This Bible Historiale is the Bible translated toward the end of the 13th century into French and prose by Guyart des Moulins. Presented in the form of a holy story, it joins Jerome’s Vulgata and Petrus Comestor’s Historia Scholastica. It was quickly completed by the second volume of the Bible du XIIIe siècle. Widely used in the 14th and 15th centuries; today there exist 144 complete or fragmentary exemplars. (hoc)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

The Bibliothèque de Genève preserves a third copy in two volumes of the Bible Historiale by Guyart des Moulins (besides Ms. fr. 1/1-2 and Ms. fr. 2). Despite the rough execution of his drawings, this copy is remarkable because of its origin. It was copied by Jean Bagnel at the behest of Hugonin Dupont, a merchant and citizen of Geneva; in 1603 it became part of the Bibliothèque de Genève. (hoc)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

The Bibliothèque de Genève preserves a third copy in two volumes of the Bible Historiale by Guyart des Moulins (besides Ms. fr. 1/1-2 and Ms. fr. 2). Despite the rough execution of his drawings, this copy is remarkable because of its origin. It was copied by Jean Bagnel at the behest of Hugonin Dupont, a merchant and citizen of Geneva; in 1603 it became part of the Bibliothèque de Genève. (hoc)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

In 1389, the Franciscan monk Jean de Souabe translated into French the Horologium sapientiae by the mystic Henry Suso (1295-1366) of the Rhineland. In this moral treatise, wisdom conducts a dialog with a student regarding the spiritual path to be followed, as inspired by the passion of Christ, and invites him to meditate on the passing of time. More than fifty copies of this work are known. This manuscript from the Bibliothèque de Genève, dated 1417, was probably written in the episcopal city. (hoc)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

This historical collection, whose narratives range from Genesis to Julius Caesar, was a great success in the Middle Ages. It was first written in the 13th century. This incomplete copy ends with Pompey’s triumphant return to Rome. The manuscript was produced in Paris and contains 34 miniatures in grisaille. (hoc)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This early 16th century manuscript contains book II of the Illustrations de Gaule et singularitez de Troye by Jean Lemaire de Belges (1473-1524), followed by the XXIV coupletz de la valitude et convalescence de la royne trescrestienne and the virelai “Espritz haultains“. This is the only known manuscript to contain these three texts. It was signed by Lemaire de Belges’s own hand (f. 199v). (des)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

At the request of Charles the Bold, in 1470 Vasco de Lucena translated Xenophon’s Cyropaedia from the Latin translation by Poggio Bracciolini (Institutio Cyri, 1445) and titled it “ Traitté des faiz et haultes prouesses de Cyrus”.  The manuscript was illuminated by the “Maitre des prières de 1500” and contains seven miniatures that tell the story of Cyrus and that inspired the Duke of Burgundy in his political and military actions. (hoc)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

Le Mignon is a collection of various historical narratives and moral or philosophical texts. Henri Romain is the author of the summary of the three decades of Titus Livius and the Compendium historial, a compilation of ancient stories. Laurent de Premierfait is the translator of De la vieillesse by Cicero, and Jean Courtecuisse translated Des Quatre vertus cardinales by Seneca. This manuscript from the studio of Maître François presents seven beautiful frontispiece illuminations. (hoc)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

Noël de Fribois, notary, secretary and advisor to King Charles VII, wrote the Abrégé des chroniques de France, which he presented to the King in June 1459. He began his chronicle with the siege of Troy and concludes it in 1383. The Geneva copy has two anonymous sequels, one on the reign of Charles VII and one on that of Louis XI. This first part of the manuscript is decorated with 27 illuminated scenes. The text continues with the Mémoire sur les rois de Sicile by Giovanni Candida, translated into French by Charles Guillart, and with various chronicles, stories and other writings added in the 16th century. (hoc)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

At the behest of King Philip III the Bold, the Dominican Laurent d’Orléans wrote a book on religious instruction for lay people. He was inspired by the Miroir du monde in the 3rd and 4th tract (f. 6r-33r) compiling two treatises about this 13th century work, that was widely read throughout the realm. The fifth treatise on the virtues (f. 33r-99r) is the only part originally by Brother Laurent. The illuminator who created the 8 miniatures is not identified, but probably was active in Northern France. (hoc)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

The Livre de bonnes meurs, dedicated to the Duke of Berry, draws its inspiration from the Sophilogium by the same author. In essence this is a moral and religious work. As part of the “mirror for princes”, it broaches the topic of the virtues and moral qualities that an ideal prince should possess. This Geneva manuscript represents the first version, dated 1404. It was illuminated by the master of Philippe de Commynes’ Froissart and contains a single beautiful illumination for the frontispiece. (hoc)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

This composite manuscript, which comes from the collection of Alexandre Petau, brings together four texts that were assembled at an unknown time. The first and longest text (f. 2r-81r) is the Enseignement de vraie noblesse from 1464, attributed to Hugues de Lannoy, a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, who, with this text, presents a mirror for princes that could interest the court of the Duke of Burgundy. This part contains the manuscript’ only decoration, a large illumination (f. 3r) executed by the chief assistant to the illuminator Guillaume Vrelant of Bruges, known as Maître de la Vraie Cronicque descoce. This text is followed by the Chronique d'Ecosse (f. 82r-90v) with the history of Scotland from its origins to 1463, a text on "Le droit que le roy Charles VIIIme pretend ou royaulme de Naples" (f. 91r), and finally the life of St. Helena in Latin (f. 91v-93r). (rou)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This work contains two tracts: the Livre des deduis, a handbook on hunting, and the Songe de Pestilence, an allegorical narrative that tells about the battle of the Virtues and the Vices. This Geneva examplar is attributed to the illuminator known by the name Master of Robert Gaguin. (hoc)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

Philippe Prevost, Lord of Plessis-Sohier-lez-Tours, advisor and Grand Master of King Henry IV, is the author and scribe of this text on the art of war, which is introduced by a dedication to King Henry IV (1591) and a letter to the same monarch. The text is also accompanied by several sonnets and a short treatise on fortifications. In addition, the autograph manuscript contains a short printed text by Philippe Prevost, Himne de la guerre et de la paix, which was published in Tours in 1590. A series of drawings, probably from engravings, and several battle plans illustrate the text of Le Mars. This text was never published, although it seems to have been prepared for this purpose, as attested by numerous erasures, additions and annotations. (rou)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

In 1511, the Benedictine Jean d'Auton (around 1466-1528), chronicler at the court of Louis XII, initiated a contest to write fictional letters to the king. For this contest, he wrote the Epistre d'Hector au roy, which was answered, among others, by Jean Lemaire de Belges with his Epistre du roy Loys à Hector. This Geneva manuscript begins with a full-page illustration, executed by an artist named Maître des Entrées, active in Lyon. It depicts Hector presenting a book to a satyr in front of an army of soldiers in armor, some of whom are crowned with the poets’ laurel wreath. The numerous references to antiquity, textual as well as visual, are typical for the humanist milieu of Lyon, which included the owner of this manuscript, Jean Sala, half-brother of the famous author and antiquities enthusiast Pierre Sala. (rou)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

This manuscript contains a collection of texts in French, mainly in the form of verse or prose excerpts. Among these are fabliaux, a religious poem, a fragment of the Roman de la Châtelaine de Vergi, and proverbs. This manuscript, a veritable collection of texts, was probably written on paper during the 1st quarter of the 15th century, either in Savoy or in French-speaking Switzerland. (rou)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

In 1389 Philippe de Mézières (1327-1405) wrote the Songe du viel pelerin, an allegorical travelogue and extraordinary mirror for princes intended for King Charles VI. Only nine copies of this text still exist, one of which is the present copy in two volumes. This paper manuscript was probably produced in Lille, where also were added a series of watercolor drawings that can be attributed to the Master of the Livre d'Eracles, an illuminator in the entourage of the Master of Jean Wavrin. Before the manuscript became part of the Petau Collection, then was passed to Ami Lullin and finally to the Bibliothèque de Genève, it was owned by Jean V de Créquy as attested by the coats of arms painted in the initial of the first book (f. 36r). (rou)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

In 1389 Philippe de Mézières (1327-1405) wrote the Songe du viel pelerin, an allegorical travelogue and extraordinary mirror for princes intended for King Charles VI. Only nine copies of this text still exist, one of which is the present copy in two volumes. This paper manuscript was probably produced in Lille, where also were added a series of watercolor drawings that can be attributed to the Master of the Livre d'Eracles, an illuminator in the entourage of the Master of Jean Wavrin. Before the manuscript became part of the Petau Collection, then was passed to Ami Lullin and finally to the Bibliothèque de Genève, it was owned by Jean V de Créquy as attested by the coats of arms painted in the initial of the first book (Ms. fr. 183/1, f. 36r). (rou)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This treatise in the form of a dialogue between a cleric and a knight was commissioned by King Charles V from the Master of Requests Evrard de Tremaugon. The two protagonists debate about the ecclesiastical and secular power at the end of the 14th century, about the relations between the king and the pope. In the end, the impartial author defends the independence of the temporal power of the king, although he remains the "vicaire de Dieu en la temporalité". The text, first written in Latin in 1376 under the title Somnium Viridarii, was translated into French as early as 1378. (hoc)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

Le Jouvencel tells of the deeds of a young nobleman who, thanks to his bravery and military successes, marries the daughter of King Amydas. The text was inspired by the military career of Jean de Bueil, who served Charles VII for a long time. The manuscript is decorated with three paintings attributed to the Master of the Vienna Mamerot (from the circle of Jean Fouquet). (hoc)

Online Since: 06/18/2020