The world chronicle of Guillaume de Nangis : a manuscript's journey from Saint-Denis to St. Pancras

The core of this book is the life story of a manuscript codex, British Library Royal MS 13 E IV: the Latin Chronicle (from the Creation to 1300) of Guillaume de Nangis, copied in the abbey library of St-Denis-en-France. The authors shed new light on the production process, identifying the illuminator of the Royal MS and naming the scribe. Detailed evidence links the codex to important events in history, such as the Council of Constance, and famous actors like Jean de France, duc de Berry, Sigismund of Luxembourg, Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, and Henry VIII, to name a few. The authors show how it traveled from one capital to the other, narrating the entire life and interesting times of this codex. Another dimension of this study accounts for all twenty-two copies of the Chronicle, now scattered in nine cities from London to Vienna, placing each one in a scrupulously drawn 'stemma codicum' and sketching its history. Preface 7 Contents 11 List of illustrations 15 Part I: The Text of the World Chronicle and its Dissemination 19 Chapter 1. The Latin World Chronicle (1300) of Guillaume de Nangis 19 Chapter 2. Applied Philology and the Descent of 22 Manuscript Copies 31 Chapter 3. Stories of Some Possessors 61 Chapter 4. British Library Royal Manuscript 13 E IV 79 Part II: The French and English Lives of the Royal Manuscript 87 Chapter 5 Creation of the Royal Manuscript at Saint-Denis 87 Chapter 6 The Royal Manuscript in Paris, 1400–1416 99 Chapter 7 Sigismund of Luxembourg, King of the Romans 121 Chapter 8 To the Chapel of St. George, Windsor 139 Chapter 9 Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk 153 Chapter 10 In the Library of Henry VIII 163 Chapter 11 In the British Royal Library 183 Appendices 193 A Latin Excerpts from BL Royal 13 E IV 193 B Arguments in the Rouleau de Saint-Denis, based on the Chronicle of Guillaume de Nangis, submitted to the Parlement de Paris, 1410 205 C Historical References by Guillaume Fillastre 207 D Privy Purse Warrants for the Books of Henry VIII 209 E Wanted: The Leaves Missing from BL Royal 13 E IV 211 Plates 229 Bibliography 235 Index 247