Volume 2

Universal palaeography, or, Fac-similes of writings of all nations and periods, copied from the most celebrated and authentic manuscripts in the libraries and archives of France, Italy, Germany, and England / by M.J.B. Silvestre ; accompanied by an historical and descriptive text and introduction by Champollion-Figeac and Aimé Champollion, fils ; translated from the French and edited, with corrections and notes, by Sir Frederic Maddan ... in two volumes.

Joseph-Balthazar Silvestre

Date:: 1849-1850

Credit: Universal palaeography, or, Fac-similes of writings of all nations and periods, copied from the most celebrated and authentic manuscripts in the libraries and archives of France, Italy, Germany, and England / by M.J.B. Silvestre ; accompanied by an historical and descriptive text and introduction by Champollion-Figeac and Aimé Champollion, fils ; translated from the French and edited, with corrections and notes, by Sir Frederic Maddan ... in two volumes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

301/458 page 659

Je me mes an sette 'place, An vous supliant treshumblemt monsrq puiee tousjours estre an vre bonne grace, vre treshumble et tresobeisante S[oeur] L* And lastly, as a more decisive proof of the original desti¬ nation of the volume, on fol. 213, verso, may be seen a minia¬ ture, hi which Charles V. is represented as a youth kneeling, in royal robes, and wearing the crown and insignia of Spain; the latter circumstance being of importance, as indicating the precise date of the manuscript; a certain date being of as much importance in the history of art as the dates of other historical facts. Charles Y. succeeded to the crown of Spain in 1516, and was elected Emperor in 1519. Had he attained the latter dignity, the miniature would have contained evi¬ dence of the fact; as it is, the manuscript is shewn to have been executed in the period intervening between these two datesf. It is evident, that the Emperor must have constantly used this volume, from its present state; the margins having lost their primitive whiteness, and being much thumb-worn. This is especially the case with the text of the Penitential Psalms, and at fol. 213, containing the prayer Adproprium Angelum. Many of the leaves also bear to this day the deep impression made by the spectacles of the Emperor, which were usually shut in between the pages. The volume thus becomes doubly valuable, both as a work of art and an historical monument. The right-hand column of the fac-simile represents one of the pages of this beautiful volume, containing a miniature, a border, and a portion of the text. The admirable composition * Eleonora, another sister of Cliarles V. [It must be remarked that Denis reads the letters S.P., without explanation.—Ed.] 1 By an error of the engraver, the Plate has been marked of the fifteenth century.—Ed.

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