TERRIER OF THE SEIGNEURY OF DAMPIERRE-SUR-VINGEANNE (BURGUNDY) AND AUTHUMES (BURGUNDY), BELONGING TO PHILIPPE DE CHABOT, ADMIRAL OF FRANCE
France, Burgundy, dated 1537-1538 [i. e. 1539].
in French, illuminated manuscript on paper
[X] + 157 ff. [i. e. 167 ff. with bl.], lower endpapers foliated (reuse of blank leaves moved to end of volume), apparently complete (collation: i10 [of 12, missing i and ix, cancelled blanks], ii2 [one parchment leaf coupled with a single paper leaf], iii12, iv14, v-vii12, viii8, ix16, x14, xi12, xii10 [of 12, viii and x moved to endpapers at end of volume], xiii12, xiv4); on paper (similar watermarks to those in Briquet no. 1651, Coat of Arms of Burgundy, "Quartered on the 1 and 4 with the Fleur de lis, on the 2 and 3 banded of 4 pieces, which is Burgundy ancient, an escutcheon with the lion of Flanders surmounting the whole, ensigned by the lighter of Burgundy": late 15th century, Pierre-en-Bresse, 1469; Châlon-sur-Saône, 1469 etc.), illuminated title page, with a small booklet of the same name.), illuminated title page on parchment; 390 x 280 mm; 12 to 25 long lines in carbon ink; graphite rules; foliation contemporary to ms. (at upper right corner); hybrida (title page and part titles and their incipit) and cursiva currens; 51 cadelated letters of different sizes with acanthus leaf or grotesque motifs, 24 of which are completed with wash decorations, the title page is particularly ornate, large grotesque cadelated initial in black and gilt ink, large illuminated Renaissance frame on gilt background and with zoomorphic motifs, cups and acanthus leaves with a header in capital letters " EQUO TENE VOLENS LAXO " and painted arms of Philippe de Chabot opposite the cadelated initial. Full contemporary brown calf, five-ribbed spine with cold fillets, cold-stamped boards; modern conservation case; spine and corners restored (only boards are contemporary). (400 x 290 mm).
ICONOGRAPHY Terriers usually contain little illumination, so the presence of richly decorated initials as here is rare. (On initials with cadillas or gifts see S. H. Steinberg, "A Hand-List of Specimens of Medieval Writing Masters," The Library 25 (1943), pp. 191-194; and S. H. Steinberg, "Medieval Writing-Master," The Library 22 (1941), pp. 1-24. See also L'alphabet gothique de Marie de Bourgogne, Musee du Louvre, MS II, 134 DR to 158 DR. S. Hindman in Dominique Cordelier, et al, Enluminures, Moyen Age et Renaissance, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Paris, 2010. Like the Gothic Alphabet mentioned above, the 51 initials in our manuscript are particularly elaborate and sometimes take up half the page. About half of them, 24, are enriched with watercolor drawings (mostly in blue with touches of color). The decoration of the first leaf on parchment is particularly original; it combines the elegance of the frame with the ridiculous grotesques of the initial. The calligrapher of this initial seems different from the rest of the copyist. He humorously draws grimacing profiles, one upside down (f.115), the other with a trufe nose", ms. note in his hand(?) on f. 96. His initials can probably be found on f.112. This profusion of means underlines the desire of the patron to strengthen his power over his lands. Other illuminated terriers for great personages are known to specialists, for example the Terrier de Marcoussis, copied and illuminated at the end of the fifteenth century for another Admiral, Louis de Graville, Admiral of France, made by or in the workshop of Jean d'Espinay (France, Private Collection, and a fragment preserved in the Musée Marmottan, Wildenstein Collection, 163: see S. Pagenot, "Le terrier de Marcoussis, un manuscrit profane commandé par l'éveque Jean d'Espinay à la fin du XVe siècle," F. Joubert (ed.), L'artiste et le clerc. La commande artistique des grands ecclésiastiques à la fin du Moyen Age (XIVe-XVIe siècle), pp. 389-412). Our manuscript, the Terrier de Dampierre-sur-Vingeanne, does not have a miniature, but the richness of the initials and the illuminated title page in the Renaissance style classify it as a prestigious commission. These documents were not intended for regular use but were compilations of acts by a notary who, accompanied by the lord's representative ("attaché de mondict seigneur le bailli et maitre des foires de Chalon", f. 4), went from door to door to record and reinforce Philippe de Chabot's authority over his lands. TEXT - ff. I-IV, Table of contents; incipit, " Cest la table du present livre... ; - ff. IVv-V, blank ; - f. Vv, Continuation of the table, "Champaigne"; "Forains de Champaigne"; - ff. VI-VIv, blank; - f. VII, Handwritten addition of the 18th century "Contenue sommaire des assignaux censables dénombrés dans ce terrier"; "Produits sommaire des redevances de ce terrier"; - ff. VIIv-Xv, blank; - ff. 1-1v (only leaf on parchment), Title page, incipit, "Cest le terrier rentier et decla
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