Part 1: ff. i-iii

Description: - Parchment - 298 x 203 mm

Country: France

Assigned Date: s. XIII/XIV

Dated by scribe: No

Document: No

Number of Scribes: 1

Script: Gothic.

Figurative Decoration: 16 roundels decorated with gold with signs of the zodiac and depictions of monthly occupations.

Other Decoration: Painted initials decorated with gold on squared grounds of blue and red; calendar entries in red, blue, and brown.

Notes: Calendar not originally part of this manuscript but contemporary with it.




Text 1: ff. i-iii

Title: Calendar

Language(s): Latin

Notes: Some calendar entries in French. French poem in three stanzas, each ending with the line "du bon Briant de France conestable," added in a 14th century hand to the verso of f. iii. 

Image 1: f. ii verso September-October, monthly occupations; zodiac signs

Image 2: f. iii November-December, monthly occupations; zodiac signs.


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Part 2: ff. 1-382v

Description: - Parchment - 298 x 203 mm - 2 columns of 44-46 lines ruled in hard point and lead.

Country: France

Cardinal point: northern

Assigned Date: s. XIII/XIV

Dated by scribe: No

Document: No

Number of Scribes: 1

Script: Gothic.

Figurative Decoration: 5 groups of miniatures on backgrounds of either burnished gold or white-patterned blue or red.

Other Decoration: Numerous 4- to 7-line initials in gold or with gold decoration on painted, white-patterned grounds, occasionally inhabited but usually with geometric or foliate infillings; 2-line initials in red and blue with pen-flourishing in other color.

Notes: Foliated 1-382 but missing ff. 2 and 22; contemporary foliation in roman numerals, upper right margin.




Text 1: ff. 1-382v

Title: Lancelot Proper"

Language(s): French

Notes: Manuscript complete but contains only the first two thirds of the romance, sometimes known as La Reine aux grandes douleurs 

Status of text: Parts of some leaves torn away.

Image 3: f. 1 Miniature: the Round Table, King Claudas wounded, King Ban's wife and the baby Lancelot, the Lady of the Lake carrying the baby away, the Queen received by the abbess

Image 4: f. 1, detail Miniature: the Round Table, King Claudas wounded, King Ban's wife and the baby Lancelot, the Lady of the Lake carrying the baby away, the Queen received by the abbess

Image 5: f. 3v Painted initial.

Image 6: f. 62 Miniature: Arthur and courtiers riding, Arthur blowing a horn, Lady of the Lake presenting Lancelot to Arthur, Arthur welcoming Lancelot, Lancelot helping wounded knight

Image 7: f. 78v Painted and flourished initials.

Image 8: f. 98v Painted initials.

Image 9: f. 126 Miniature: Arthur riding towards the kneeling Lancelot, Guinevere and attendants waiting for Lancelot, Guinevere and attendants

Image 10: f. 150v Painted and flourished initials.

Image 11: f. 198 Medieval foliation.

Image 12: f. 206 Miniature: Guinevere and the Dame de Malehaut sending off Lancelot and Galehaut, Lancelot and Galehaut riding towards a castle, Lancelot and Galehaut riding with their squires

Image 13: f. 319v Miniature: Lancelot in a cart, Meleagant's stepsister rowing towards Lancelot's prison, Lancelot killing Meleagant