Jean Mansel, La Fleur des Histoires, in French with a few phrases in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum

provenance

(1) Illuminated for the distinguished family of Crévecour, with their arms, gules 3 chevrons or, hanging from the border of the first page and incorporated into the architecture of the miniatures themselves on fols. 582r and 625r, presumably made for Antoine de Crévecour (d.1493), chamberlain of the dukes of Burgundy, soldier (present at the siege of Gerberoy, 1449, taken prisoner in 1465, etc.), bailiff of Amiens (1457), governor of Artois (1469), and Grand Louvetier of France (1477, Grand Master of the Wolf Hunt). He was the son of Jacques de Crévecour (d.1494), also a notable book collector.

(2) At least part of the Crévecour library was dispersed at the sack of Boulogne Castle by Henry VIII in 1544 (cf. the sale in our rooms, 25 June 1985, lot 70).  The present manuscript has sixteenth-century scribbled names, apparently Pierre Orillan (fol.583r) and Pierre la Pierre (fol.640r), but probably all three volumes in the present set reached Austria at a relatively early date, probably through the court of the Holy Roman Empire.  The first two volumes reached the library of the Schottenstift in Vienna, the Irish Benedictine abbey founded in 1158, which added considerably to its library in the sixteenth century.

(3) Ferdinand Hoffman, baron von Grünbüchel und Strechau (1540-1607), grand marshal of Austria (cf.E. Gamillscheg, ‘Konstantinos Rhesinos und die Handschriften aus dem Besitz des Freiherrn Hoffman von Strechau’, Biblos, XLIII, 1994,pp.27-32).

(4) Bought in 1669 from Hoffman’s heirs by Ferdinand Joseph, Fürst von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg (1636-1698), and by descent in the hereditary library of the Princes of Dietrichstein at Schloss Nikolsburg (now the Moravian Museum, Brno); it was Nr. I.195 in the library there (cf. B. Dudik, ‘Handschriften der Fürstlich Dietrichstein’ schen Bibliothek’, Archiv für österreichische Geschichte, XXXIX, 1868, describing the present manuscript on p.433 and pp.522-3, no.108, recording its Hoffman provenance); by descent to Alexander, Prince Dietrichstein (1899-1964); his sale, Luzern, Gilhofer and Ranschburg, 21 November 1933, lot 373 (this number also inside upper cover), cat. pp.72-73, plates 22-23, sold for 8000 francs, the third most expensive book in the whole sale.

(5) Sold in our rooms, 17 June 1997, lot  59, bought by Lawrence Schoenberg, the present owner; it is his LJS.98; exhibited, Specula: Mirrors of Man and Nature, Manuscripts from the Collection of Lawrence J. Schoenberg, University of Pennsylvania, 2001, no.8.

text

This is the third and most important part of a vast set of three great volumes of universal history assembled probably by the author himself for presentation to the Crévecour family.  The first two volumes are in Vienna, Schottenstift MS. 139 (256 folios, 8 miniatures), and MS. 140 (239 folios, 2 miniatures).  Though each volume forms a separate text, or group of texts, the three parts were foliated consecutively.  The present volume begins therefore at fol. 482.  The first parts comprise a history of the world from the Creation, with emphasis on biblical narratives.  By the third volume the author has brought the text into the Middle Ages and eventually into his own day, and this is by far the most interesting part.  The text is a mixture of history and literary romance, fiercely patriotic, a kind of Belgian answer to the Grandes Chroniques de France.

The author’s name is revealed by an acrostic on the last 2 pages of the present manuscript. Jean Mansel (c.1401-c.1474) held various minor administrative posts in Hesdin and Artois under the dukes of Burgundy, but his fame rests on his gigantic Fleur des Histoires.  The text exists in two versions, one in three volumes, probably written around 1446-51, and a longer recension in four volumes, assembled perhaps as late as 1467.  The present text is the early version, but it includes the section on the history of Hainaut hitherto known only in the second recension.  This part of the text is here dated to 1450 (fol. 678v).  Jean Mansel lifted many large sections of his text from earlier historians, including the Grandes Chroniques de France and Bartholomeus Anglicus in the French translation of Jean Corbechon, and he based the history of Hainaut on Jean Wauquelin’s translation of the Annales de Hainaut of Jacques de Guise.  The result is a delightful anecdotal mixture of adventure and morality, a quintessential Burgundian princely text.

Of all the combinations of Mansel’s histories, 49 manuscripts are now recorded.  The present version exists in 13 manuscripts, all but this manuscript being in European public collections, with the possible exception of Lord Ashburnham’s copy, with one miniature, sold in our rooms, 13 June 1901, lot 377, apparently still untraced.  The copy sold at Parke-Bernet, New York, 12 May 1964, lot 115, belonged to a different recension but may also still be in private hands.  The text has often been studied but never published in full.

The present manuscript is cited from the Dietrichstein sale in C. De Porck, Introduction à la ‘Fleur des Histoires’ de Jean Mansel (XV^e siècle), Ghent, 1936, and is listed as untraced in N. Borel, ‘La version en trois livres de la Fleur des Histoires, Étude de la tradition manuscrite et édition partielle du livre III’, Position des thèses de l’école des Chartes, Paris, 1991, p. 26.

The manuscript opens with what was originally folio 482r, “Cy parle du commencement des francois et de leur domination et seignourie, Quant lempereur valentinien …”, from Valentinian I (emperor 364-75) and his battles with the Gauls in 365-70, and continuing with Pharamon and the first kings of France (“et le commencement des croniques de france”, fol.485r), King Arthur of Britain, the conversion of Clovis, Dagobert, and so on, alternating back and forth between the kings of France and the emperors in the eastern empire until the time of Charlemagne (“Cy commence histoire du preu charles le grant qui fu roy de france et empereur de romme”, fol.510r), his battles with the Saracens, his successors and the Ottonian emperors, to Philip I of France (1060-1108), "Incidens de ce temps ou est contenue listoire du preu robert guichard et du preu godefroy de buillon qui fut roy de Iherusalem et del empereur henri” (fol.531r) and the history of the crusades, Richard Coeur de Lion and others, “Ci commence listoire du noble roy de france monseigneur saint loeis” (fol. 549v, on St. Louis, king of France 1226-70), other kings of France, interspersed with chapters on “Incidens de ce temps”, the Hundred Years’ War (fol.566r) and the Battles of Crécy, of Poitiers, etc., Charles V (fol. 576r) and the coronation of Charles VI in 1380, ending on fol. 582r, “… de tout le roiaulme de france, Amen. Cy finent les chroniques de france en brief".

Folio 582r, “Et commence histoire des papes et de leurs constitutions, Apres ce que saint pierre lapostle …”, the history of the papacy from the beginning, with names of popes in red, to Benedict XI (pope 1303-04); followed by “Histoire de dame griseldis qui peut estre apeller le mirroir des dames, Aux pres des mons en un coste ditalie est la terre de saluces …”, ending 5 pages later (fol.591v), “… il a este peu de samblables &c.”.

Folio 592r (with heading on 591v), “Cy apres sensuit une brieve recollection dexamples de vertueux faiz des anciens princes parens concernans les quatres vertus cardinales, Prologue, Grande recommendation et loenge …”, the text itself beginning, “Comme dist monsieur saint augustin …”, incidents from ancient history showing the seven cardinal virtues in action, followed by “un meditation prouffitable" (fol.611v) and other moralising meditations, citing Saints Gregory, Augustine, Bernard and others, ending on fol.624v, “… a sa sainte glore, Amen”.

Folio 625r (with heading on fol. 624v), “Cy commence listore de belges, Pour aucunement avoir congnoissance des histores de haynau …”, the history of the Belgians, Book I, in seven chapters, from the foundation of Trier in 2053 BC by a prince of Babylon and the foundation of Hainaut by refugees from the sack of Troy, with the history of the ancient kings of the Belgians, the wars with King Lear of Britain, the foundations of other cities by others including Tarquin and Alexander the Great (founder of Picardy, apparently), the victories of the Belgians over their neighbours, the conquests and sieges of Julius Caesar, the rebuilding of Tournai and other cities after the departure of Caesar, other battles (such as “lorrible bataille & occision devant binch en hjaynau, apres laquelle bataille la cite de belges fu refaite”, fol.660v), rebellions against the Romans, and the defeat of the Romans by Maximien, king of Brittany, ending on fol.667r, “ … qui est escript cy dessus, A tant fine le sepisme livre des histores de haynau, et le premier volume”.

Folio 667v (heading on fol.667r), “Cy apres commence le second volume des dittes histores de haynau… En lan de nostre seigneur Ihesus crist iii^c iiii^xx i. Apres la mort de lempereur valent …", the history of the Belgians, Book II, the invasion of the Goths, Visigoths and Huns, early saints of Belgium and the foundation of Marchiennes and other abbeys, the histories of Sigibert, Pepin, Fromond, and others, the conquests of Bauduin of Flanders, the genealogy of the counts of Hainaut “jusquez au temps present courant lan de grace Mil CCCC cinquante”, i.e., to 1450, fol.678v), and on the origins of the barbarian tribes, all ending on f. 680v, “… declairer cy dessus, A tant fine listore … Cy fine listore de belges & de haynau”.

Folio 681r (heading on fol.680v), “Et commence listore de gerard de roussillon, comment les wandeles destruirent le fort chastel de laccois qui depuis fu refais et nommes roussillon … Pour avoir lentendement et la congnoissance …”, the wars of the ninth century and the conquests and chivalric adventures of Gerard de Roussillon, all ending on fol. 703r, “… et spiritus sanctus Amen”, followed by “Cest lepitaphe de gerard de roussillon” in 8 lines of verse, and “Cest la fin & la conclusions … par quoy len peut scavoir le nom de lacteur & cellui de livre present”, in verse, beginning “Jamais ne peur ingratitude …”, of which the opening letters of each line spell out ‘JEHAN MANSEL COMPOSA CE LIVRE NOMME DES HISTORES LA FLEUR CELUY QUI DE TOUS MAULS DE LIVRE LUI SOIT LHIER DE SON LABEUR …’, followed by another verse (“Au premier front de cascun ver”) explaining how to take the first letters of the first 97 lines, as here, all ending “… Ce que dit est & mieulz encore, Deo gratias. Finitur labor is laus xpisto gratia sit oris. Qui sit scriptoris Requies mercesque laboris” (cf. Bénédictins de Bouveret, Colophons, VI, 1982, p. 303, no. 21641, citing the present manuscript from the Dietrichstein sale).

illumination

The eight magnificent secular miniatures are the work of the Mansel Master and his workshop, named after the present set of manuscripts and a second major set of the same text now in Brussels (Bibliothèque Royale, mss. 9231-2 and 10515), all apparently commissioned by the author himself and made under his direction, probably not in Hesdin itself but perhaps in Valenciennes, as suggested by Delaissé, or possibly Amiens, as proposed by Mme. Reynaud.  The presumed patron of the present manuscript, Antoine de Crévecour, was bailiff of Amiens in 1457, almost exactly the date of the book.  The Mansel Master is extremely important for his very close association with the early work of Simon Marmion, who worked first in Amiens and who is documented in Valenciennes from 1458.  The Mansel Master certainly collaborated with Marmion in one of the Brussels volumes of the Fleur des Histoires, c.1456-66 (ms. 9232, fol. 351r). There are probably two hands in the miniatures of the present book.  The small miniatures are very similar to Amiens work of the late style of the Master of Raoul d’Ailly.  The big green initial on fol. 582 is typical of Amiens.  The four large miniatures, however, seem certainly to be the Mansel Master himself, and they are very close indeed to Marmion.  Here is Flemish panel painting in all its refinement, with the layer upon layer of landscapes, and glimpses of people going about their lives at all levels of society from the prince to the miller and builder.  Here is the sense of depth and infinite space, and light falling differently on different textures, and the low skies with long trailing silver clouds.  Here are the great semi-mythological battles, which formed the history of Belgium, set into the world of the Flemish medieval farmers and merchants.  Here, in the miniature of all estates paying homage to the Virtues, set in a domestic interior with tiled floor and shuttered windows, are the busy moving shuffling figures so characteristic of Simon Marmion himself.  Whoever the Mansel Master was, Marmion was, as it were, at the desk beside him.

For the Mansel Master,  cf. L.M.J. Delaissé, La Miniature Flamande, Le Mecenat de Philippe le Bon, 1959, esp. ‘L’Officine de Jean Mansel et l’Atelier de Simon Marmion à Valenciennes’, pp.60-68, the Vienna volumes being nos.55-6, p.63; S. Hindman, ‘The Case of Simon Marmion, Attributions and Documents’, Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, XL, 1977, pp. 185-204, describing the Vienna volumes on pp.194-6 and fig.19, as “central to this early group” of manuscripts associated with the early hand of Marmion; G. Dogaer, Flemish Miniature Painting in the 15^th and 16^th Centuries, 1987, pp.43-47, citing the Vienna volumes on p. 47; D. Thoss, Flämische Buchmalerei, Handschriftenschätze aus dem Burgunderreich, 1987, pp. 43-45, no.10 (Schottenstift ms.140), citing the present manuscript on p.44 from the 1933 Dietrichstein sale as ‘Verbleib unbekannt’; Nicole Reynaud in F. Avril and N. Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à peintures en France, 1440-1520, 1993, pp.73-5; D. Vanwynsberghe, ‘Simon Marmion’, III, ‘l’oeuvre enluminé’ in L. Nys and A. Salamagne, ed., Valenciennes au XIV^e et XV^e siècles, Art et Histoire, 1996, pp.168-79, fig.14, ascribing the Fleur des Histoires to Marmion himself; and M. Smeyers, Vlaamse miniaturen van de 8ste tot het midden van de 16de eeuw, 1998, citing the present manuscript on p.352, n.40.

It is hardly necessary to emphasise the extraordinary rarity on the market these days of any of the great Flemish secular manuscripts.  In every detail, the miniatures of the present book merit close study. There are depictions of costumes, arms and armour, building practices, thatching, domestic interiors, town plans, shipping, domestic animals, and so on, providing a magnificent window into the world of the dukes of Burgundy and their courtiers in the third quarter of the fifteenth century.

The subjects of the miniatures are:

1. Folio 482r, The Roman armies putting the armies of the Gauls to rout and the crowned Emperor Valentinian I receiving the homage of two soldiers, 92mm. by 85mm., set in a landscape, with hills and a gothic castle behind.

2. Folio 510r, Charlemagne in battle, 102mm. by 89mm., in the centre crowned on horseback with his surcoat and mantle emblazoned with the imperial double-headed eagle in black on a gold ground, pulling an enemy from his white horse, set in the midst of a fierce battle with soldiers fighting on either side, swords, spears and banners raised against the darkening sky.

3. Folio 549v, The Coronation of Saint Louis as king of France, 95mm. by 96mm., the king enthroned below a canopy in blue with a semé of fleurs-de-lys, bishops blessing him, the queen and her attendants on the left, courtiers on the right.

4. Folio 582r, Saint Peter enthroned as pope, 104mm. by 90mm., pointing to a kneeling priest and a group of three bishops, explaining the hierarchy of the Church, set in a gothic room with silver lattice windows and a further group of priests crowding in through a door on the right.

5. Folio 592r, The peoples of the world paying homage to the four Cardinal Virtues enthroned, 148mm by 202mm., Justice as a king with sword and scales, Temperance as a nun in white with a cup and a mirror, Fortitude as an older woman with a clock and pair of glasses, and Prudence as a woman taking a dragon from a tower, all enthroned side by side under a great embroidered canopy in a gothic room, people of all levels of society bowing down to them including an emperor, a cardinal, a king, noblemen, a priest, and many others.

6. Folio 625r, King Ninus of Babylon conquering Belgium, 177mm. by 197mm., a huge medieval fortified city on the right with the arms of Crévecour above all gates, a great battle in the left foreground with knights in silver and gold armour locked in combat, ships arriving in the harbour behind with more armies arriving and gathering around their king, all set in a magnificent landscape with a chapel on a hill, forests and distant cities beyond.

7. Folio 667v, The Barbarian tribes laying waste to Belgium, 135mm. by 195mm., a great battle on the left with the barbarians displaying banners of reptiles and the Belgians the lion of Flanders, a huge city on the right being torn down by the invading armies who attack the walls, burn the roofs and demolish the tiles, all set in a magnificent landscape with a castle set in a lake behind with tiny figures on the road across a bridge and distant shadowy cities on the horizon.

8. Folio 681r, The founding of the city of Roussillon, 143mm. by 198mm., Gerard de Roussillon kneeling before a prince and his lady in the great hall of their castle on the right, builders and stonemasons on the right mixing mortar and building a city, the French armies of Lothaire fighting the defenders of Hainaut behind, all set in a magnificent landscape with armies, castles, forests, and figures on the roads.