Roman de la Rose

Accession number: 
MS M.132
Title: 
Roman de la Rose
Created: 
Paris, France, ca. 1380.
Binding: 
Formerly in marbled calf; now in brown blind-tooled morocco with green levant morocco doublures, elaborately tooled in gold to a Nicholas Eve "à la fanfare" design by Duru (1858), in a brown solander case.
Credit: 
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1902.
Description: 
189 leaves (2 columns, 34 lines), bound : vellum, ill. ; 202 x 138 mm
Provenance: 
Owned (ca. 1525?) by "Iohannes Marous" (inscription on fol. 158) perhaps Jean Desmarets (Jean Marot); bought in 1773 by Pierre Vischer of Bâle (faint inscription on fol. 1); Baron de Neubourg sale (Paris, Nov. 4, 1839, no. 591); G. Libri sale (Paris, 1855, no. 1815); A. Firmin-Didot sale (Paris, 1878, no. 34) to Quaritch, catalogue 1880 no. 15265; catalogue 332 (Nov. 1880, no. 32; catalogue 369 (1886) no. 35709; catalogue 103 (1890) no. 361; Quaritch sale (Paris, Feb. 27, 1892, no. 49); Quaritch catalogue 138 (1893), no. 42; bought (June 20, 1895) by William Morris (1834-1896), inscription on third flyleaf; Richard Bennett (1844-1900; purchased from Morris's estate in 1897); Catalogue of manuscripts and early printed books from the libraries of William Morris, Richard Bennett, Bertram, fourth Earl of Ashburnham, and other sources, no. 112; purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) with the Bennett Collection in 1902; J.P. Morgan (1867-1943).
Notes: 

Ms. vernacular romance; written and illuminated in Paris, France, ca. 1380.
Texts: Roman de la Rose (fol. 1-156) begun by Guillaume de Lorris (fol.1-34v), and finished by Jean de Meun (fol. 34v-156v) with two passages omitted in the text on fol. 156v; Testament of Jean de Meun (fol. 158-189v); address to the Virgin (fol. 189v)
Decoration: 2 half-page and 69 small miniatures, mainly grisaille.
Artist: workshop of the Master of the Bible of Jean de Sy.
Revised: 2015

Script: 
textura
Language: 
French
Century: 
Classification: