A catalogue of medieval literature, especially of the romances of chivalry, and books relating to the customs, costume, art, and pageantry of the middle ages.

Bernard Quaritch Ltd

Date:: 1890

Credit: A catalogue of medieval literature, especially of the romances of chivalry, and books relating to the customs, costume, art, and pageantry of the middle ages. Source: Wellcome Collection.

75/100 (page 69)

$362 ROMMAN’T DE LA ROSE, et Oeuvres diverses de maitre Jean de Meung, folio, superb illuminated MS. on vellum, with 7 6 Miniatures, two of which are very large^ all splendidly designed^ painted and gilt^ with nume- rous decorated initials and capitals^ and fine fioreated borders; hound in green velvety with brass clasps and corner- pieces^ the “Le Roman de la Rose” engraved on an old silver plate fastened on the side^ beneath it the monogram of a former owner lorought in silver gilt^ and forming a centre- piece About 1470 850 0 0 A grand volume, suited rather to royal than to private ownership, being probably the finest illuminated MS. of the Roman de la Rose existing outside the Paris Bibliotheque. It has passed during the last hundred years, through the hands successively of Prince Gralitzin, Mr. Henry Perkins, and Mr. Benzon. Its next resting-place will probably be a permanent one, as books of this kind are being gradually taken out of the public market by incorporation in Museums, where they remain to attest the extraordinary magnificence of illuminated books produced for the pleasure of princes in the fifteenth century.— ,Besides the Boman de la Bose, the MS. comprises likewise the • Testament, the Songe, and Codicille of Jean de Meun, works of very infrequent occurrence in MSS. One-fifth of the book was written by Guillaume de Lorris, who left it unfinished about 1240 ; Jean de Menu wrote the other foui’- fifths and completed the poem about 1280. 363 ROMAN DE LA ROSE. (PoZ. 1, sign, a 2;) Ci commence le romant de la rose On tout lart damours est enclose MAintes gens dient q en songes Ne sot q fables et mensonges Mais on peult telz songes songier Qui ne sent mie mensongier .... small folio, Editio Priiiceps, httreiS gati^tqueg, 149 leaves {signatures a=t in eights, except a whicJi has seven and t which has six leaves), printed in double columns, with 92 woodcuts, and a woodcut border on the first page, coloured by a contemporary hand; a small wormhole in the lower margin of eleven leaves; otherwise a fine copy in old French red morocco extra, gilt edges, by Berome, unique 8. n. {Lyon, vers 1480) 96 0 0 Unique as a perfect copy ; there is, however, a second copy known, now in the Lyons library, which wants the last leaf. Beyond the two copies specified, there is no other extant to our present knowledge. The type is not the same as that of the edition assigned to Guillaume Leroy, and described by Brunet as “ une des plus anciennes que, jusqu’ici, nous connaissions de ce livre”; but the woodcuts in each of the two editions are identical and from the same blocks, the impressions here being however clearly earlier than in the other edition, in which the engravings show some breakages in the blocks.—The Gothic type is totally different in style and character from that in the recognised Leroy edition. One of the points to be remarked is the frequent use of the upright Gothic d instead of h.—Brunet gives a long paragraph to this edition, but he knew nothing of it except from a private letter addressed from Lyons to Van Praet, describing the imperfect copy in the Lyons library. 364 Le eommant de la eose imprime a Paris, sm. folio, lettres got]^tqu£0, with numerous woodcuts, very fine copy, red morocco extra, with broad dentelle borders on the sides, gilt edges Imprime nouuellement a Paris {par Antoine Verard, vers 1490] 50 0 0 First edition printed by Verard of this famous book. It accords exactly with the description given by Brunet. It has, as he describes, 142 leaves, printed in two columns of 43 lines each, without pagination or catchwords, but with signatures, and$