Textmanuscripts - Les Enluminures
i + 50 + i folios on parchment, modern foliation in pencil, 1-50, complete (collation i8[f. 7 replaced by a new leaf copied and decorated by scribe 2 and artist 2] ii-iv8 v6 vi12), no catchwords or signatures, written and decorated by two different scribes and two different artists nearly simultaneously (part 1 slightly earlier, but both for the same original owner): part 1, ff. 1-6v, ff. 8-38v, ruled in dark pink ink (justification 210 x 130 mm), written by scribe 1 in brown ink in a late textualis with influence from hybrida in single column on 20 lines until f. 37, rubrics in red, music written in square notation on four-line red staves, seven staves and lines of text to a page, decorated by artist 1 with 1-2-line alternating gold and silver initials on alternating dark pink and reddish brown grounds, pigment line-fillers in matching colors resembling knobbed branches highlighted with gold or silver details, three 3-4-line alternating blue or rose initials on gold grounds, one full and two partial illuminated borders in panels containing floral motifs and acanthus (ff. 1, 10, 23v); part 2, ff. 39-50 (the last quire of 12 leaves), ruled in pale pink ink (justification 210 x 130 mm), written by scribe 2 (who began on f. 37v, which was already ruled with 20 lines for scribe 1) in brown ink in a late textualis formata in single column on 21 lines, scribe 2 also wrote f. 7r-v, which is ruled with 26 lines, rubrics in red, capitals touched in yellow, music written in square notation on four-line red staves, seven staves and lines of text to a page, decorated by artist 2 with 1-2-line gold initials on alternating brownish red or blue grounds decorated with shell gold designs, line-fillers resembling knobbed branches in brown, blue or pink decorated with shell gold, nine 2-6-line alternating blue or rose initials on gold grounds infilled with flora, three partial borders decorated with flora and peacocks and other birds on gold grounds or in panels in the form of scrolls, foliage or fleurs-de-lis (ff. 7, 39, 50), several contemporary notes in the margins, many undoubtedly by the original owner, water stains especially on ff. 11v-15, some minor stains elsewhere, in overall very good condition. In near-contemporary binding (sixteenth century) of faded scarlet velvet over pasteboards, spine with five raised bands, remains of two pairs of fabric ties in red and blue attached to the covers, very worn and stained, lacking the velvet on the spine and corners, revealing the sewing on the spine and the manuscript leaves that were reused for reinforcing the pasteboard covers, overall in good condition, in modern chemise and slipcase of half red morocco over modern marbled paper boards, on the spine the coat of arms of Count Chandon de Briailles in gilt, in excellent condition. Dimensions 332 x 227 mm.
One of four volumes of a deluxe illuminated medieval Pontifical made for François de Halvyn, Bishop of Amiens, the other three dispersed in three different public collections. Working in gold, silver, and vibrant colors, two artists illuminated the volumes, embellished with naturalistic birds and finely ornamented initials.The manuscript is further distinguished by its exceptionally impressive provenance, having belonged to a succession of important bishops, and more recently, to the Counts of Chandon de Briailles. Its original sixteenth-century velvet binding is a rare survival.
1. The manuscript was made for François de Halvyn (also spelled Hallwin, Halluin, Halwin), bishop of Amiens, 1503-1538. His coat of arms is found on f. 47 (overpainted with the arms of Geoffroy de La Marthonie, but Halvyn's arms are still visible, especially on the verso). François de Halvyn was the son of Louis de Halvyn, seigneur de Piennes, gouverneur and lieutenant-général in Picardy, and of Jeanne de Ghistelle, dame d'Esclebecq (see Online Resources). Before being made the bishop of Amiens in 1503, François de Halvyn was a clerk of the church of Amiens, apostolic notary and abbot of the Cistercian Abbey du Gard (between Amiens and Abbeville). The manuscript was very likely made for him when he became bishop of Amiens in 1503. François de Halvyn suffered a tragic death, being injured by a wild boar during a hunt in the forest of the Gard Abbey in June 1538.
2. The Amiens use is indicated in the text, on f. 47: "Qualiter synodus fit in ecclesia ambianensi [How the synod is held in the church of Amiens]."
3. Belonged to Geoffroy de La Marthonie, bishop of Amiens, 1576-1617, whose coat of arms is painted on f. 1, and over the arms of de Halvyn on f. 47.
4. Belonged to Jean-François-Paul Le Fèvre de Caumartin (1668-1733), bishop of Vannes, 1718-1719, then bishop of Blois 1720-1733, whose armorial coat of arm is pasted inside the front cover: cartouche with the inscription "Ex Cata.go Bibliothecae Caumartin.ae" (no manuscript number is inscribed in the space available). He probably inherited the manuscript from his great-uncle, François Le Fèvre de Caumartin (1587-1652), who was bishop of Amiens from 1618 until his death in 1652. Jean-François-Paul Le Fèvre de Caumartin was a learned prelate who amassed a significant library of around 9000 printed works and 350 manuscripts. Sold at the auction of his library; see Catalogue des Livres de la Bibliotheque de Jean-Francois-Paul Le Febvre de Caumartin, Paris, 1734, p. 621, lot 6327, "Pars Pontificalis in fol. sur velin"; the auction began on 9th January 1735.
5. Belonged to the bookseller Joseph Baer in Frankfurt, and included in his catalogue no. 675, Codices manuscripti ... Incunabula xylographica et typographica, 1921, p. 39, no. 64 (for 10,000 marks, with an erroneous attribution of the coat of arms to Cardinal Georges d'Armagnac).
6. Belonged to Count François Chandon de Briailles (1892-1953), of the family producing the famous Moët & Chandon champagne; his bookplate is pasted on the front flyleaf (Ms. 7 in his collection, as indicated by the handwritten shelfmark on the bookplate). A copy of Liber de sacramentis secundum vsum Lugduni, 1521, now Lyon, Bibliothèque municipale, MS Rés. 813535, includes the same bookplate (see Online Resources), apparently used also by his father Count Raoul Chandon de Briailles (1850-1908), president of the champagne house and bibliophile; he bequeathed an important collection of books on viticulture to the town of Épernay. His son, Count François Chandon de Briailles bequeathed his significant collection of coins, medals, bulls, seals, engraved stones and other objects to the Cabinet des médailles in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. After his death the manuscript was sold at Drouot in Paris in 1954 (see below).
7. Sold at Drouot in Paris on 2-3 December 1954, lot 19.
ff. 1-37, Ordination services, incipit, "Incipit officium in ordinibus celebrandis ... Explicit officium in ordinibus celebrandis"; including litanies on ff. 11v-14, with mention of three saints venerated at Beauvais, as indicated by the inclusion of St. Lucien of Beauvais, St. Evroult and St. Angadrisma of Beauvais, abbess of Saint-Evroult (the last two were later crossed out); these may be saints of personal importance to the first owner;
ff. 37v-38, for the liturgy of the Mass, offertorium, lavabo and orate fratres, "Suscipe sancte pater omnipotens eterne deus hanc immaculatam hostiam ... Offerimus tibi domine calicem salutaris ... In spiritu humilitatis ... Veni sanctificator ... Suscipe sancta trinitas hanc oblationem .... Orate fratres ut meum ac vestrum sacrificium acceptabile fiat apud deum patrem omnipotentem"; f. 38v, ruled, otherwise blank;
ff. 39-50v, Consecration of the sacred Chrism on Maundy Thursday, rubric, "Feria quinta in cena domini quando sacrum crisma consecratur ... Benedicamus domino. Sit nomen domini. Et cetera." The Amiens use is indicated in the text, on f. 47, "Qualiter synodus fit in ecclesia ambianensi."
Noted Pontifical, use of Amiens, one of four volumes made for François de Halvyn, the other three volumes of the original Pontifical are now in Paris, Besançon, and Baltimore (see below).
The manuscript is decorated by two different artists. The illuminator responsible for decorating f. 7r-v and the final quire, ff. 39-50v, is quite talented (named "artist 2" in the physical description above). The border with birds and the initial decorated with intricate ornamentation that introduce the Consecration of the sacred Chrism on Maundy Thursday are unusually fine (f. 39). This artist also painted the borders and initials in the Paris and Besançon volumes. Isabelle Delaunay identified this illuminator as responsible for the secondary decoration also in three books of hours that were copied and decorated with initials and borders in Amiens before being sent to Rouen to be illuminated with miniatures by Robert Boyvin (cf. Delaunay 1995, p. 221). These are Book of Hours for use of Amiens (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS lat. 13298), Book of Hours for use of Paris with an Amiens calendar (H. Tenschert, Leuchtendes Mittelalters, III, cat. 22, 1990, no. 56), andthe Hours of Immaculate Conception of Jean de Ricaumet, made shortly before 1504, around the same time as our manuscript (Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, MS W.282).
The noted Pontifical for use of Amiens made for François de Halvyn (d. 1538), Bishop of Amiens, survives today in four separate volumes with identical dimensions (c. 332 x 227mm). In addition to our manuscript, the other three volumes are Besançon, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 135 (cf. Leroquais, I, pp. 79-80; Halvyn's arms on ff. 1, 18, 22, 60; Online Resources), Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery, MS W.303 (Randall II, pt. 2, pp. 492-497), Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS lat. 971 (cf. Leroquais, II, pp. 102-103; Halvyn's arms on ff. 1 and 37; Online Resources). The volume in Besançon has 143 leaves and contains benedictions for bells, chalices, vestments and altar ornaments, liturgy for the order of catechumens, confirmation, consecration of a church, litanies for use of Amiens, service for the burial of the dead, and the liturgy for a synod. The Baltimore manuscript contains 64 leaves containing the rituals for the dedication of a church. The Paris manuscript has 49 leaves and contains texts for the consecration of the bishop, the benediction of the abbot and litanies for use of Amiens. It later belonged, like our manuscript, to Geoffroy de La Marthonie, whose arms were painted over those of Halvyn on ff. 1 and 37 in the Paris volume.
Though inevitably large books, medieval Pontificals were not usually bound in multiple volumes; nevertheless, the eventual sale in 1735 describes this Pontifical as existing in parts, and so one of the bishops of Amiens who owned it must have dismembered it. The Besançon book's first border includes an original carve-out for foliation, and the numeral i, demonstrating that this volume likely represents the original beginning, the latter half of which is now divided between the present copy, Baltimore, and lastly, Paris, according to the textual progression normal in Pontificals (Randall II, p. 496). De La Marthonie's arms do not appear in the Besançon book, however, and so it may have been Halvyn himself who split it up originally, and for some reason, only the latter parts remained with the bishopric after his death. Besançon is bound in calf, and the Paris copy in shagreen. Randall thought that the Baltimore copy's leather binding was contemporary, raising that possibility that both it and the present volume's velvet binding represent various stages of the division of the volume across the sixteenth century.
The Pontifical was the more important of the two liturgical books that contained the texts for the functions of a Bishop (in addition to the Cærimoniale Episcoporum). Comparatively few Pontificals were required in the Middle Ages, and its text is much less known than that of Missals, Breviaries, or even Rituals. The Pontifical is an appealing witness of the grandest medieval ceremonies and corteges, and it is fascinating to follow, for instance, the dialogue of the ordination services, found on ff. 1-37 in our manuscript. Our manuscript is a luxurious copy with an elegant script, large cream-colored margins and an unusually extensive use of silver in the decoration, in addition to both leaf- and shell-gold. Along with the fascinating history of the people who once held it, the art that this book contains is of excellent quality and merits further study.
Gerin, D. "Le comte François Chandon de Briailles (1892-1953) et la numismatique," Bulletin de la Société française de numismatique (June 1992), pp. 378-380.
Delaunay, I. "Le manuscrit enluminé à Rouen au temps du cardinal Georges d'Amboise: l'œuvre de Robert Boyvin et de Jean Serpin," Annales de Normandie 45/3 (1995), pp. 211-244.
Leroquais, V. Les pontificaux manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques de France, 3 vols, Paris, 1937.
Palazzo, E. L'évêque et son image: l'illustration du pontifical au Moyen Age, Turnhout, 1999.
Randall, Lilian M. C., ed. Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery, Volume 2, Part 2, Baltimore, 1992.
Rasmussen, N. K. Les pontificaux du haut moyen age: gènese du livre de l'évêque, Louvain, 1998.
Ex-libris of Count Chandon de Briailles in the Bibale database (IRHT, CNRS):
https://bibale.irht.cnrs.fr/97398
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS lat. 971:
https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc62536z?collect
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10000504b/f1412.item
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10000504b/f1413.item
Besançon, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 135:
https://arca.irht.cnrs.fr/ark:/63955/r9gyvelaqavh
https://initiale.irht.cnrs.fr/codex/937
TM 1405
