Details

Subject(s)

• Kings and rulers—Poetry—Early works to 1800 [Browse]
• Ethics—Early works to 1800 [Browse]
• Fame—Early works to 1800 [Browse]
• Manuscripts, English (Middle)—New Jersey—Princeton [Browse]

Translator

• Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451? [Browse]
• Laurent, de Premierfait, -1418 [Browse]

Bookseller

• Bernard Quaritch (Firm) [Browse]

Donor

• Taylor, Robert H., 1908-1985 [Browse]

Related name

• Princeton University. Library. Manuscript. Taylor MS. 2. [Browse]

Library of Congress genre(s)

• Poetry [Browse]

Getty AAT genre

• Manuscripts—England—15th century [Browse]

Related work(s)

Boccaccio, Giovanni, 1313-1375. De casibus virorum illustrium. French (Middle French) [Browse]

Notes

• John Lydgate's Middle English version of Laurent de Premierfait's Middle French translation (1409) of Giovanni Boccaccio, De casibus virorum illustrium.
• Script: Bastard Secretary.
• Decoration: Vinet and demi-vinet borders and 4-line initials in gold, rose, pink, blue, and green at the beginning of the text and the first eight chapters; floriated initials with partial borders for prologues to books 2 (fol. 43r), 3 (fol. 71v), 5 (fol. 124v), and 8 (fol. 181r).

Binding note

England, late 15th century. Blind-tooled brown leather over oak boards (12 mm thick); rebacked with several modern repairs, especially in upper portion of gutter on fols. 1-97.

Language note

Text in Middle English.

Provenance

Taylor MS. 2 has a blank space left for heraldic arms in the vinet border (fol. 1r). The earliest identifiable owner is Sir Henry Willoughby (1451-1528), of Wollaton, Nottinghamshire. The manuscript was offered by the London antiquarian bookseller Bernard Quaritch in a number of catalogues. According to A.S.G. Edwards, the collector Henry Harvey Frost (1873-1969) marked his copy of the 1931 Quaritch catalogue with an "x" in blue crayon to indicate that he had purchased the manuscript. Most of the manuscripts in the 1952 catalogue were from the collection of J.P.R. Lyell. Robert H. Taylor (1908-1985), of Princeton, New Jersey, Class of 1930, probably purchased the manuscript from Quaritch in 1956. Taylor's bequest to the Princeton University Library, 1985.

Source acquisition

Gift of Robert H. Taylor.

References

Medieval & Renaissance manuscripts in the Princeton University Library, volume 1, pages 404-407.

Cite as

Taylor MS. 2, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Other format(s)

Also available in an electronic version.

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