing books of a size and magnitude almost incredible was 
 adopted towards the end of the twelfth century, and is noticed by an 
 English writer of that period, who says he saw at Paris certain scho- 
 lastic brutes (bestiales) having before them " descriptos codices impor- 
 tabiles aureis literis," containing the Digests of Ulpian.* 
 
 In the thirteenth century the art of illuminating, in some respects, 
 deteriorated, and endeavoured to supply in splendour what it lost in 
 correctness of taste. The back grounds of miniatures and initial letters 
 seem like plates of solid gold, and the colours (chiefly red and blue, 
 heightened with white) are worked up so as frequently to have the 
 effect of oil painting. This style prevailed most from about the year 
 1 190 to 1230 ; and among the numerous splendid examples of it in 
 existence may be instanced the Bestiarium in the Ashmolean library, 
 the Weingarten Breviaries, preserved at Holkham, and the Psalter in 
 the royal library, 1. D. x. In general, MSS. of this class are 
 of German or French execution. Perhaps one of the most curious 
 documents relative to the calligraphy of the period under considera- 
 tion is the catalogue of the books bequeathed by Cardinal Guala to 
 the monastery of St. Andrew, at Vercelli, in 1227, in which all the 
 varieties of scription and ornament, whether French, English, Italian, 
 
 * Wood, Hist. Univ. Oxon. sub anno 1189. 
 
12 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Lombardic, &c. are noted down.* At this time also the mode of gilding 
 and preparing colours to ornament books was reduced into a sort of 
 manual, which, doubtless, contributed to increase the number of limners, 
 by rendering their art more attainable.-]- 
 
 It was during the thirteenth century that the higher department of 
 art received new life in Italy from the hands of Niccola Pisano, Cimabue, 
 and Giotto, the latter of whom triumphed over the faults of the Greek 
 school of design, and formed a manner of his own, founded on nature, 
 which prevailed until the era of Leonardo da Vinci. These artists, 
 doubtless, contributed much towards the improvement of taste in the 
 practice of decorating manuscripts, yet it is worthy of remark, that 
 fewer volumes with costly illuminations seem to have been executed in 
 the latter half of this century than at its commencement. But at the 
 close of this period, answering to the end of the reign of our Edward I. 
 the art was again renewed with vigour, and numerous elaborate proofs 
 of it abound, mingled, however, with the perpetual recurrence of the 
 most grotesque subjects, the surest indication of a decline in taste. It 
 was, unquestionably, to this practice of introducing grotesque figures of 
 animals within the borders of MSS. that Odofred, the well known 
 civilian of Bologna, alludes in his comment on the Justinian Code, 
 when speaking of a scholar who went to study at Paris, " et fecit libros 
 suos babuinare de Uteris aureis.";]; 
 
 To the early part of the fourteenth century are to be ascribed the 
 numerous MSS. executed in England and France, in which appear 
 large initial letters of purple, red and gold, containing figures of men 
 and animals, and terminating in spiral scrolls, which extend along the 
 upper and lower margins of the volume — often supporting small groups 
 or single figures of dogs, hares, apes, &c. The magnificent Psalter 
 belonging to Lord Braybrooke, from which two engravings have been 
 
 * Gualse Bicherii Card. Vita, p. 175. 
 
 + A MS. volume of this nature is in the valuable library of Sir Tho. Phillipps, Bart. It 
 bears the strange title of " Mappa clavicular 
 
 % In 1. Macedon, c. de Senat. cons. Macedon. ap. Fantucci, " Notizie degli Scrittori 
 Bolognesi," torn. vi. p. 166. Odofred flourished in the middle of the thirteenth century, and 
 died in 1265. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 13 
 
 selected, PI. XXI. XXII. is a precious monument of this bizarre 
 but splendid style of art, and the Breviary in the royal library, 2 B. vii. 
 offers in its marginal groups one of the most favourable specimens of the 
 drawing of that period. The colours used in these and similar volumes, 
 particularly the blues and reds, are of a beauty and intensity, which 
 modern artists have never been able to imitate. 
 
 From a passage in Dante, often quoted, it seems that in Italy the 
 pencil of Oderigi of Gubbio (a contemporary of Giotto, and, like him, a 
 pupil of Cimabue) had been surpassed by the productions of Franco 
 Bolognese, whose skill in illuminating MSS. was then paramount. 
 
 Non se' tu Oderigi, 
 
 L'onor d'Agobbio, e l'onor di quell'arte 
 Ch'alluminare e chiamata in Parigri ? 
 Frate, diss'egli, piu ridon le carte, 
 
 Che penelleggia Franco Bolognese. Purg. Cant. xi. 
 
 It is hence conjectured, with some probability, that the term of illu- 
 mination had been recently borrowed by the Italians from the French, 
 yet this term was by no means novel, and had been commonly used by 
 English and French writers from the eighth century, as may be seen in 
 Du Cange.* 
 
 A splendid example of the French style of colouring, in the middle of 
 this century, is presented in the Romance of Alexander, preserved in 
 the Bodleian Library, No. 264, and some very remarkable specimens of 
 German art, at a somewhat later period, may be found in the German 
 Bible executed for the Emperor Wenceslaus, in the imperial library at 
 Vienna.'f- 
 
 During the fifteenth century, the art of painting made rapid strides 
 towards the perfection it attained in the subsequent age, and numberless 
 examples remain in public and private libraries, exhibiting an endless 
 variety of design and colouring. To particularise is scarcely necessary, 
 where so ample a field is presented, but in beauty and richness of exe- 
 cution, perhaps there are but few volumes which surpass the collection 
 
 # In v. Illuminare. 
 
 t See Lambecius, lib. 2. col. 527. (Ed. Kollar) and Dibdin's Tour, vol. iii. p. 461. 
 
14 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of the Poems of Christina de Pise in the Harleian library, No. 4431, 
 the celebrated Bedford Missal, now in the possession of Sir John Tobin, 
 or the collection of romances presented by the Earl of Shrewsbury to 
 Margaret of Anjou, preserved among the royal MSS. All these were 
 executed by French artists, whose skill was at this period generally 
 patronised, and it is from the reign of Henry the Fifth may be dated 
 the decline of the art in England, since the close connexion with France 
 and the Low Countries caused foreigners to be employed to the prejudice 
 of native talent. The only volume of merit we recollect illuminated by 
 an English hand of this period is Lydgate's Life of St. Edmund, more 
 particularly described hereafter.* The ornaments and borders of manu- 
 scripts are of a completely different taste to those of the preceding 
 century. Nature again began to be studied, and in lieu of grotesque 
 figures we are presented with flowers of every hue, fruits, birds, and 
 insects most delicately and minutely coloured upon gold grounds, with 
 a brilliancy of effect before unknown. The invention of printing, which 
 took place in the middle of this century, produced for nearly fifty years 
 no very sensible effect on the labours of the illuminatists. In Italy, 
 particularly, great numbers of classic authors were written and illumi- 
 nated at this time, and the talent of Francisco Veronese, and Girolamo 
 da i Libri was not only exerted in painting the magnificent choral books 
 of the Vatican, (on which the art of Silvestro degli Angeli had previously 
 been exercised with success) but in executing for sovereign princes or 
 prelates embellishments of the highest order to missals, or editions of 
 favorite authors, printed on vellum. The Pliny of Mr. Douce and the 
 Sforziada of Mr. Hanrott (from both of which specimens are given in the 
 present work) are sufficient proofs how highly the skill of the miniature 
 painter continued to be prized. The art of colouring in what is termed 
 camieu gris, afforded also to the artist fresh scope for his skill, in the dis- 
 position of light and shade, and a volume executed in this manner for 
 Charles, Duke of Burgundy, containing the miracles of the Virgin, in Mr. 
 Douce's library, is so extraordinary a specimen of what could then be ac- 
 complished, that it rises superior to all the gorgeous and glittering decora- 
 tions of more costly volumes. As a work of art, it is, perhaps, unrivalled. 
 
 * See PI. XXXII. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 15 
 
 In England, as before intimated, miniature painting now fell to the 
 lowest degree of estimation, and, after the reign of Henry the Seventh, 
 disappears altogether. During the latter portion of the fifteenth century 
 foreign artists were constantly employed, and chiefly of the Flemish 
 school, the harshness and mannerism of which is scarcely atoned for by 
 the profusion of gold used in the draperies, foregrounds, and even naked 
 parts of the figure. A sufficient number of examples of the art of this 
 century will be found in the present work, and will serve better than 
 the most elaborate disquisition, to afford a perfect conception of the state 
 of the art of illumination, as then practised throughout Europe.* 
 
 The sixteenth century witnessed the final triumph of art produced by 
 the successive pencils of Da Vinci, Raffaello, Julio Romano, and Julio 
 Clovio, and the numerous libraries formed during the latter half of the 
 preceding century gave a stimulus to the success of these distinguished 
 men. Miniature painting received a new degree of lustre and dignity 
 from its being practised by artists who were also renowned for works 
 executed on a grander scale. Of these artists the one who rose to the 
 highest degree of eminence as an illuminator of missals, and who seems 
 never to have been surpassed, was Julio Clovio. His paintings are 
 inimitable, and must be seen to be justly appreciated. They were 
 chiefly executed for the libraries of Cosmo de Medici, and the Cardinals 
 Grimani and Farnese, and but few specimens of celebrity have reached 
 this country. Only two are well known to the connoisseur, namely, the 
 missals in the Towneley and Grenville collections, the latter of which, 
 painted expressly for Philip II. of Spain, is described at great length in 
 the Bibliographical Decameron.-j- 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to pursue this inquiry further, or to quote 
 inferior examples of art, which are to be met with in every collection of 
 MSS. But in regard to French and German art during this late period, 
 it may not be uninteresting to refer to the copy of the Roman de la 
 Rose, and book of Chronicles, illuminated for Francis the First, noticed 
 
 * Among the finest productions at the close of the century may be pointed out the Hours 
 of Anne of Brittany, in the Bibliotheque du Roi, at Paris, and the Missal executed for 
 Isabel of Spain, by Francisco de Roias, in the possession of Sir John Tobin, of Liverpool. 
 
 T Bibl. Decam. vol. i. pp. clxxxviii — cxciv. 
 
16 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in the Decameron, and the splendid MS. on Alchemy in the Harleian 
 collection, No. 3469, finished in 1582. 
 
 In the seventeenth century the art of illumination still existed, but 
 was rarely practised and almost wholly confined to the decoration of 
 relioious or heraldic volumes. The book of Hours, belong-mo- to the 
 ducal family of St. Croy, dated in 1601, splendidly emblasoned and 
 illuminated, in the British Museum, MS. Add. 8824, and the gorgeous 
 volume executed for Philip IV. king of Spain, in 1637, by Francisco 
 de Herrera, in the Hafod library, will serve as examples of the expiring 
 art of book-decoration. Perhaps the latest specimen remaining is the 
 magnificent missal in the public library at Rouen, nearly three feet in 
 height, which occupied the labour of a monk of St. Audoen for thirty 
 years, and was completed in 1682. 
 
 The limits assigned to this Introduction prevent our proceeding 
 farther, and enough, probably, has been said to induce those who' are 
 interested in the subject to pursue their researches in the extensive field 
 offered to them by the public and private libraries at home and abroad. 
 Miniature painting, as observed by M. D'Agincourt, although a secon- 
 dary branch of art, may claim the merit of having contributed in a great 
 measure to the re-establishment of painting on a grander scale, and also 
 of having preserved by the beauty or bizarrerie of its designs many 
 valuable works from destruction, which would else have perished, in 
 common with other monuments less adorned. In respect to the spe- 
 cimens selected in the present work, it is only necessary in conclusion 
 to say, that they have been chosen, in general, with a view to present 
 the distinctive character of each century, and, at the same time, to 
 exhibit as much variety as could be embraced within the compass of the 
 undertaking. They may fairly challenge the praise of being more 
 accurate representations of the originals than have ever before been offered 
 to the public, and when we add to this, to many the no less powerful 
 considerations of elegance, taste, and beauty displayed in them, they 
 will, perhaps, be admitted, without hesitation, to be an appropriate 
 ornament either to the library or the boudoir. 
 
 F. M. 
 
 British Museum, August 13///, 1833. 
 
KANOMCJJIM 6IOVNANMTTYUC6 NTITCJD 
 
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I. 
 
 The annexed illuminated fac-simile is so remarkable from its beauty 
 and antiquity, that it is surprising it should hitherto have escaped the 
 notice of all who have written on the subject of the most ancient Greek 
 MSS. The original [MS. Add. 5111. Brit. Mus.] is a mere fragment 
 of two leaves, and even these have been miserably cut down to perhaps 
 half their original size, and are, in other respects, much injured by 
 neglect ; but notwithstanding these defects, they must certainly be 
 reckoned among the most precious remains of early calligraphy and 
 illumination in existence. The ground of these leaves is entirely of 
 gold, on both sides, on which are painted columns and arches, for the 
 reception of the Eusebian Canons, most elegantly filled up with orna- 
 ments and patterns in red, blue, and green ; whilst on the upper part are 
 introduced small heads of the evangelists, inclosed in circles, executed 
 in a most masterly style of art. On the first page is a portion of the 
 letter from Eusebius to Carpian, on the use of the Canons, which is to 
 be thus read : — 
 
 " Kav6vu)v £i ovv avairrv^aQ £v ti tw[v Ttaaapiov] 
 tvayytXiOTiov oiroiov <5r}7ror£ (5ov[\r)9utiq £7re-] 
 <TT»j<rat tivi Ui (3ov\h K£(j>aXa'i(i)' /c[ora yvCovai ri-J 
 veq ra Trapaw\ri<jia upr\Kaai' Kat [roue ot/c«-] 
 ovq tKaoTOv tottovq tvpuv £V [otg Kara rwv] 
 avrajv T)vtyQi(jav (SIC ) t\q tiriyiq ( SIC ) 7r[£f»i/C07rTjc] 
 avaXafiovTWV ( SIC ) 7rpoKH/u£vov a^piQpbv £7Ti-] 
 ZflrriaaQ ts avrov £V rw Kavo\yi ov T) ^lavrov^ 
 KivvafiaptcjQ inroanpiwaiQ (sic) v[TTofitfi\r]Ktv\ 
 eiaiv (sic ) fitv tvOvg tK tmv iVt p.t\rwTrov row] 
 Kavovoq Trpoypa<f>iov 7ro<rot[r£ Kara rt'vft] 
 7T£pt ov £*/rac tipntcaaiv £7ri[<rrr/CTac Tt] 
 
Kal rote; tmv Aoi7ruiv tvayyt\[iOT(ov apt-] 
 
 Q/AOIQ TOIQ £V TU) KCLVOVl <1) f7rf[^£l(,' aptfyxw] 
 
 irapaK£if.uvoig tirt\Xji)TT)aaQ rt avrovq ev-] 
 Sov ev rotc[(St'oig f/caarou evayytXlov tottoiq 
 
 On the other three pages is a portion of the Canons, but the margins 
 have been so cut, that one third of each table is now lost. 
 
 These fragments are inserted in a copy of the Greek Gospels written 
 in the year 1189, which formerly belonged to one of the monasteries of 
 Mount Athos, and was purchased for the British Museum at the sale 
 of Dr. Askew's library in 1785. Of their antiquity it is difficult to 
 form an accurate judgment, but from the absence of accents, and the 
 similarity of the character to the Alexandrian Codex, and to the 
 Dioscorides of the Imperial library at Vienna, they may, with the 
 highest probability, be assigned to the sixth century. The volume of 
 which they once formed a part, if we may judge of its splendour from 
 the portions which remain, must have been executed for a crowned 
 head, as no meaner individual at that period could have been rich 
 enough to cause such a volume to be executed. See Montfaucon's 
 Palmographia Groeca, lib. iii. cap. 2, 3, Lambecius, vol. ii. col. 127, 
 sqq. ed. Kollar, and Zornii Historia Bibliorum Manualium, cap. iii. 4to. 
 Lips. 1738. 
 
■ 
 
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II. 
 
 The manuscript from which the opposite specimen is copied, [MS. 
 Cott. Nero, D. iv.] has been so often described, and is so well known by 
 the appellation of " The Durham Book," or St. Cuthbert's Gospels," that 
 a brief notice of. it will here only be necessary. It is a folio volume, 
 written on two hundred and fifty-eight leaves of thick vellum, containing 
 the four Gospels in the Latin version of St. Jerome, to which are prefixed, 
 as usual, the Canons of Eusebius. The text is written in double columns, 
 in a bold open letter, corresponding in character with the co-eval copies 
 of the Gospels called " St. Columba's," at Dublin, " St. Chad's," at 
 Litchfield, and " The Rushworth," in the Bodleian Library. Prefixed 
 to each Gospel are paintings representing one of the Evangelists, (all 
 engraved in Strutt's Horda) and a tesselated Cross, executed in the 
 most elaborate and beautiful manner. The commencement of each 
 Gospel is also illuminated in large capital letters, many of which are 
 most elegantly and skilfully executed, as the specimen selected from the 
 beginning of St. Matthew's Gospel will prove, the first words of which 
 are : " Xpi [Christi] autem generatio sic erat," &c. Between the lines 
 of the text is introduced a Saxon Gloss, of the highest value, from its 
 containing so early a specimen of the Northumbrian dialect, and at the 
 close of the volume a note is added by the Saxon scribe, from which we 
 learn its history. From this note, compared with the account of 
 Simeon, Precentor of Durham, (who had the book before his eyes, in 
 its pristine condition, at the end of the eleventh century) we may 
 conclude, that the manuscript in question was written and illuminated in 
 honour of St. Cuthbert, by Eadfrith, bishop of Lindisfarn, who suc- 
 ceeded to that see in the year 698, and died in 721.* His successor 
 
 * Selden, Smith, Astle, and others are certainly mistaken in supposing the book to have 
 been written before St. Cuthbert's death, which took place in 687. 
 
iEthelwald caused it to be splendidly bound, and adorned with gold 
 and gems, which was executed, under his direction, by Bilfrith the 
 anchorite, who, according to Simeon of Durham, was " aurificii arte 
 praecipuus." Thus completed, it was preserved in the monastery of 
 Lindisfarn, till about the year 875, when, on account of the renewed 
 devastations of the Danes, bishop Eardulf and abbot Eadred carried 
 away from the monastery the bones of St. Cuthbert and other saints, 
 and also this precious volume. Having proposed to pass over to 
 Ireland, (from which country the monastery of Lindisfarn had originally 
 been founded) they set sail from the mouth of the river Derwent, but 
 encountering a storm, the ship was thrown on one side by the violence 
 of the waves, and St. Cuthbert's Gospels carried away into the deep. 
 A book of such value, however, was not permitted by the patron saint 
 to be lost ; and in a dream it was shortly after revealed to one of the 
 monks, on their arrival at Whitern, (Whitehaven?) that they should 
 find the volume on the recess of the tide, which accordingly happened, 
 to their great joy, at a distance of three miles from the haven. The 
 historian Simeon records it as a miracle, that the pages of the volume 
 were not in the slightest degree injured by the salt water; and although 
 there are at present occasional stains on it, yet the illuminations are 
 throughout in the most perfect preservation. After its safe deposition 
 in the monastery at Durham, (to which spot St. Cuthbert had directed 
 the steps of his followers) the Saxon Gloss was added by the hand of 
 Aldred, the Priest, son of iElfred, who is identified by Dr. O'Connor 
 as the bishop of that see from the year 946 to 968. This corresponds 
 extremely well with the age of the writing. Nothing more is known 
 concerning this famous book, which seems to have been preserved at 
 Durham till the period of the Reformation, when it was despoiled of its 
 cover for the sake of the gold and jewels which adorned it. At a sub- 
 sequent period it came into the hands of Robert Bowyer, Clerk of Par- 
 liament, in the reign of King James the First, and afterwards into the 
 collection of Sir Robert Cotton, of whose valuable library it now forms 
 the brightest ornament. 
 
III. 
 
 The Cottonian MS. Tiberius, C. vi., which supplies these examples of 
 Saxon letters and borders, has suffered greatly from the disastrous fire, 
 which in the year 1731, destroyed so many treasures of that collec- 
 tion. It is a short folio, written on vellum, towards the close of the 
 tenth century, and now consists of one hundred and thirteen leaves, but 
 is imperfect at the end. It contains the Psalter of St. Jerome's version, 
 accompanied by a Saxon Gloss, with a prayer introduced at the end of 
 each psalm. Prefixed are various tables, short theological treatises, &c. 
 and (what forms the most interesting portion of the volume, in point of 
 art) a series of outline drawings, slightly touched with blue, green, and 
 red, representing various scriptural subjects, executed with considerable 
 skill, and presenting very curious illustrations of the costume of the 
 period. Among the most remarkable is an allegorical figure of Death, 
 represented as a human figure, with long hair and wings ; the creation 
 of the world ; the crucifixion ; the fight of St. Michael and the 
 Dragon ; and David playing on the harp. The initial letters and 
 borders in this volume exhibit that elegant pattern so prevalent in Saxon 
 MSS. written in the latter half of the tenth century, of which a more 
 splendid instance is exhibited in the illuminations of the Duke of Devon- 
 shire's Benedictional, engraved at the expense of the Society of Anti- 
 quaries. 
 
I 
 
FTom Illuminated Drawings of the 11. Century, 
 in the Pofsefsion of W 1 ? Young Ottley. Esq^.F. S. A 
 
IV. 
 
 The specimens in the accompanying plate are selections from illumina- 
 tions in possession of W. Y. Ottley, Esq. representing a series of 
 subjects from the Old and New Testament, painted in opaque colours 
 in compartments on four large sheets of parchment, and surrounded by 
 borders of various design and pattern. The work, when complete, 
 should seem to have consisted of five sheets, but the first, which con- 
 tained representations of the creation and the earlier events related in 
 Genesis is wanting. The remaining portion commences with the 
 infancy of Moses, and concludes with the descent of the Holy Spirit on 
 the day of Pentecost. These paintings are unaccompanied by text, and 
 are assigned by Mr. Ottley, from the character of the costume, to the 
 eleventh century. 
 
F THE 
 
V. 
 
 This volume, well known by the title of the " Codex Ebnerianus," from 
 its having once formed part of the library of Hieronymus William 
 Ebner ab Eschenbach, (to whom it was bequeathed by his uncle, C. J. 
 Imhoff) has been copiously described by Schoenleben in 1738, and 
 subsequently by De Murr, in his account of the public libraries at 
 Nuremberg, published in 1786. It is a quarto of four hundred and 
 twenty-five leaves, written on stout vellum, at the end of the eleventh, 
 or early part of the twelfth century, (some judges assign it even to the 
 tenth) and contains the text of the New Testament in Greek, as read 
 in the Constantinopolitan churches. Figures of the Evangelists and 
 Apostles, splendidly executed, precede each book, and afford a very 
 favorable specimen of the Greek miniature school of painting at the 
 period of its execution. The apocalypse is wanting, but in other respects 
 the volume is well preserved, and bears on the cover (which Ebner 
 caused to be re-made of silver) an ivory diptich, representing Jesus 
 Christ in the attitude of benediction. At the beginning of the MS. 
 have been added by a more recent hand a Typicon or Rule for reading 
 the four evangelists yearly, a Table of Lessons, and a Synaxarion or 
 Menology ; — all which, as appears by a note appended, were written in 
 A.M. 6899, corresponding to A.D 1391,* by Joasaph, a calligraphist, 
 who is mentioned by Montfaucon in his Palseographia, pp. 74, 101. 
 The plate is taken from the commencement of St. Luke's gospel, and is 
 
 tO be read '. To Kara AovKav ayiov kvayytkiov. E7r£«Srf7T£p 7roXAot i Triy£ipr\aav avara^,- 
 avOai Sir/yr/CTiv irspl twv 7r£7rXr/po<^opr)^itv<uv i?/xtv irpaypartuv . 
 
 The subsequent history of this book, or how it became transferred 
 from the library at Nuremberg to the Bodleian, where it is now pre- 
 served, is unknown. 
 
 * Mr. Home, in his Introduction to the Scriptures, vol. ii. p. 111. fifth ed. has erro- 
 neously assigned the date 1391 to the whole of this MS., which must have arisen from too 
 cursory or negligent a perusal of De Murr's account. 
 
ccmfi^tKrnnr foiufmet do 
 
 From the British. Museum, 
 
 Royal M.S.I. C.Vn. 
 
 m 
 
 London., by WTJ^ccruig. CA i tncery Zone, June 1.1832. 
 
VI. 
 
 From a folio volume, [MS. Reg. 1 C. vii.] written on thick vellum, 
 about the middle of the twelfth century, containing the books of Joshua, 
 Judges, Ruth and Kings, in the vulgate version, with Jerome's Pro- 
 logues. The text is in double columns, in a large angular character, 
 with titles in capital letters of green and red, and initial letters to each 
 book, in which the colours of green, red, and violet predominate. The 
 illuminations are executed in a very neat but somewhat formal style of art. 
 Prefixed to the book of Joshua is a painting in which appears an elderly 
 man presenting a book to a nobleman ; probably the person for whom 
 the volume was written. The figures of Helcana with his two wives ; 
 that of King David playing on the harp ; and the ascent of Elijah 
 to heaven, prefixed to the first, second, and fourth books of Kings, are 
 worthy notice, from their exhibiting evident traces of the Greek or 
 Constantinopolitan school of design. The specimens given in the 
 annexed plate are taken from the first chapter of Judges, and the preface 
 of Jerome to the book of Joshua. 
 
VII. 
 
 This specimen, together with the alphabet of capital letters which 
 follows, comprised in seven plates, is copied from a MS. in the Harleian 
 library, No. 2800, which forms the first portion of a Passionate, or collection 
 of Lives of Saints, contained in three enormous folio volumes, written 
 towards the close of the twelfth century, in double columns, on vellum, 
 in the large inelegant character which about that time began to be used, 
 and which forms the link between the round open letter of the pre- 
 ceding century and half, and the square or Gothic letter of a later 
 period. From the great number of German saints introduced into these 
 volumes, and from the legend of Count Ludovic, inserted at the close of 
 the second, we may conclude the work to have been written for the 
 monastery of Arnstein, situated in the diocese of Treves, on the river 
 Lohne, about a mile above Coblentz, in which monastic house, as 
 appears by a memorandum at the close, it was still preserved in 1464. 
 The legend of Count Ludovic, the founder of this monastery, is entirely 
 historical, and supplies some valuable facts respecting the history of the 
 foundation. From a religious feeling at that period very prevalent 
 among the nobility, the Count and his wife Guda de Bonneburch, in 
 the year 1139, converted their castle, called from its lofty situation the 
 " Eagle's Rock," into a religious receptacle for twelve monks of the 
 Premonstratensian order, and consecrated it to St. Mary and St. 
 Nicholas, under the governance of abbot Godefrid, a secular priest of 
 Magdeburg, who was confirmed by Adalbert, archbishop of Treves. 
 The Count himself assumed the monastic habit at the same time, and 
 died in 1185, forty-seven years after the foundation. The volumes 
 in question were therefore probably written about the year 1190. The 
 larger initial letters are remarkable for their size and intricacy of pattern 
 
 D 
 
(as exemplified in the specimen selected from the Passion of the virgin 
 Euphaxia), and the smaller ones furnish good examples of the ornamental 
 style so peculiar to the twelfth century. The colours are very simple, 
 and in some instances the letters are left incomplete by the illuminator. 
 In the second volume an illumination is introduced, which occupies the 
 entire page, in which are delineated various incidents in the legend of St. 
 Peter and St. Paul. One of the compartments represents Nero and 
 Agrippa sitting in conference, dressed in the costume of the Greek 
 emperors, and behind their chair is a warrior habited in a complete suit 
 of chain mail. The fac-simile adjoined is to be thus read : — " Fuit in diebus 
 Theodosii, piissimi imperatoris, vir quidam senator in Retia civitate." 
 
From the British Musemn. Harleian Library 5800 
 
 Lbndcn.. PlU>* by W Pickering. Chancery Lane.Jwne,l s .. t l8'). 
 
From the British Museum, Ilarleian Library 2800. 
 London,, fui.fby W.ftckeriny. Chancery Lane.. Octili"j830. 
 
From the British Museum, _ fiarleian Library, 28 0. 
 
 Xondon, Pub^hy W. Pickering . Chancery lane,. ])ec. r /?J830 
 
est /vvre <r> 
 umleu^rtrwiier 
 
 lb me tncclu/ikiivr 
 cl uf ah&iCmC degai 
 
 Efom the British Museum _ JUr] Lib'2805 
 
VIII. 
 
 An example of nearly the same period and style as the last described. 
 The MS. which supplies it [MS. Harl. 2803] is a copy of the Bible, in 
 the vulgate version, comprised in two very large folio volumes, and 
 written on vellum in double columns. The illuminated letters prefixed 
 to each book are in a more finished and ornamental style than those of 
 the Passionale. Prefixed to the first volume is the Epistle of Jerome 
 to Paulinus, with a full length figure of the writer, sitting at a desk, 
 while a monk holds out an ink-horn to him. In the first book of Kings 
 are also introduced interesting illustrations of costume in the figures of 
 Goliah in chain mail, and of Saul destroying himself. The second 
 volume commences with the Psalter, the initial letter of which is magnifi- 
 cently executed, and before it a highly curious illumination of the regal 
 Psalmist, playing on a lyre of singular shape. Above are two musicians, 
 one of whom strikes with two hammers on a peal of eight bells, marked 
 CDEFGabb, the second blows a horn. Below are two other 
 performers on a violin with three strings, and a triangular harp. The 
 whole group is well worthy of being engraved. In the New Testament 
 are figures of the evangelists, and a table of Canons, finished by a 
 superior hand. The MS. ends imperfectly with the forty-fifth chapter 
 of Acts. These volumes are evidently, like the last described, of German 
 execution, and from a note in a modern hand at the beginning of each, 
 we learn that they formerly belonged to the church of St. Mary, situate 
 in the suburbs of the city of Worms. Our specimen is borrowed from 
 the fourth book of Kings, and is to be read " Factum est autem, cum 
 levare vellet Dominus Heliam per turbinem in ccelum, ibant Helias et 
 Heliseus de Galgalis." 
 
From a ?s alter of the, time of Edward 11 st 
 
 / From, the. Collection of Francis Doiux-Esy T<5 A .J 
 
 Pui by W.KeJuring. CKancery lane Xo» 1932. 
 
IX. 
 
 The annexed specimens, on two plates, are taken from a beautiful 
 Psalter in the library of Francis Douce, Esq. executed at the close of 
 the reign of Edward the First. The volume is of a folio size, written 
 on vellum, in the bold square letter introduced at the end of the 
 thirteenth century, and is in its original oak-binding, with a large 
 wrapper of white undressed leather to fold over it. On the verse 
 of the first leaf is this memorandum : " Psalterium fratris Roberti de 
 Ormesby, monachi Norwyc', per eundem assignatum choro ecclesie 
 sancte Trinitatis Norwici, ad jacendum coram Suppriore, qui pro tempore 
 fuerit, in perpetuum." A Calendar is prefixed, written in red, blue, and 
 gold letters, in which, on the 24th September, is entered the Dedication 
 of the church of Norwich, to which the MS. belonged. The illumina- 
 tion which fronts the Psalter is magnificently painted on a gold ground, 
 representing an abbot and monk in the attitude of prayer, while from 
 the reclining figure of Jesse ascends a group of saints and martyrs ; but 
 it is worthy of remark, that this painting did not form part of the 
 original work, but has been taken out of another and co-eval MS. The 
 volume is occasionally ornamented with borders somewhat fancifully 
 designed, with figures of men and grotesques introduced on the lower 
 margins. There are also many escutcheons of arms interspersed throughout 
 the MS., among which may be observed the baronial coats of Warren, 
 Cornwall, Percy, Clare, Columbers, Bailiol, and many others. This 
 practice of illustrating MSS. was at that period by no means unusual, 
 and many very interesting examples of it are to be found in our public 
 and private libraries. 
 
 The subject in the first plate is selected from the thirty-seventh psalm, 
 and is to be read : " Ecce mensurabiles posuisti dies meos, et substancia 
 
mea tamquam nichilum ante te." Beneath the text is represented the 
 well known legend of the mode practised in capturing and killing an 
 unicorn, which may be found in that popular work of the middle ages, 
 called the JBestiarium. The second specimen is a portion of a border, 
 round the fifty-first psalm, and is not so remarkable for elegance as 
 singularity of design. 
 
From Queen Mary's Psaller. 
 in trie British Museum. Royal 2. ft. VII. 
 
 Zondon.J'ubtishid Jun e /83J. by W.ficJcerini/. Quinary /.aw. 
 
X. 
 
 From a small folio MS. in the Royal library, marked 2 B. v;i. in the 
 British Museum, which has already been minutely described by Dr. 
 Dibdin in his Decameron. By an inscription at the end of the volume 
 we are informed that it was rescued from the hands of some seamen, who 
 were preparing to carry it abroad, by Baldwin Smith, citizen of London, 
 who presented it in 1553 to Queen Mary. The first portion of this inte- 
 resting MS. consists of a series of outline drawings, slightly shaded with 
 green, lilac, and brown, representing the history of the Old Testament, 
 from the creation to the death of Solomon. Next follow drawings of the 
 Patriarchs and Prophets, but the outlines have been filled up with body- 
 colours by an inferior hand, and, as Dr. Dibdin remarks, lose in 
 elegance what they gain in splendour. After this succeeds the Psalter, 
 with the usual Calendar prefixed, ornamented with borders, initials, and 
 occasional miniatures. The most curious feature, however, of this MS. 
 consists in the prodigious number of outline figures of men and animals, 
 grotesques, sports and pastimes, subjects from the Bestiarium, legends 
 of saints, &c. with which the lower margin of every page of the Psalter 
 is filled, and which often exhibit great skill in grouping and design ; to 
 say nothing of the illustration of manners and customs to be gleaned 
 from them ; of which Strutt has often availed himself. A selection has 
 been made from these subjects in the plate annexed, representing two 
 parties of mummers, some females playing the tambourine, two apes 
 playing the fiddle and harp, and four groups which form part of a series 
 to illustrate the legend and miracles of the Virgin Mary. Some of the 
 grotesque figures in this MS. were engraved by Malcolm, in his Art of 
 Caricaturing. 
 
The volume consists of three hundred and twenty leaves of fine vellum, 
 and was probably written in England at the same period as the last 
 described. The binding is of the time of Queen Mary, and is of red 
 velvet, embroidered with flowers, and fastened with clasps, on which are 
 engraven the royal badges or supporters of a fleur-de-lis, a portcullis, a 
 lion rampant, and a wivern. 
 
I 
 
 The two ensuing plates contain some beautiful examples of borders and 
 initial letters, copied from a magnificent Psalter in the possession of 
 Lord Braybrooke, the use of which was most liberally permitted by his 
 Lordship. It is nearly of the same period, style, and character as Mr. 
 Doiufe's Psalter, but executed in a far more splendid manner. The 
 gold 4& particularly brilliant, and introduced with a profusion seldom 
 seen, except in MSS. of the very highest class. Of its history nothing 
 is certainly known beyond its having formerly belonged to Sir Thomas 
 Cornwaleys, Comptroller of the household to Queen Mary, and one of 
 her staunchest adherents. He died 29th December, 1604, and from 
 him the MS. descended to the daughters and co-heiresses of Charles, 
 second Marquis Cornwallis, who presented it in 1823 to Lord Bray- 
 brooke, as recorded in a memorandum at the beginning of the volume. 
 But in the Calendar with which the MS. commences, we find on the 
 8th March the Dedication of the church of Gorlestone, in Suffolk, 
 recorded in letters of gold, whence we may reasonably infer, that it was 
 written and illuminated for the monastery of Austin Friars situated on 
 that spot, which was founded in the latter end of the reign of Edward 
 the First. The festival of St. Andrew, (the Patron of the monastery) 
 is also entered in golden characters, and more than once in the volume 
 is the Passion of this saint delineated. As the family of Cornwaleys 
 was settled in Suffolk, it may naturally be supposed, that at the period 
 of the spoliation of religious houses, this book fell into the hands of Sir 
 Thomas Cornwaleys, who, fortunately for the admirers of art, preserved 
 it from any further destruction or injury, than the erasure of the name 
 of Thomas of Canterbury out of the roll of saints. 
 
The Calendar is beautifully illuminated throughout with borders, in 
 which appear the heads of the persons canonised, and at the close is a 
 painting, the full size of the MS., representing the Crucifixion, surrounded 
 by a splendid border of gold and colours, in which the royal arms of 
 England and France are often repeated. On the next folio commences 
 the Psalter, the initial letter of which is one of the most elegant and 
 exquisite specimens of illumination ever executed, containing no less 
 than thirty figures illustrative of the descent of our Saviour from Jesse, 
 the crucifixion, and glory in heaven. The arms of England and France 
 are introduced around it in a narrow border, whilst the entire page is 
 encompassed with a deeper border, splendidly coloured, in which are 
 delineated whole length figures of apostles, saints, and scripture subjects. 
 The text of this volume is written in a large beautiful square letter, and 
 is profusely ornamented with borders and initial letters. Many of the 
 former terminate in veiy elegant scrolls, with figures or grotesques on 
 the margins, among which is a whimsical group, representing the service 
 for the dead performed by hares and dogs. It is impossible to do justice 
 in a cursory description to the beauty of this volume, which should be 
 seen to be properly valued and admired. Many coats of arms are 
 introduced throughout, as in the case of Mr. Douce's Psalter, and 
 among them may be recognised those of Warren, Clare, Trumpington, 
 Beauchamp, Valence, Tiptoft, Clifford, Darcy, Devereux, &c. 
 
 At the end of the Psalter follow the usual Canticles and Litany ^ to 
 which has been added the Vesper ce Mortuorum. 
 
XII. 
 
 The Royal MS. 6 E. ix. from which the letters and fac-simile adjoined 
 are copied, is a large sized folio, measuring 19s inches by 14 inches, 
 consisting of thirty leaves of vellum, and written in double columns, in 
 a neat but peculiar Italian hand, chiefly used in papal instruments. On 
 the covers are stamped the arms of Prince Charles, son of James I. 
 The initial letters exhibit very elegant ornamental patterns, of which 
 no similar instance has occurred to us. This volume is of considerable 
 interest, from its having been composed and written for Robert, King 
 of Naples, (third son of Charles II. of Naples, by Maria, daughter of 
 Henry V. King of Hungary,) who succeeded in the year 1309 to the 
 throne, in preference to his nephew Charobert, son of his elder brother 
 Charles Martel. This prince was no less renowned for his warlike 
 propensities and skill, than for his patronage of the fine arts, and he 
 was justly looked up to in Italy as the head of the Guelph party. He 
 died the 19th January, 1343, and was buried in the church of St. 
 Clara, of his own foundation, with this epitaph, " Suscipe Robertum 
 Regem virtute refertum ;" too short an eulogium for so great a sove- 
 reign, who had obtained and merited the epithets of the Wise and the 
 Good. There can be little doubt but that the writer of the epitaph 
 was the very person who composed the volume before us ; and he 
 appears from various passages to have been a native of the town of 
 Prato, in the territory of Florence. His work consists of a series of 
 poems of a theological and political character, written in different 
 sorts of Latin verse, some of which are scarcely intelligible, from the 
 complex nature of the rhythm adopted. The MS. is profusely illustrated 
 with miniatures, representing various allegorical figures, which are of 
 so large a size as sometimes to occupy the entire page. At folio 11 is 
 
a portrait of the king himself, seated on his throne, regally attired. The 
 back-ground is azure, sprinkled with large fleurs-de-lis in gold, among 
 which are introduced some verses, the first of which is " O bone Rex, 
 certe bonus es Rex, quippe Roberte." On the opposite page is a whole- 
 length female figure, in the attitude of supplication, representing Italy, 
 who solicits aid from him. On another page (fol. 24) is a second por- 
 trait of the king, armed, on horseback, on whose shield, surcoat, and 
 trappings, are displayed the royal insignia. Throughout the volume 
 there are many allusions to the state of political affairs in Italy at the 
 period when it was composed (probably about 1330) and the whole 
 merits a more minute examination than the nature of our work will 
 permit. The fac-simile is taken from folio 28, and is written in the 
 original above a painting of Pegasus, striking Mount Helicon with his 
 hoof. The verses are to be read thus : 
 
 • " Zephyre dux, flores due de Caliope meliores, 
 Umbres da vernos, rores de fonte supernos, 
 Xenia musarum perfla nunc ore novarum, 
 Ut tu celestes Uerania (sic ) carmen honestes, 
 Tersicoreque monens per Stellas dogmata ponens, 
 Sic Eratho formas similes pariat sibi normas, 
 Rebus et exemplum paret utile preduce templum, 
 Que retinet carum Polimnia deliciarum, 
 Perspicua mente primum sensus capiente, 
 Omnes rite quia capit ipsa reperta Thalya, 
 Namque prius nata mediator nectare lata, 
 Melpomone verba que dulci miscuit [h]erba. 
 Lingua favique merax Euterpe musaque verax, 
 Klio querende ratio lucisque vidende ; 
 Iste fuit gratus fossor fontis pretiatus, 
 Hie fuit alatus quo Perseus ille relatus, 
 Gorgona post cesam, duce Pallade numine, lesam, 
 Fidus equus cursus albus de monteque rursus, 
 Edit Jordanem doctrine, corpore panem, 
 De proprio vite se prebuit ipseque mite, 
 Confert per rorem, vinumque suum cruorem, 
 Belliger hie fortis prostravit prelia mortis, 
 Affixus clavis cruce que nunc est sacra navis." 
 
\ 
 
 ■ 3 T 
 i rl 
 
 l hl3 i 
 
 9 a I 
 
 cl 
 
 0^ 'J o ^% «=t" 
 
pu:$ttfc temp wafes ^ roSenut Striates • 
 
 ^^M^W fa grace a^9wu^fe & ffrauce- J/'^t tottj cewv AVeejfev f f < ^ 
 e-t atrt vce triUttevtra^z ^>rocii^eit)$ p fapartiet* ttre frc re*fr¥or§«ttjrf 
 tvmttte arpair finafr jur t<m^ fee 5e(?at$ ?i |for&6 cjttotie ntiiot;6 -poi 
 
 Por-traits of Edward ll rd and- tbe Bliclt Trince , Jc John "King o£ JVa.noe 
 Prom the Brnti&h Muse-urc Uoyal Lib 2OD10. 3C Cotton lib Uerol 6 . 
 
 London. Pub. June L s * 1851. "by VV Pieke 
 
 ap- Ohitxicery T.aix 
 
XIII. 
 
 The first specimen in the opposite plate is selected from a MS. in the 
 Royal Library, numbered 20 D. x. containing copies of documents 
 concerning the peace of Bretigny, between England and France, in 
 1360, the treaty of Belleville, for the delivery of the Duke of Berry, 
 and the Count d'Alencon, in 1366, the grant of Acquitaine to the 
 Black Prince, by Edward III. in 1362, and the Truce with Scotland, 
 in 1357. In the initial letter of the king's grant are inserted the 
 portraits of Edw. Ill, and his son, here copied. The charter com- 
 mences " Edwardus, &c. Carissimo primogenito nostro Edwardo, 
 principi Wallie, salutem. A regali solio, velut a sole distensi radii, 
 singule temporales prodeunt dignitates." 
 
 Duplicates of the whole of the preceding instruments (written, appa- 
 rently, by the same hand) are preserved in the Cotton MS. Nero, D. 
 vi. ; but as the latter volume contains also some grants, dated 9 Richard 
 II., it enables us to assign both MSS. to a period soon after the year 
 1386. Both volumes are of a folio size, and written on vellum, but in 
 regard to the execution of the illuminated initials, the Cotton MS. 
 has the superiority. From the latter is copied our second specimen, 
 with which King John's ratification of the treaty of Bretigny commences, 
 reading thus : " Johan par la grace de Dieu, Roy de France. A touz 
 ceux qi cestes lettres verront, saluz. Come par certeins traitteurs et 
 procureurs, pur nostre partie, et autres traitteurs et procureurs pur la 
 partie de nostre frere le Roy d'Engleterre, a Bretigny, pres de Chartres, 
 le viij jour de May darein passe, ait este fait traittie de paix finale sur 
 touz les debatz et discordes que nous avons et poions avoir l'un contre 
 l'autre, duquel le teneur s'ensuit." 
 
 Prefixed to the Cotton MS. is a note in the hand-writing of Sir 
 Edward Bysshe, ( ?) Clarenceux, king of arms, stating that the volume 
 had been borrowed of Sir Thomas Cotton for the use of king Charles 
 the Second, dated 6th June, 1660. 
 
/ 
 
 XIV. 
 
 From a fragment of a superb Lectionarium, written by order of John, 
 Lord Lovell, of Tichmersh, and presented by him to the cathedral 
 church of Salisbury. By a note prefixed, we learn that this fragment 
 was rescued from destruction, in the year 1600, by Joseph Holland, 
 Esq. of the Inner Temple, who, for the reverence he bore the above 
 nobleman (from whom he was descended) caused it to be bound, and 
 added to it a pedigree of the family. The MS. when perfect must 
 have been very magnificent. It is written on vellum, of a folio size, in 
 a large square bold letter, and every other page is surrounded with an 
 illuminated border, elaborately executed, in a very singular style. A 
 specimen of these borders is here given. On the second page is intro- 
 duced an interesting and valuable painting, representing Lord Lovell 
 presenting the book to a monk of Salisbury, named friar John Sifrewas, 
 about nine inches in height by six broad, and on the margin is a scroll 
 with these words on it. " ©rate pro ala tnli $ofr*i0 ILour U* trui fmc lioru 
 or&inautt ncVie cattfjetrraU £ar. pro spmalt ntfmoria mi tt bxoris »" 
 As both the figures are evidently portraits, it is highly desirable this 
 drawing should be engraved. The above nobleman, John, Lord Lovell 
 and Holland, K. G. was the second son of John, fifth Lord Lovell of 
 that name, by Isabel, daughter of William, Lord Zouch of Harringworth, 
 and succeeded to the title of Lovell on the death of his brother, 35 
 Edw. III., but did not attain his full age till two years after, when he 
 had livery of his lands. He was employed in France, in the retinue 
 of the Duke of Clarence and Earl of March, and after Richard the 
 Second's accession, was sent into Ireland in that monarch's service. 
 His will is dated in 1408, and was proved on the 12th September of 
 that year. He married Maud, daughter and sole heiress of Sir Robert 
 
Holland, son and heir of Robert Lord Holland, who survived him. 
 Throughout the MS. are often introduced the coats of Lovell and Hol- 
 land, impaled and quartered, with the crests ; also Holland and Lovell 
 quarterly, impaling Zouch, and the same impaling Salbroun. The date 
 of this fragment (consisting of thirty-four pages) may be assigned be- 
 tween 1390 and 1400. It is now preserved among the Harleian MSS. 
 in the British Museum, No. 7028. 
 
From the British. Museum. 
 Lansdowne Collection, 463. 
 
 London,.Piob?'by W? Pickering. Chancery L one-. April.lj83J. 
 
XV. 
 
 An alphabet of small capital letters, selected from a large folio Gradual 
 or Antiphonary, according to the use of the cathedral church of Sarum, 
 accompanied by musical notes, preserved in the Lansdown collection 
 of MSS. British Museum, No. 463. A Calendar, Ordinal, and Breviary 
 of the same church are also contained in the volume. In the calendar 
 are various entries, in different hands, of obits between the years 1438 
 and 1558 ; and on the 23rd of September is recorded by a later hand 
 the Dedication of the church of Norwich, to which this MS. may have 
 belonged. It is written on vellum in double columns, and may be 
 assigned to the year 1400, or very shortly after. A few leaves are 
 defective both at the beginning and end. 
 
XVI. 
 
 Two subjects, representing the Crucifixion and the Burial of the Dead, 
 taken from a very beautiful book of Hours in the library of Francis 
 Douce, Esq. The MS. is of a duodecimo size, written on fine vellum, 
 at the commencement of the fifteenth century, and is illuminated with 
 several miniatures very delicately executed, surrounded with borders of 
 flowers, cupids, &c. on grounds of gold. From the number of German 
 saints introduced into the calendar prefixed, the volume would seem to 
 have been executed by a German or Flemish artist. 
 
XVII. 
 
 This elegant border is copied from a service book in the Harleian col- 
 lection, No 2952, written and illuminated in France, about the year 
 1420. A calendar is prefixed, as usual, after which appears the portrait 
 of a nobleman kneeling at an altar, habited in a scarlet gown turned up 
 with fur, and embroidered with gold. Around his neck is a twisted 
 gold chain, and on his head a singular cap of red, green, and white. A 
 portrait of a lady follows in a similar attitude, dressed in a blue and 
 gold habit. These are, without doubt, portraits of the noble individuals 
 for whom the book was executed ; but, unfortunately, there are no arms 
 to identify them. The MS. (which is of an octavo size) is written on 
 vellum, in a clear square character, and contains numerous illuminations 
 slightly finished in black and white, with coloured back-grounds, sur- 
 rounded by borders similar to the one selected for engraving, fol. 35 b 
 It commences thus : " Ci comencent les heures de la Crois que le pape 
 Jehan xxii. jist. Et donna d tous ceulx qui de bon cuer les diront, pour 
 chascune fois quon les dira, ung an de pardon." Among the prayers 
 at the close is " L'oraison Charlemaine," which is a curious rhapsody. 
 
 From the same MS. are chosen, in the plate which follows, some 
 portions of smaller patterns for borders, which evince great elegance of 
 design, and to these are added some similar patterns from a contem- 
 porary volume of prayers, preserved in the Fitzwilliam Museum at 
 Cambridge. 
 
XVIII. 
 
 The MS. which supplies the examples of a letter and border here given, 
 [MS. Harl. 2278.] is rendered particularly interesting, from its having 
 been composed and written by order of William Curteys, abbot of 
 St. Edmundsbury, on the occasion of King Henry the Sixth's visit 
 to that monastery in the year 1433. It contains the legends of St. 
 Edmund and St. Fremund, translated by Dan John Lydgate from the 
 Latin into English verse, in stanzas of seven lines each, and is the 
 identical copy presented to the king not long after its composition, as 
 delineated at folio 6, where we see the abbot, attended by the poetaster- 
 monk, in the act of offering the book to the monarch, who is seated 
 under a canopy of state. In a sort of introduction Lydgate says he 
 began his work, 
 
 » 
 
 " Whan sixte Herry in his estat roial, 
 
 With his sceptre of Yngland and of France, 
 
 Heeld at Bury the feste pryncipal 
 
 Of Christemesse with ful gret habundance," &c. 
 
 And, after some interval, he proceeds thus : 
 
 " In this mater there is no more to seyn, 
 Sauf to the kyng for to do plesaunce, 
 Thabbot William, his humble chapeleyn, 
 Gaf me in charge to do myn attendaunce, 
 The noble story to translate in substaunce 
 Out of the Latyn, aftir my kunnyng 
 He in ful purpos to yeve it to the king." 
 
 At the end of St. Fremund's life is a stanza addressed by the poet to 
 the king himself. 
 
" Sovereyn lord, plese to your good lykand, 
 And to your gracious royal magnyficence, 
 To take this tretys, which atwen hope and dreed, 
 Presentyd ys to your highe excellence," &c. 
 
 The MS. is of a quarto form, consisting of one hundred and nineteen 
 leaves, and is neatly written on vellum, and illuminated with no less 
 than one hundred and twenty miniatures, executed in a peculiar and 
 beautiful style, and very valuable from their minute illustration of 
 costume and manners. In the initial letter at the beginning of the 
 volume are the royal arms of France and England quarterly, and a little 
 lower, the badge of Henry VI. viz. a leopard argent, spotted and 
 collared, or. At folio 4 b is a representation of the young king kneeling 
 before the shrine of St. Edmund, (engraved in the new edition of the 
 Monasticon, vol. hi. p. 114.) and in two other places, folios 9 and 74, 
 are portraits of Lydgate, which have a strong claim to authenticity, 
 since, if the volume was not written and illuminated by the poet himself 
 (a circumstance far from improbable), it was certainly finished under his 
 immediate superintendence. 
 
 The initial letter I in the plate is taken from the commencement of 
 St. Edmund's legend. In it is introduced the figure of Samson, tearing 
 open the lion's jaws. 
 
From ibe Bodleian l ibrary. Oxford 
 
 C a.n omci lta.1 85. 
 
 P(i6. d /f,orU 20. 1633 by W.^fictcenng. Ch.an.cery Lane. 
 
XIX. 
 
 Specimens of an arabesque border and initial letter from a splendid 
 Italian MS. in the Canonici collection, Bodleian library, [Canonici 
 Ital. 85.] containing the Filocopo of Bocaccio. It is a folio volume, 
 measuring fourteen inches by rather more than nine, beautifully written 
 on fine vellum, in a Roman letter, and illuminated with miniatures at the 
 commencement of each book, which display the most exquisite and 
 elaborate specimens of art. The following arms appear at the com- 
 mencement of the MS. at the bottom of a page magnificently illumi- 
 nated, viz. argent, a cross patee entire, gules, between four eagles dis- 
 played, sable : an escutcheon of pretence, quarterly, first and fourth, 
 gules, a lion rampant, or; second and third, barry of six, or and sable. 
 This is the coat of the illustrious family of Gonzaga, and the eagles 
 and cross were first granted, together with the Marquisate of Mantua, 
 to Giovanni Francesco Gonzaga, general of the Venetian forces, by 
 the Emperor Sigismond, in 1433. He died in 1444, and, in all pro- 
 bability, is the individual who caused this volume to be executed. 
 
Trom The British Museum.'HarleiaTi L] brary 293 6 
 Tu'o by "W ?u"k* i i 'l^j ''iunetry Lane 
 
XX. 
 
 A beautiful little volume, [MS. Harl. 2936.] containing the Hours of 
 the Virgin, of a duodecimo size, written on one hundred and nine leaves 
 of vellum, and illuminated with borders and miniatures. From the 
 harshness of the outlines of the figures this MS. is in all probability by 
 a Flemish artist. The colouring, however, is good, and the gold put 
 on very delicately. Many of the borders are elegantly designed, and 
 exhibit a remarkable variety of colour. Perhaps the one selected may 
 not serve to give so favourable an idea of the volume as some of the 
 others. Dr. Dibdin alludes to this MS. in his Decameron, when 
 describing the portraits of king David and Bathsheba, the wife of 
 Uriah, bathing in the fountain. There is no means of ascertaining the 
 exact date of this volume, but it may safely be assigned to the middle 
 of the fifteenth century. It is, unfortunately, imperfect at the end. 
 
From the Harleiaii .Library _ in the British Museum. 
 
 The Ornaments from N"? 3109. _ The letters from 4902. 
 ZoruUn- JPuiUskgd M- K^Iic'cering. JprilJi e J83I. 
 
XXI. 
 
 The borders in the plate are from a MS. in the Harleian library, No. 
 3109, containing the Epistles and Treatises of St. Jerome. It is a folio 
 written on vellum, in a fine lower-case Roman letter, about the middle 
 of the fifteenth century, and executed in Italy, where there seems to 
 have been at this period a school for the writing and illumination of 
 MSS. in this style. They are very numerous in various libraries. The 
 arms introduced into the border at the bottom of the plate are : or, a 
 pale argent, on a chief gules, the letters S P Q R of the field. 
 
 From a MS. of the same style and period, MS. Harl. 4902. are 
 selected the letters I and N. The volume is of large folio size, written 
 on vellum, in which is the work of St. Augustin, " De Civitate Dei." 
 The first page, as usual, is decorated with a border of flowers, birds, 
 cupids, &c. and at the bottom of the page are these arms, surmounted 
 by a mitre ; azure, a fleur-de-lis argent, on a chief, or, a lion, passant, 
 gules. Beneath is a smaller shield, azure, a goat argent, issuing from 
 flames, proper, holding in its mouth a branch, vert. 
 
I 
 
OVIDII VEPwSVS 
 
 k A CTENVS AHVORVMCVL 
 
 his & {ydera. coel i 
 
 P ampmeas caxtit ilk coma 5 cottq: uire'tif 
 DefcTLp±ciiq;locLiuies:& donalyf i 
 Atq; o\e£:& rainof porno 9c exotdTe Iptos 
 
 ACTENVSAR 
 VOFLVM CVLTvS 
 ET SVDERA (sELJ 
 INVNC TE BACC 
 HE CAN AM NEC 
 NON SILVESTFL 
 1A TECVM: 
 r I FLGVI TA ET 
 PR.OLEM TAR.D.E 
 CRESCETIS OLIVAE 
 ac pater oLe.nee(txxif hie omaa. plena. 
 AA LQiertb; tittparrrpuieo gra mclixf a utttrm 
 F lor&c ager:fpuma± plems unrdemia_laLtis .) 
 H uc pater olenee ueni nudatac| : Tnuiiio 
 T rngae nouo mecix direptefcrara- cotumis . 
 P rui cipio ar bonb, vana e natura creanctis 
 N aq ; alie milks hcrmtrur cogenttb; -LpCe" 
 S potite' liia uenurnt capo £q : & fLumtna late' 
 C urua-tenerT: urmoUr frier: Lenteq; genette* 
 E opulus 6c giaiicacaaenlia ftoricie (alifta- 
 E ars aur pouto Cmgant deiemme' vtaJ_te 
 l C altanee- tieraanrmcj: iota que max ficondfic 
 E loiluf atq; habite; gimCoracula-qiierciis 
 £ xiUirlat ab tarlxce alus deriirCutna. ulna- 
 
 From a Copy of Virgil 
 
XXII. 
 
 Selected from a MS. of Virgil, recently in the library of P. A. Han- 
 rott, Esq. of the same style and period of execution as the volumes 
 last described. It contains the Bucolics, Georgics, and iEneid, the 
 commencement of each of which is ornamented with very rich borders 
 of flowers, birds, and animals, and in the initial letter of each book is 
 introduced a painting illustrative of the subject, finished in a very 
 beautiful manner. Our specimen is chosen from the second book of the 
 Georgics, and may serve to give a favourable idea of the remaining 
 illuminations. The coat of arms, which originally was inserted at the 
 bottom of the first page, has been designedly erased, so that the ancient 
 possessor cannot now be ascertained. This MS. was purchased from 
 the collection of Mr. Hibbert. 
 
XXIII. 
 
 Letter and ornament taken from a fine copy of the Decretals of Pope 
 Boniface VIII. printed on vellum, by Fust and Schoiffer, folio, Mentz, 
 1465. At the end is this rubric : Presens huius sexti decretaliu pre- 
 clarum opus, non atramento. plumali canna neq. aerea. sz artificiosa 
 quadam adinuentione imprimendi seu caracterizandi sic effigiatu. et 
 ad eusebia dei. Industrie est osummatu per Johanrie fust ciuem mogun- 
 tinu et Petru schoiffer de gernshemy. Anno domini M. cccc. sexa- 
 gesirno quito [die vero decima septima] mensis decembris. 
 
 The initial letters and ornaments have been supplied by hand, after 
 the work was printed off. In the original, the scroll and letter here 
 copied are of a size a third larger. The fac-simile is to be read " De 
 sponsalibus et matrimoniis. Ex sponsalibus puris et certis etiam si 
 
 consanguinitatis, afhnitatis, frigiditatis, religionis." " Postquam 
 
 coram eo qui contra te super certis criminibus inquisitor fuerat deputatus, 
 eadem crimina fuisti confessus, frustra."— — 
 
 (See a description of other copies of this work on vellum, by M. 
 Van Praet, in his " Catalogue des livres imprimes sur velin de la 
 Bibliotheque du Roi," vol. ii. p. 11. vol. vi. p. 48.) 
 
XXIV. 
 
 This very elegant border is selected from a magnificent copy of Chris- 
 toforo Lanclino's Italian translation of Pliny's Natural History, printed 
 on vellum, at Venice, 1476, folio, in the library of Francis Douce, 
 Esq. The colophon thus appears at the close : 
 
 OPUS NICOLAI JANSON1S GALLICI 
 IMPRESSVM 
 ANNO SALVTIS M.CCCC.LXX VI. 
 VENET1IS. 
 
 The present volume is justly esteemed one of the most beautiful 
 examples of the union of early typography and illumination in existence, 
 and has hitherto been considered to be the copy presented to Ferdinand 
 II., king of Naples and Sicily, to whom the work itself was dedicated. 
 The portrait of the king is often introduced in the borders which orna- 
 ment the commencement of each book, as shewn in the specimen chosen 
 for our plate. The royal arms also of Ferdinand, viz. Quarterly, first 
 and fourth, Arragon ; second and third, Hungary, Anjou of Naples 
 and Jerusalem, are not unfrequently emblasoned throughout the volume. 
 Yet some doubt may, perhaps, exist, whether the volume did belong to 
 Ferdinand, since the portrait and royal arms are certainly subsidiary to 
 another coat, far more prominently and profusely painted. At the 
 commencement of the first book the latter appears within a large circle, 
 forming part of a border resplendent with gold and silver, on which the 
 utmost skill of the artist seems to have been lavished, with a brilliancy 
 no language can describe. On a tree surrounded by cupids is suspended 
 the shield, viz. Or, on a fess gules, three crescents increscent, argent ; 
 while above is (as a crest) a falcon in the act of rising. This shield 
 
and crest are repeated at nearly the beginning of every book, and would 
 seem to point out the distinguished family for whom this volume was 
 really executed, namely, that of Strozzi of Florence. There is also a 
 device or badge of three cannon balls, gules, surrounded with flames, which 
 often accompanies the arms ; and thrice in the volume (on the first 
 page, and at the beginning of the sixteenth book) occurs an escutcheon, 
 azure, a bend voided and semee of fleurs-de-lis, argent, which is the 
 coat of Nobili, also a Florentine family. (See MS. Harl. 3472. f. 222.) 
 
 It only remains to be added, that the volume is in the most perfect 
 preservation, and in the original dark binding, ornamented with silver 
 clasps (which have once been niellos) and bosses, in the middle of 
 which is stamped in golden letters Plinius de Nat. Isto. See Van 
 Praet's " Catalogue des livres imprimes sur velin," vol. iii. 53, vol. vi. 
 69, for further particulars of this work. 
 
Trom the Bn+JSh Museum. 
 Ha-rl W.S 4374. 
 
 Lendon. PuJ> iy W PlcJrcmvy. CJuiruxry Z, 
 
V 
 
Pr im ihe British Museum — Harl Lib 45 74 
 
 Itmtlmruf April f** 4y W;Kt*m.iuf r'*.™ c <rv lasu 
 
XXV. 
 
 The annexed alphabet of small capital letters, on two plates, is copied 
 from one of the most beautiful MSS. in the Harleian collection, Nos. 
 4374-5. The work is in two volumes, large folio, written in double 
 columns, on vellum, about the year 1480, and splendidly illuminated 
 with historical paintings. It is a copy of the French translation of 
 Valerius Maximus, undertaken at the command of Charles V. of France, 
 by Simon de Hesden, Religious of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, 
 who completed it to the seventh book, and the two remaining books 
 were finished by Nicolas de Gouesse, M. A. as we learn from another 
 copy of the work, written for king Edward IV. of England, MS. Reg. 
 18 E. iv. A large illumination, exquisitely finished, is prefixed to 
 each book, and on the first page and often elsewhere are introduced the 
 arms of Confines, viz. Quarterly, first and fourth, gules, a chevron, or, 
 between three escallops, argent, within a border of the second ; second 
 and third, argent, on a chief, gules, three eagles displayed, or. This 
 MS. therefore, to judge from its beauty and period of execution, must 
 have been written and illuminated for the well known statesman and 
 historian, Philippe de Confines, Sieur d'Argenton, chamberlain of Lewis 
 XI. of France, who was born in 1445, and died in 1509. 
 
 On each miniature appears a cypher or monogram of different colours, 
 which may possibly contain the name of the artist. Dr. Dibdin regards 
 the style as indicative of the Flemish rather than of the French school 
 of art. In his account of the miniatures he expresses himself in warm 
 terms of admiration. The grouping, he says, is full of life and action, a 
 surprising power of drawing displayed, and a magical freshness of 
 colouring. On the whole, for variety, richness, and condition, he thinks 
 these volumes cannot be surpassed. 
 
From the British Museum 
 
XXVI. 
 
 Another elegant example of the borders in use towards the close of 
 the fifteenth century. The original MS. is bound at present in two 
 volumes folio, Nos. 4379-80 of the Harleian collection, written on 
 vellum, in double columns, but both volumes originally formed only one, 
 and constituted together the fourth portion of the chronicles of the 
 historian Froissart. Prefixed is a table of chapters, eighty- two in 
 number, after which follows this rubric : " Cy commenca le quart et 
 derrenier volume des Croniques de Maistre Jehan Froissard, par lui 
 compilees en continuant sa matiere de tamps en tamps." The illumina- 
 tions are of two sizes, and afford admirable illustrations of the manners 
 and costume of the period. The larger ones have been engraved in 
 Johnes's edition of Froissart. It has been asserted, that the remaining 
 portions of this copy are preserved in the Bibliotheque du Roi, at Paris. 
 This is unquestionably the finest MS. of Froissart extant, and was 
 executed, apparently, for the same distinguished personage, of the 
 family of Comines, who caused the Valerius Maximus last described 
 to be written. The same arms are emblasoned repeatedly throughout 
 the volume, accompanied by the crests or badges of a wolf s head, 
 sable, issuing from flames ; an escallop, argent, on a lozenge, azure, 
 semee of fleurs-de-lis, or ; and a wivern, or nondescript animal. At the 
 end of the last chapter (the death of Richard the Second) is this rubric : 
 " Cy fine le quart livre de Froissart touchant les histoires et advenues 
 tant en France comme en Angleterre." 
 
 These volumes are bound in green velvet, with silver gilt clasps and 
 fastenings. 
 
V i-tArm$ of two of the .Kniphts of the Golden Fh-r, f, 
 
 . \ 2 .Arms of Edward the 3? from the Htitish Museum , 
 flnrfetan Cibrarj 6toy , and Royal [sib-raiy 1SEj 
 
 London , Puli . |j> W hrkrrniij? Chancery Lane 1830 . 
 
XXVII. 
 
 The first specimen in the plate presents an example of armorial embla- 
 sonment from a beautiful MS. [Harl. 6199.] containing the insignia of the 
 knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece, from its first institution by- 
 Philip, Duke of Burgundy, in 1429, to the chapter held at Boisleduc in 
 Brabant, 11th May, 1481, inclusive. The title of the MS. (a moderate 
 sized quarto, written and emblasoned on vellum) is " Livre des Ordon- 
 nances de la Thoison d'Or," and a long title is prefixed, commencing 
 " Ceste livre comprent et declare l'Ordre de la Thoison d'Or, selon les 
 derreniers corrections faictes environ les temps que la Thoison se tint 
 en la ville de Gande, et que le roy d'Arragon fut esleu chevalier," &c. 
 
 Full length portraits of the sovereigns of the order, viz. Philip, Duke 
 of Burgundy, Charles, Duke of Burgundy, and Maximilian, Arch- 
 duke of Austria, are introduced into the MS. and are very delicately 
 and faithfully delineated. The arms selected for engraving are those of 
 Charles of Burgundy, prefixed to the chapter held at Bruges, in 1468, 
 and of John, Duke of Cleves, Conte de la Marc, elected knight of the 
 order at Mons, in Hainault, 2nd May, 1451. 
 
 The second specimen is borrowed from MS. Reg. 15, E. iv. being 
 the first volume of the " Anciennes et Nouvelles Croniques d' Angleterre," 
 containing six books, from the first peopling of Albion, or Britain, to the 
 entry of Edward III. into Scotland, shortly after the year 1330. It is 
 a large folio, written on vellum in double columns, in the large sharp 
 angular character peculiar to MSS. of this period, many of which, (as 
 exemplified in some magnificent volumes in the library at Holkham) 
 were actually transcribed from printed books, between the years 1480 
 and 1500. The work before us originally consisted of seven volumes, 
 but at present only the first and the third [MS. Reg. 14 E. iv.] are 
 preserved. It was written for the use of King Edward IV. for whom 
 many other volumes of the old royal collection of MSS. now in the 
 British Museum, were executed. After the table of chapters prefixed 
 
to the work is a large illumination (engraved by Strutt) representing 
 Edward IV. seated on a chair of state, wearing a purple mantle, powdered 
 with lions and fleurs-de-lis, with a collar of ermine, and round his neck 
 the Order of the Golden Fleece, which he received in 1468, from 
 his brother-in-law, Charles, Duke of Burgundy. The author of the 
 work, dressed as a clerk, is kneeling before him, and presenting it, while 
 four other figures of courtiers stand at some distance. A broad border 
 of flowers surrounds the page, at the bottom of which is introduced the 
 coat of arms, engraved in the plate (where, by a mistake of the en- 
 graver, they are assigned to Edward III.) The white lions, says 
 Willement, (who engraves these arms from another MS. in the royal 
 library, 16. F. ii.) had been used as supporters by the Mortimers, 
 earls of March, and hence adopted by Edward. Immediately after 
 the above illumination follows the " Prologue de Vacteur sur la totalle 
 recollation des sept volumes des anciennes et nouvelles Croniques d'An- 
 gleterre, d la totale loenge du noble roy Edouard de Windsor, v e 
 (sic) de ce nom," in which he states the work to have been undertaken 
 chiefly with a view to the honour of the king, and in consequence of 
 the omissions and misrepresentations of preceding historians, among 
 whom he instances Froissart and Monstrelet. 
 
 Large illuminations and borders precede each book, with smaller 
 ones to some of the chapters. The painting is in rather an uncommon 
 style, of a subdued and pleasing tone of colouring, in green and grey. 
 The perspective also is better than generally seen in MSS. of this time. 
 It is conjectured with great probability, by an eminent judge, that all 
 the volumes in the royal collection executed for Edward IV. were 
 probably written and illuminated at Bruges, about the same period. 
 The Valerius Maximus [MSS. Reg. 18 E. iii. iv.] which belonged 
 to the same royal patron of art, is dated 1479, and in regard to the 
 paintings and ornaments, was executed by the same artist who added 
 the miniatures in the third volume of the Chronicles described above, 
 marked 14 E. iv. Both the latter MSS. in addition to Edward's arms, 
 have his banner, as well as his badge of the white rose en soleil, with 
 the motto Dieu et mon droit often repeated. 
 
XXVIII. 
 
 Another example of Edward the Fourth's arms within a border of 
 flowers is presented in the first engraving on the opposite plate, taken 
 from a MS. which formerly belonged to this monarch, and marked 
 
 14 E. v. in the royal library. It is a very large and thick folio, 
 consisting of five hundred and thirteen leaves, and in style and cha- 
 racter of art resembles those last described. In it are contained 
 the nine books of Boccaccio " De casibus virorum illustrium," trans- 
 lated into French by Laurens de Premier Fait, secretary of John, 
 duke of Berry, (son of John I. king of France,) at whose order it was 
 undertaken. This work was printed at Paris, by Jean Dupre, in 1483, 
 and a copy of it on vellum is described by M. Van Praet, vol. v. p. 157, 
 from the colophon at the end of which we learn that the translation was 
 made in 1409. 
 
 At the commencement of the MS. is a large illumination, representing 
 the translator presenting his book to the duke, among whose attendants 
 appears the court fool, wearing a party-coloured coat of green, yellow 
 and pink. At the end are added some verses in Latin and French, 
 written in praise of Boccaccio by the translator, which do not seem 
 to be included in the printed copies. 
 
 The second specimen in the plate ought, in point of time, to 
 have preceded some previously noticed, since it is borrowed from a MS. 
 executed between the years 1445 and 1453. The original [MS. Reg. 
 
 15 E. vi.] is a large folio volume, written in double columns on vellum, 
 and profusely illuminated throughout. It was unquestionably executed 
 under the direction of the famous Sir John Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, 
 as a present to Margaret of Anjou, wife of king Henry the Sixth, to 
 
whom, in an illumination prefixed to the MS. the earl, habited in the 
 robes of the Garter, is represented offering the volume. Some verses 
 addressed to the queen are subjoined, commencing thus : 
 
 " Princesse tresexellente, 
 
 Ce livre cy vous presente 
 
 De Schrosbery le conte, 
 
 On quel livre a maint beau conte, 
 
 Des preux qui par grant labeur 
 
 Vouldrent acquerir honneur," &c. 
 
 And from the cause assigned for its compilation, we may conclude that 
 it was presented not very long after the queen's arrival in England, 
 which was in April, 1445. 
 
 " II a fait faire ainsi que entens, 
 A fin que vous y passez temps, 
 Et lous que par/erez Anglois, 
 Que vous n'oubliez le FrartfoisJ" 
 
 A broad border of flowers surrounds the page, and in the centre of 
 the lower margin are the arms of Henry VI. and his queen, surrounded 
 by a wreath composed of the daisy or marguerite, the queen's well 
 known badge. A little to the right are the arms of the earl, within the 
 Garter, viz. quarterly, first and fourth, Belesme ; second and third, 
 Talbot ; an escutcheon of pretence, quarterly, first and fourth, Beau- 
 chajnp ; second and third, Warwick ; denoting his descent from Maud, 
 daughter of Roger de Belesme, earl of Salop, who married Gilbert de 
 Talbot, and his marriage with Margaret, eldest daughter of Richard de 
 Beauchamp, earl of Warwick. 
 
 On the second folio is a splendid illuminated page, shewing the 
 descent of Henry VI. from the French and English line of monarchs. 
 At the corner is a full length portrait of the earl of Shrewsbury, holding 
 the royal banner. The contents of the MS. are chiefly romances, 
 among which are those of Alexander, Charlemagne, Ogier de Danne- 
 marck, Regnier de Montauban, Le Roi Ponthus, Guy de Warrewick, 
 
Herolt d' Arderme, and Le Chevalier du Cigne. The first is pre- 
 ceded by a large illumination, representing the city of Babylon, with 
 king Nectanebus holding his court in the tower. Beneath is the border 
 partly selected for engraving, with the banner of the earl of Shrewsbury, 
 viz. quarterly, Talbot and Strange, impaling, quarterly, Furnival and 
 Verdon. On an escutcheon of pretence, quarterly, Lisle and Tyes. 
 The following brief pedigree will illustrate this and the former armorial 
 bearings. 
 
 Tho. Lord Berkeley=Margaret, d. and h. 
 
 ob. 5 H. 5. 
 
 Rich. Beauchamp,= 
 earl of Warwick, 
 ob. 17 H. 6. 
 
 of Warine, Lord 
 Lisle and Tyes. 
 ob. 15 R. 2. 
 
 ■Elizabeth, d. 
 and h. 
 
 William, Lord Furnival. 
 
 Joan, d. and h.=j=Tho. Neville, Lord 
 Furnival, jure 
 ux. ob. 8 H. 4. 
 
 Margaret, d. and h.^JoHN Talbot, earl, 
 
 second wife. 
 
 of Shrewsbury, K.G. 
 ob. 1453. 
 
 Matilda, d. and co-h. of 
 her father, and sole h. 
 of her mother. JEt. 
 15, 8 H. 4. 
 
From xheBnush Museum _HarleianMS 4965 
 
 London. Pub* Oct 1 18S0 . by W. Ficken ng , Chancery Lane 
 Printed 6y G E MatUliy 3 ~WiUi.iglm S? SCra-nd, 
 
Trom -the British Museum Harleisui Lib . 4 965. 
 1 ondon Pu~b by W Pickering-, Chancery Lane June 1 st - 1834 
 
XXIX. 
 
 A border and four initial letters from MS. Harl. 4965, containing the 
 Latin translation of Eusebius " De Evangelica Preparatione," by George 
 of Trebisoncl, dedicated to Pope Nicholas V. It is a moderate sized 
 folio, written on fine vellum, in Roman lower-case letter, and formerly 
 belonged to the library of St. Andrew, at Rome. The first page is 
 surrounded by the beautiful border partly copied in the plate, in 
 which are inserted small heads of Domitian, Agrippa, Nero, and 
 another, the inscription round which appears to be Here. Xenof. 
 Beneath are the historical figures of Cadmus and Carmenta. On the 
 lower margin appear the arms of Ferdinand II. king of Naples, natural 
 son of Alphonsus I. king of Arragon, viz. Quarterly, first and fourth, 
 Arragon ; second and third, Hungary, Anjou of Naples and Jerusalem ; 
 surmounted by a regal crown. The MS. was therefore executed for 
 this monarch, who succeeded to the throne in 1459, and died in 1494. 
 At the end of the volume we read this colophon : " Anno salutis humancs 
 M° cccc Ixxxii hoc prceclarum opus Florentice absolutum est, die autem 
 Mercurii et xxi* mensis Augusti, hora vero diei xvii 1 ." 
 
L o nd o n 
 
 ._ ?ul>lisb«scl 1 '* Jane lS30,k> » r *P. v> / rmg", Oh* i 
 
XXX. 
 
 The MS. breviary, or book of Hours, from which the annexed specimen 
 is taken, [MS. Reg. 2, B. xv.] once belonged to Queen Mary, and is 
 a small folio, bound in green velvet, with silver plates on the sides, on 
 which are engraven the letters M. R., joined together by a knot. It is 
 written on vellum, in a tall square letter, and illuminated with ten 
 large miniatures, and several smaller ones. The style of art is of an 
 inferior description, and of a Flemish character, but many of the borders 
 and initials exhibit much taste and beauty. The border in the plate 
 occurs in the commencement of the matins to the Virgin, and is reduced 
 about one-fourth the size of the original. The chief singularity of this 
 volume arises from its containing so many different representations of 
 the Trinity, some of which are extremely curious. A calendar is pre- 
 fixed, and on the succeeding page, on the lower margin, is a large shield, 
 or, a fess indented azure, being the arms of the Butlers, earls of Ormond, 
 to whom the volume once belonged. On the first leaf in the MS. are 
 several entries of the obits of this family, viz. James, earl of Wiltshire, 
 
 1st May, [1461.] Avicia, countess of Wiltshire, 3rd July, . Joan, 
 
 countess of Ormond, 5th August, [1430.] James, earl of Ormond, 
 22nd August, [1452.] Elizabeth, countess of Shrewsbury, 11th Sept. 
 [1473.] John, earl of Ormond, 14th Oct. [1478.] Lora, countess of 
 
 Ormond, (not mentioned by Lodge) 31st Oct. . Anne, countess 
 
 of Ormond, 13th Nov. . Joan, lady Bergavenny, 14th Nov. . 
 
 There are also notices of the deaths of Prince Edward, 4th May, [1471.] 
 King Henry VI. 21-22 May, [1472.] and Queen Margaret, 3rd Aug. 
 [1482.] The MS. was probably written not long after this last date. 
 The words in the fac-simile are to be read " Hie incipiunt matutina 
 beate Marie virginis. Domine labia mea aperies. Et os meum annun- 
 ciabit laudem tuam." 
 
XXXI. 
 
 A very pretty example of a border and initial letters from a MS. in the 
 royal library, [18 A. xii.] written and ornamented for king Richard the 
 Third. It is a well executed volume, on vellum, of a quarto size, con- 
 taining the English translation of Vegetius, " De Re Militari." The 
 commencement of each book is surrounded by a border similar to the 
 one engraved, and the smaller capital letters are of gold. In the initial 
 letter of the first book are inserted the arms of France and England, 
 quarterly, surmounted by a crown, and supported by two white sangliers, 
 the distinctive badge of Richard of Gloucester. (See Willement's 
 " Regal Heraldry," p. 50.) At the bottom of the page is a griffon, 
 passant, or, which, in all probability, refers to the descent of Queen Anne 
 from the Montacutes, whose original coat is said to have been, azure, a 
 griffon segreant, or. The translator has prefixed to the work a short 
 introduction, commencing : " Here begynnethe a short tretise the which 
 Vegesius that was sone to the worshipfulle Erie Renate wrote to the 
 Emperoure of Rome, whiche tretise tellethe holy of knyghtehode and of 
 chivalry," &c. The arms which appear emblasoned in the plate are 
 those of Queen Anne Neville, daughter and coheir of Richard Neville, 
 earl of Warwick and Salisbury, viz. 1. Beauchamp, 2. Warwick, 3. 
 Montacute, 4. Monthermer, 5. Neville, 6. Clare, 7. Despencer. It will 
 be observed that the coats of Beauchamp, &c. take here precedence of 
 the queen's paternal coat, as in the genealogical roll of the earls of 
 Warwick, by John Rous, preserved in the College of Arms. By the 
 negligence of the illuminator, the label on the coat of Neville and bend 
 over that of Despencer have been omitted. At the end of the volume 
 we read thus : " Here endethe the boke that clerkes clepethe in Latyne 
 Vegecii de re militari. This boke of Vegecii of dedes of knyghthode 
 
was translated out of Latyn into Englishe at the ordenaunce and 
 bidding of the worthy and worshipfulle lord, Sire Thomas of Berkeley, 
 to grete disport and daliaunce of lordes and worthy warriours, that ben 
 passed by wey of age alle labour and traveling, and to grete informacoh 
 and lernyng of yong lordes and knyghtes that bene lusty, and lovethe 
 to here and see and to use dedes of armes and chivalry. This boke was 
 translate into Englishe in the vigille of alle hallowes, the yere of oure 
 lord god M'cccc and viii tl,e yere." 
 
 Tanner and Warton seem to have been mistaken in attributing; the 
 above translation to John Trevisa, since in many copies of it, particularly 
 in a very fine MS. in Magdalen College Oxford, (No. 30.) his name is 
 expressly stated to have been John Walton ; the same, probably, who, 
 at the instance of Elizabeth Berkley, translated Boethius into English 
 verse, in the year 1410. 
 
XXXII. 
 
 Specimens of beautiful arabesque borders, from the fragments of a 
 devotional MS. in folio, which was certainly executed for Pope Inno- 
 cent VIII. between 1484, and 1492, whose armorial bearings are 
 introduced into one of the portions remaining. The name of the artist 
 is unknown, but he must have been among the most skilful miniature 
 painters of his day. The originals of these two plates are in the valuable 
 collection of W. Y. Ottley, Esq. 
 
From a Copy of the Office of the Virgin . from the Collection of F* DouceEscj. 
 London Pub* Vy-WEckermg- Chaiceryline. Oct 1 st 1831. 
 
XXXIII. 
 
 An illuminated page selected from a charming little MS. office of the 
 Virgin, in two duodecimo volumes, in the library of Francis Douce, Esq. 
 written on vellum, and ornamented with borders of flowers and fruits, 
 very delicately painted on gold grounds. At the commencement is a 
 coat of arms, supported by two lions, arid surmounted by a ducal crown, 
 but drawn too negligently to be properly blasoned. This MS. was 
 probably executed in France, towards the close of the fifteenth century. 
 
 The fac-simile consists of a portion of the thirty-first psalm, and is to 
 be read : " Beati quorum remisse sunt iniquitates, et quorum tecta sunt 
 peccata. Beatus vir cui non imputavit Dominus [peccatum.]" The 
 subject painted above is Samson destroying the lion, in allusion to 
 Judges, cap. xiv. 
 
XXXIV. 
 
 Four examples of borders, taken from an unique MS. in the royal 
 library, [MS. Reg. 16, F. II.] which has hitherto escaped the notice it 
 deserves. It is a folio volume, consisting of two hundred and forty-eight 
 leaves, written on stout vellum, in a large angular letter, with initials in 
 gold and colours ; containing the French poems and other works of 
 Charles, Duke of Orleans, (grandson of Charles V. king of France, and 
 father of Louis XII. King of France) who was taken prisoner at the 
 battle of Azincourt, in 1415, and kept in captivity in England for the 
 space of twenty-five years, until ransomed in 1440, by Philip of Burgundy. 
 These poems were written during the period of his imprisonment, and 
 have never been published, but the Duke also composed a free translation 
 of them in English, which in 1827 was printed for the use of the Rox- 
 burgh Club, from a MS. in the Harleian collection, by Watson Taylor, 
 Esq. who seems to have been ignorant of the existence of the royal MS. 
 This volume was apparently executed for Elizabeth of York, queen of 
 Henry VII. and exhibits some interesting specimens of the pictorial 
 art of the period. The first page is very splendid, and is surrounded by 
 a deep border, in which are emblasoned the following arms : 1. Edward 
 the Confessor; 2. Elizabeth of York, viz. France and England, quarterly, 
 impaling, 1. France and England, quarterly, (Edw. IV.) 2 and 3. 
 Burgh, and 4. Mortimer ; (See Willement, p. 63) 3. France and Eng- 
 land, quarterly, a label of three points, argent ; 4. argent, a cross, gules; 
 5. France and England, quarterly ; 6 as 3. On scrolls in the upper 
 margin are the mottoes " La plus eure," and " Dieu et mon Droit." On 
 the sides appears the white rose, encircled with rays, and at the bottom 
 of the page is painted a large red rose, supported on the dexter side by 
 a white greyhound, and on the sinister by a red dragon : behind the 
 
greyhound is a red rose, and behind the dragon a white one — all of 
 which badges point out most clearly the queen of Henry VII. as the 
 former possessor of the volume. Within this border is depicted a group 
 of nine persons, which would at first sight seem to be intended for 
 Elizabeth of York, herself, and her family, but some chronological diffi- 
 culties intervene to render this doubtful. Could the portraits be iden- 
 tified, this group would well deserve to be engraved. 
 
 There are several other large illuminations, surrounded with borders, 
 in the volume, the most curious of which is a minute view of the Tower 
 of London, with old London bridge in the distance, most faithfully deli- 
 neated. It has been engraved (but much reduced in size) in Mr. Edgar 
 Taylor's Account of the Minnesingers, 12mo. 1825. In the lower 
 margin are introduced the royal arms of France and England, supported 
 by two lions, surmounted by an imperial crown, turned up with ermine. 
 As a specimen of the Duke's poetry, the following quotation from one of 
 the shorter ballads in French and English is subjoined : — 
 
 Chancon. 
 
 f. 130. p " Vostre bouche dit baisiez moy, 
 Ce m'est avis, quant la regarde, 
 Mais dangier de trop pres la garde, 
 Dont mainte douleur en recoy ; 
 Laissiez m'avoir, par vostre foy, 
 Ung doulx baisier, sans plus que tarde, 
 Vostre bouche," &c. 
 
 " Lende me yowre prat.y mouth, madame, 
 See how y knele here at yowre feet, 
 Whie wolde ye occupy the same, 
 Now where abowt first mot me wite, 
 I wis, dere hert, to basse it swete, 
 A twyse or thrise or that y die ; 
 So may ye have when next we mete, 
 Toforne or ye it ocupie." 
 
 Ed. Taylor, p. 287. 
 
 Besides the poems, this volume contains in prose an account of the 
 Abbaye de Paraclete, with the Epistles of Abelard and Heloise ; a tract 
 
N? 1.2. From the British Museum Royal Lif>rary.I6K%. 
 
 N" 3. From a M.S, in the Pofselsion of T.Willement Esq'' 
 
 London Pub'? June I? IBSO, by W. Rejecting Ch v »eary L,ano> 
 /IfcaiM kyGS.Maicl-) WtlinidUiiS- Strand. 
 
entitled Les Dernandes d Amour, and another, to which is prefixed this 
 rubric : Le livre dit Grace entiere, sur le fait du Gouvernement oVun 
 Prince. Each is preceded by an illumination and border, very beauti- 
 fully painted, and in the last is introduced a figure, intended, probably, 
 to represent the Duke of Orleans himself. 
 
 In the second plate to which this description refers, is inserted 
 another border of the same period, copied from a MS. in the possession 
 of Tho. Willement, Esq. displaying very considerable elegance of design. 
 Among the royal MSS. 2 D. xl., is preserved the Breviary of Henry 
 VII., in which are some other examples of borders of flowers, perhaps 
 superior, in point of art, to any other similar ornament executed during 
 that reign. 
 
From, the Sforziada printed at Milan, 
 by Zarotto in 1490. 
 From the Collection of Philip Augustus Uanrott Esqf 
 
douefuno pigliarealcuuoaccordo* 
 
 LIBER DECIMVSSEPTIMVS. 
 
 N QVESTO TEMPO ALEXANDRO RAGVNO 
 tucle tegenti lequad et Conte g(i haueua mandate non 
 toutano da Ftllmo:& indi fcorreua frequentemete m fut 
 Parmigiano:&:tnuno a Parma : perche cofi fperauatche 
 ftracctu &af"ru<fti ecittadim ; &ancora temendo cheno 
 nafcefli alcuno tractato : pel quale perdefllno la hberta 
 
 81 con (animo prerermeffe „ 
 
 LIBER QVINTVSDECIMVS . 
 
 ACTO EL PON TE SOPRA L ADD A ? EL CONTE 
 conduxe mLodigiano tuclo lexeratortio come mmuco: 
 ma come amico.Et apertetucfte le me di fare la ^uerra: 
 con tanta induftna fece cio chel tempo SCia. natura della 
 cofa richiedea che mente con la memona tale cofiglio: 
 
 LIBER TERTIVSDECIMVS. 
 
 ON ERA ANCORACERTANOVELLAVENVTA 
 
 A Melano dallexercito:cjuando tu(fla la citta per uaru 6i 
 mcerti aufton eragia ripiena di letitia.Etalchum de pn 
 mi cittadimiequali fempre haueuano Kauuto grandem 
 uidaa al Conte: commciauono apenfare uaru modi : & 
 uane forme di guerra:& tra loro ne conferiuono. 
 
 From the SFORZ IAD A printed at Milan 
 by Zaxotto rn 149 0. 
 From, the Collectioii. of PMlxp Augustus Hanrott Esq 1 
 
 May 2J.J8.-1. 
 
XXXV. 
 
 In the two annexed plates are given some exquisite examples of a 
 
 border and initial letters, from a printed work in the library of P. A. 
 
 Hanrott, Esq. The title is as follows : " La Historia delle cose facte 
 
 dallo invictissimo Duca Francesco Sforza, scripta in Latino da Giovanni 
 
 Simoneta, et tradocta in lingua Fiorentina da Christofero Landino." 
 
 Milano, Antonio Zarotto, 1490, folio. This is the presentation copy 
 
 to Cardinal Sforza, and in the original velvet binding, with silver niellos, 
 
 and knobs on the cover. The niellos represent a fine portrait of Ludovico 
 
 II Moro, and the badges of the familv of Sforza. The volume is beauti- 
 es j 
 
 fully printed on vellum of the finest texture, and is ornamented with 
 thirty-four illuminated initials of the most exquisite finish. The first 
 leaf of the text has a magnificently illuminated border round it, exhibiting 
 a splendid specimen of the talents of Jerome Veronese (Girolamo da 
 i Libri). It contains beautiful miniature portraits of Francesco Sforza, 
 Cardinal Sforza, and Ludovico Maria Sforza, surnamed II Moro. 
 The remaining ornaments consist of the arms and devices of the Sforza 
 family, and groups of children, in the best style of the Venetian school. 
 
 Only two other copies of this work on vellum are known, both of 
 which are in the royal library at Paris. One of them is the presentation 
 copy to Ludovico Sforza, and is ornamented in a similar manner to the 
 one in Mr. Hanrott's library. It is minutely described by M. Van 
 Praet, vol. v. pp. 79 — 83. 
 
 The present copy belonged to the Prince de Soubise, and afterwards 
 to the Count de Macarthy, from whom it passed to Mr. Hibbert, at 
 whose sale it was purchased by Mr. Hanrott. 
 
 On the whole this volume richly deserves to be placed on the same 
 shelf with the Pliny of Mr. Douce, and may, perhaps, dispute with the 
 latter the palm of beauty and preservation. 
 
XXXVI. 
 
 Two initial letters of a singularly elegant character. They are selected 
 from a moderate sized folio among the Burney collection of MSS. 
 in the British Museum, [No. 175.] written on vellum, in a fine Roman 
 letter, containing the Noctes Atticse of Aulus Gellius. The title of the 
 first book is thus prefixed in capitals of gold and colours : " Auli Gelii 
 Noctium Atticarum Commentariorum Primi libri Capitula incipiunt 
 feliciter." On the reverse of the second folio, a memorandum has been 
 written in a much more recent hand, in the following terms : " Quid 
 miraris tarn splenclida volumina, Lector? Mirari desines, si noveris in 
 quorum graciam hec exornata sunt. Quum Burgundia inter multos 
 egregios quos genuerat viros et armis et Uteris nobiles, Guillielmum et 
 Guidonem a Rupe forti protulisset, utrumque non minus egregium 
 bellatorem quam re literaria insignem, ii quidem nihil antiquius duxere 
 quam majorum splendidissimis imaginibus respondere. Itaq. cum 
 virtutibus suis consecuti essent, ut in Gallia, regno florentissimo, primas 
 inter nobiles obtinerent, sive armorum sive literarum peritiem spectares, 
 Cancellarii dignitatem, que a rege secunda esse solet, obtinuere, sic 
 tamen, ut prius functo vita Guidone, et virtutum et dignitatum fratris 
 heres extiteret Guillielmus, in perpetuam tam sacrarum virtutum memo- 
 riam, quo posteritati prodessent, luculentam Bibliothecam extruxere, 
 que vix Ptolomeo (sic) cederet, sive librorum et probatissimorum autorum 
 multitudinem, sive sumptum in exornandis illis suspicias, utpote qui 
 auro et gemmis fulgerent. Et recte quidem illi in tam pium et memo- 
 rabile opus divitias collocasse videntur, quas ceteri libidinibus et scortis 
 non minus indigne quam profuse impertiri solent. Horum e librorum 
 numero unus adsum tibi Gellius, cui sacrilegi plus auri quam literarum 
 studiosi ornamenta ademere. Anno a Christo nato MVCX." 
 
 " ROCHEFORT." 
 
On referring to Du Chesne's " Histoire des Chanceliers de France," 
 fol. Par. 1680, it appears that Guillaume and Guy de Rochefort were 
 sons of J acques de Rochefort, Seigneur de Pluviot, by Anne or Agnes 
 de Cleron. They both passed from the service of Charles of Burgundy 
 into that of Lewis XI. of France, by whom the elder brother Guillaume 
 was made Chancellor in 1483. He married Anne de la Trimouille, 
 and had by her Jean de Rochefort, Chevalier, Bailli of Dijon, and died 
 in 1492. The younger brother Guy was appointed President of the 
 Parliament of Burgundy, in 1488, and by letters patent of Charles VIII. 
 dated 9th July, 1497, made Chancellor. He died in 1507, and was 
 buried in the abbey of the Cistertians at Paris, where a long panegyrical 
 epitaph was inscribed to his memory, printed by Du Chesne. 
 
 The first page of the text is surrounded by a magnificent border of 
 arabesques, and at the bottom, within a crown of laurel, supported by 
 two angels, is emblasoned a shield of arms, viz. Quarterly, quartered ; 
 first and fourth grand quarter, Arragon, Hungary, Anjou of Naples 
 and Jerusalem ; second grand quarter, first and fourth, gules, a tassel, 
 or, surmounted by a scroll, argent ; second and third, barry nebule, 
 argent and azure ; third grand quarter, first and fourth, the same as first 
 and fourth of the second grand quarter, second and third, Sforza (Vis- 
 conti) ; over all an escutcheon of pretence, azure, three fleurs-de-lis, or. 
 On the sides is written in letters of gold : DVX LV M BARI. It is 
 evident, therefore, that the writer of the memorandum prefixed to this 
 volume was in error, when he asserted it to have been executed for the 
 Rocheforts, since the above shield and arms prove it to have previously 
 belonged to Ludovico Maria Sforza, surnamed II Moro, Duke of Bari 
 from 1479 to 1494, when he succeeded his nephew as Duke of Milan. 
 This prince, although detestable for his political conduct, was neverthe- 
 less a distinguished patron of literature, and is said to have been the first 
 who established a theatre on the model of the ancients, for the repre- 
 sentation of dramatic performances. It is not improbable that his library 
 fell into the hands of the French after the Duke's capture in 1503, and 
 might have passed subsequently into the possession of the Chancellor 
 Guy de Rochefort. 
 
XXXVII. 
 
 Two examples of grotesque capital letters from the Ashmolean MS. 
 No. 1504. The original is a large folio volume, containing trees, 
 flowers, and animals, painted on vellum, with their names expressed in 
 writing above. It seems to have been a specimen-book of an illuminator 
 or designer of pageants, about the year 1500. One portion of it, ff. 42 
 — 45 b , consists of several ornamental alphabets, in upper and lower case 
 letters, two of the former of which are here copied. A few coats of 
 arms and other designs conclude the volume. 
 
From a M.S. in the pofsefsion of 
 
 Francis Douce E s q re 
 
 laridon.ruj!.' i Dcc:24JdJ?Zbv W^fukviny. Chasucry Lane. 
 
XXXVIII. 
 
 The library of Francis Douce, Esq. again supplies us with a rich 
 specimen of an illuminated border, in the gorgeous style of the sixteenth 
 century. The MS. is of a duodecimo size, most exquisitely written and 
 illuminated on delicate vellum, and bound in blue morocco. It contains 
 the Office of the Virgin, with the usual calendar prefixed. The larger 
 illuminations are fifteen in number, and for splendor of execution have 
 never been surpassed. 
 
 The second of the number represents the Salutation of the Virgin, the 
 beauty of which is absolutely marvellous. On the foot of the seat on 
 which Mary is placed is inscribed S. C. f. A . MDXXVII. The angel 
 Gabriel appears in the act of drawing back a curtain, and above is the 
 Almighty in a halo of golden refulgence. Below are the arms of the 
 prince for whom the book was executed, viz. Quarterly, 1. Empire and 
 Sforza, (Visconti) quartered, 2. Massovia, 3. Lithuania, 4. Arragon, 
 quartered with Hungary, Anjou of Naples, and Jerusalem ; the whole 
 surmounted by a ducal crown. This volume therefore belonged to 
 Francesco Maria Sforza (second son of Ludovico II Moro) the last 
 Duke of Milan, who succeeded his brother in 1521, and died in 1535. 
 The artist who painted the miniatures in this MS. is supposed to have 
 been a German, and it is not improbable that it was executed by order 
 of Charles V. as a present to the Duke of Milan. The remaining 
 miniatures in this bijou are: 1. Passion of Jesus Christ; 3. The Virgin 
 and Elizabeth ; 4. Holy family, most enchantingly finished ; 5. Angels 
 and shepherds ; 6. Magi adoring Christ, a magnificent piece of art ; 
 7. Purification of the Virgin ; 8. Flight into Egypt ; 9. Massacre of 
 the Innocents; 10. Virgin and child; 11. Penitential figure in attitude 
 
of prayer ; 12. Redemption of souls from hell ; 13. Crucifixion ; 14. 
 Taking down from the Cross ; 15. the Virgin sitting in a circle of holy 
 fathers. In each of these illuminations is introduced the Sforza coat, or 
 the imperial eagle. The margins of this precious volume have suffered 
 a little from the goth who bound it, but in other respects it is in the 
 most perfect state of preservation and purity. 
 
 i 
 
■ Iff *^*\ 
 
XXXIX. 
 
 The two specimens in this plate are portions of borders which orna- 
 mented a devotional book, in folio, executed between the years 1557 
 and 1570 (though it is possible the artist may have painted some earlier) 
 for the use of the reigning- Pontiff, by Apollonio de' Buonfratelli di 
 Capranica, who, in various inscriptions preserved by the person who 
 brought these miniatures to England, is styled Illuminist to the 
 Apostolic Chamber. The name of the artist appears to have been 
 unknown to Vasari and all other writers on the subject, and is not to be 
 found in Zani's extensive catalogue of the professors of the fine arts. 
 Mr. Ottley possesses several paintings by the same artist, with large 
 figures, in which he strove to imitate the style of Michelangiolo Buona- 
 roti. He did not, however, draw the naked figure with correctness. 
 In other respects, in his borders especially, Mr. Ottley thinks he is not 
 inferior to Giulio Clovio. 
 
Arft 
 
XL. 
 
 Another specimen of Italian skill, from the fragments of a choral book 
 executed for Pope Urban VIII. .(JBarberini) between the years 1623 
 and 1644, in the collection of W. Y. Ottley, Esq. The classic correct- 
 ness of design here exhibited, strongly contrasts with the style and taste 
 of an earlier period, and shows how the progress of the higher branches 
 of painting contributed, long after the invention of printing, to the per- 
 fection of the humbler but not less beautiful art of decorating manuscript 
 volumes. 
 
THE 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST 
 
 OF 
 
 SPECIMENS AND PLATES. 
 
 Specimen. Plate. Subject and Date. In what Collection. 
 
 I. i. — iv. Fragment of a Greek MS. of the Eusebian 
 
 Canons, 6th cent MS. Add. 51 11, Brit. Mus. 
 
 II. v. Capital Letters from Latin and Saxon 
 
 Gospels, 8th cent MS. Cott. Nero, D. iv. 
 
 III. vi. Saxon capital letters and borders, from a 
 
 Psalter, 10th cent MS. Cott. Tib. C. vi. 
 
 IV. vn. Italian borders, from a History of the 
 
 Bible in painting, 11th cent W. Y. Ottley, Esq. 
 
 V. vm. Border and fac-simile from Greek Gospels, 
 
 12th cent Bodleian Library. 
 
 VI. . ix. Capital letters and fac-simile from Latin 
 
 Bible, 12th cent MS. Reg. 1 C. vii. 
 
 VII. x. — xvi. Large capital letter, fac-simile, and alphabet 
 
 of smaller capitals, from Latin Passio- 
 
 nale, 12th cent MS. Harl. 2800. 
 
 VIII. xvii. Capital letter and fac-simile from Latin 
 
 Bible, 12th cent MS. Harl. 2803. 
 
 IX. xviii. xix. Borders and fac-simile from Latin Psalter, 
 
 13th and 14th cent. Francis Douce, Esq. 
 
 X. xx. Figures from Latin Breviary, 14th cent MS. Reg. 2 B. vii. 
 
 XL xxi. xxn. Borders and fac-simile from Latin Psalter, 
 
 14th cent Lord Braybrooke. 
 
 XII. xxiii. xxiv. Capital letters and fac-simile from MS. of 
 
 Latin Poems, 14th cent MS. Reg. 6 E. ix. 
 
 XIII. xxv. Initial letters,\vith portraits and fac-similes, 
 
 from a collection of Diplomatic Instru- 
 ments, 14th cent MS. Reg. 20 D. x. 
 
 XIV. xxvi. Borders from Latin Lectionary, 14th cent. MS. Harl. 7028. 
 
 XV. xxvn. xxvm. Alphabet of small capitals, from Latin 
 
 Gradual, 15th cent MS. Lands. 463. 
 
 XVI. xxix. Two illuminations of the Crucifixion, and 
 
 Burial of the Dead, with borders, from 
 
 Latin Hours, 15th cent Francis Douce, Esq. 
 
 XVII. xxx. xxxi. Borders from Latin Hours, 15th cent. ..... .MS. Harl. 2952. Fitzwil- 
 
 liam Museum, Camb. 
 
 XVIII. xxxn. Initial letter and border, from Life of St. 
 
 Edmund, 15th cent MS. Harl. 2278. 
 
 XIX. xxxin. Border and letter from Filocopo of Boccacio, 
 
 15th cent Bodleian Library. 
 
 d 
 
18 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST. 
 
 Specimen . 
 
 XX. 
 XXI. 
 
 XXII. 
 XXIII. 
 XXIV. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Plate. 
 XXXIV. 
 
 xxxv. 
 
 xxxvi. 
 
 xxx VII. 
 XXXVIII. 
 XXXIX. XL. 
 
 XXVI. xu. 
 
 XXVII. xlii. 
 
 XXVIII. XLIII. 
 XXIX. XLIV. xu. 
 
 XXX. xlvi. 
 
 XXXI. XLV1I. 
 
 XXXII. XLVI1I. XLIX. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 L. 
 
 LI. HI. 
 
 XXXV. liii. liv, 
 
 XXXVI. lv. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 XXXIX. 
 
 XL. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 LVIl. 
 LVI II. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 Subject and date. In what Collection. 
 
 Borders from Latin Hours. 15th cent MS. Harl. 2936. 
 
 Borders and initial letters, from St. Jerome's 
 
 Epistles, and St. Augustine 'De Civitate 
 
 Dei,' 15th cent MS. Harl. 3109. 
 
 MS. Harl. 4902. 
 
 Initial letter and fac-simile from Virgil, 
 
 15th cent P. A. Hanrott, Esq. 
 
 Fac-simile and ornament, from Decretals, 
 
 printed on vellum, 1465 Mr. Pickering. 
 
 Border and initial letter, from Landino's 
 
 Pliny, printed on vellum, 1476 Francis Douce, Esq. 
 
 Alphabet of small capitals, from French 
 
 translation of Valerius Maximus, 15th 
 
 cent . MSS. Harl. 4374-5. 
 
 Borders and arms, from Chronicle of Frois- 
 
 sart, 15th cent. MSS. Harl. 4379-80. 
 
 Arms and border, from Insignia of the 
 Order of the Golden Fleece, and Chro- 
 
 niques d'Angleterre, 15th cent MS. Harl. 6199. 
 
 MS. Reg. 15 E. iv. 
 
 Arms and borders, 15th cent MS. Reg. 14 E v, 
 
 MS. Reg. 15 E. vi. 
 
 Borders and letters, from Latin translation 
 
 of Eusebius, 1482 MS. Harl. 4965. 
 
 Border and fac-simile from Latin Breviary, 
 
 15th cent MS. Reg. 2 B. xv. 
 
 Border, arms, and fac-simile from English 
 
 translation of Vegetius, 15th cent MS. Reg. 18 A. xii. 
 
 Borders from Latin Service Book, 1484 — 
 
 1492. W. Y. Ottley, Esq. 
 
 Border, illumination, and fac-simile from 
 
 Latin Hours, 15th cent .Francis Douce, Esq. 
 
 Bordersfrom Poems of the Duke of Orleans, 
 
 &c. 15th cent MS. Reg. 16 F. ii. 
 
 Tho. Willement, Esq. 
 
 Border, initial letters, and fac-similes from 
 
 the Sforziada, printed on vellum, 1490. .. .P. A. Hanrott, Esq. 
 Initial letters from Aulus Gellius, 1479 — 
 
 1494 MS. Burney, 175. Brit. 
 
 Mus. 
 
 Capital letters from miscellaneous MS. 
 
 circ. 1500 Ashmolean Library, Oxf. 
 
 Border from Latin Hours, 1527 Francis Douce, Esq. 
 
 Borders from Latin Service-Book, 1557 — 
 
 1570 . W. Y. Ottley, Esq. 
 
 Border from Latin Service Book, 1623 — 
 
 1644 W. Y. Ottley, Esq. 
 
ADDENDUM TO SPECIMEN VIII. 
 
 It is expressly stated by De Murr, that the library of Hieronymus 
 William Ebner, (including the Greek MS. of the Gospels) was left by 
 will for the use of the Public. Yet we learn from the Supplement to 
 Dr. Dibdin's Tour, pp. xxxvi, xxxvii, that the volume in question was 
 offered to him for purchase, in 1818, by a member of the Ebner family, 
 and was bought the following year by Mr. Payne, of Pall Mall, 
 from whose shelves it was, shortly afterwards, transferred to the Bodleian 
 Library. 
 
0. Whittingham, 'looks (Joint, Chancery Lane. 
 
N. 
 
THE GETTY CENTER 
 LIBRARY 
 
*