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UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW LIBRARY
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| This month we feature a de-luxe illuminated manuscript copy of the De Casibus Virorum Illustrium by Boccaccio. It is a compilation of moral stories about the tragic ends of famous men and women. This is a copy of a version rendered into French by Laurence de Premierfait in the 15th century. Each of its nine books is illustrated by a high quality miniature. |
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Boccaccio (1313-1375) is regarded to be one of the most important and influential writers of the Middle Ages. Producing works of great literature in both Latin and the vernacular, his home was a centre for early Italian humanism. The De Casibus Virorum Illustrium was written in the late 1350s. Loosely translated into English as The Fall of Princes, it is a profoundly moral treatise on the vicissitudes of man's fortune. Influenced by a friendship with Petrarch (1304-1374), Boccaccio had turned to religion in his later years and his work became increasingly imbued with a sense of morality. Composed at a time when many Italian city-states were headed by dictatorial tyrants, its aim was to "teach princes the virtues of wisdom and moderation, to point out to them the ruin wrought by egotism, pride and unbridled ambition".1 With its overarching theme of life's mutability, it provides plentiful examples of the errors and excesses that kings and princes should avoid. Boccaccio produced a second, augmented version of the work about ten years after the first. The work is presented in the framework of a vision. As Boccaccio sits in his study, a succession of unfortunate figures from history and mythology pass before him. Roughly chronological, the text begins with Adam and Eve and their expulsion from Eden, and ends with King John of France who was taken prisoner by the English in Poitiers in 1356. Fortune herself appears before the author at the beginning of Book 6: she tells Boccaccio that his task is futile and then suggests the names of more miserable characters for him to write about; he is later visited by Petrarch who berates him for being idle and exhorts him to continue in writing the work. Many of the stories recounted are derived from the Bible, the works of the Church Fathers, classical sources and Greek mythology. In particular, Boccaccio draws heavily on Livy and Ovid (particularly the Metamorphoses). Other anecdotes are taken from medieval Latin writers such as Valerius Maximus and Hyginus. |
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| The opening picture in our manuscript shows Boccaccio pointing to the goddess Fortune who stands beside a wheel upon which her victims rise and fall. Fortune, who dominates the second book of Boethius' work, De Consolatione Philosophiae, was one of the central images of medieval culture. Traditionally depicted as a woman, she personifies the medieval belief that personal misfortune was less the result of individual action than a reflection of the inevitable turning of her wheel. | |
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Today, the Decameron is undoubtedly regarded to be Boccaccio's literary masterpiece. But in the later Middle Ages, the De Casibus was more popular and influential. It secured Boccaccio's reputation and was widely read, spawning a new genre of "de casibus" writings. Since it was written in the international language of Latin rather than the vernacular, it could reach a large European audience. It was, furthermore, also translated into several languages. This manuscript is a copy of Laurence (or Laurent) de Premierfait's French translation of the work. Laurence de Premierfait was born in about 1380 at the village of that name near Troyes in the French province of Champagne. He was a poet and orator, and made a living by translating works for eminent patrons. For a time, he was secretary to Cardinal Amadeo di Saluzzo and became acquainted with humanists while living at the Papal Court of Avignon in 1397. He later lived in Paris under the protection of a number of noble patrons, including Jean, Duke of Berry (1340-1416), to whom this translation was dedicated. He died in 1418, possibly of the plague. |
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| As well as translating several classical works, Laurence also produced a
French version of the Decameron. He made two
translations of the De Casibus: the first in 1400 and this much freer version
in 1409. In French, it was known as Du cas
des nobles hommes et femmes. Although a good Latin scholar, like many medieval translators, Laurence was not concerned about providing a literal or accurate rendering of Boccaccio's text. In fact, his aim was to "improve" the original by omitting some passages and adding material of his own. He hoped to make the text more comprehensible to the reader by embellishing passages which to him seemed obscure or too concise. Consequently, he lengthened his version of the work to nearly three times that of the original. In particular, Laurence provides much background information on people and places, expanding the details of stories. His deviations from the original also highlight his interest in the Bible, astronomy and geography - all of which, according to Gathercole, places him "in the humanist trend of the late Middle Ages that blossoms forth during the Renaissance period in France".3 His sources for this augmentation were diverse: he demonstrates his obviously great knowledge of the classics, but one of his main sources for mythological characters was actually another encyclopaedic work by Boccaccio, the De Genealogia Deorum Gentilium. Although providing more context to the stories, Laurence's translation has been criticised for unwieldiness; it changes Boccaccio's original vivid and direct narrative to the indirect, "thus destroying the dramatic power of the narrative".4
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| This is one of two illustrated 15th century manuscript copies of the Du cas in Special Collections. It is a luxury production, well written out in a professional French book hand on good quality vellum. Each of its nine books begins with a large miniature surrounded by a border containing acanthus leaves and flowers. It is split into two volumes of 180 and 142 folios respectively. | |
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The manuscript was probably decorated soon after its text was written in
1467. As identified by Nicole Reynaud, the opening miniature of Fortune and
her wheel belongs artistically to a group close to the artist known as the Coëtivy
Master (fl. 1455-75). He was an illuminator, painter and tapestry
designer; although active in France, his style of work has identified him as
probably being of a north Netherlandish origin. As well as devotional texts,
he illustrated several secular works (including a copy of Dante's Divine
Comedy). He is praised by Tolley for his vibrant colour schemes and for
being particularly successful "in handling dramatic situations involving
numerous figures".8
He had several followers. As Thorp states, the figures in our illustration have been carefully individualized and modelled. The colour balance of the composition is carefully controlled, matching the colours used in the conventional flower and acanthus leaf border.9 There are a further nine large miniatures, found at the beginning of each book; these are the work of a less skilful artist. There are some blank spaces in the text at the end of chapters in the first section of the manuscript. These suggest that in the original plan of work it was intended to incorporate further, smaller, miniatures throughout the text. |
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| The De Casibus is not a well known work today. Its unrelenting litany of savage cruelty, death, rape and torture makes it somewhat grim reading. Typical of the stories is that of the Emperor Maurice, as illustrated above: he was usurped by his lieutenant Phocus and is said to have been forced to watch his sons being murdered before he himself was beheaded - although according to the sources, his wife was spared, unlike her fate in our image. |
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Other items of interest:The following have been useful in creating this article:Giovanni Boccaccio The fates of illustrious men Translated and abridged by Louis Brewer Hall New York: Ungar, 1965 [Not held by University of Glasgow Library] Giovanni Boccaccio Tutte le opere di Giovanni Boccaccio edited by Vittore Branca. Milan: Mondadori, 1964-1998. Cf. Volume 9 (Milan: 1993). Gives Latin text with translation into Italian Level 9 Main Lib Italian DB200 1964-B Michelle Brown A guide to western historical scripts from antiquity to 1600 (entry no. 42 for Bâtarde script) London: British Library, 1990 Level 11 Main Lib Bibliog B144 1990-B2 Patricia M. Gathercole 'Laurent de Premierfait: The Translator of Boccaccio's De casibus virorum illustrium' The French Review, Vol. 27, No. 4 (Feb., 1954), pp. 245-252 Patricia M. Gathercole Laurent de Premierfait's Des Cas des nobles hommes et femmes: Book 1. Translated from Boccaccio, a critical edition based on six manuscripts University of North Carolina Studies in the Romance languages and literatures; no. 74 Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968 [Not held by University of Glasgow Library] Edited by Peter Hainsworth and David Robey The Oxford companion to Italian literature Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002 Level 9 Main Lib - Italian B6 HAI Francis MacManus Boccaccio London: Sheed and Ward, 1947 Level 9 Main Lib Italian DB310 MACMA 'Phocus' Entry in Biographie Universelle ancienne et moderne Paris: Thoisnier Desplaces, 1843-[1865] (Nouvelle ed.) Sp Coll Reference Hans M. Schmidt, et al. 'Masters, anonymous, and monogrammists.' In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T055065pg99 (accessed January 21, 2009) [article on the Coetivy master by Thomas Tolley] Nigel Thorp The glory of the page (no. 54) London: Harvey Miller, 1987 Sp Coll Reference and Level 11 Main Lib Bibliog B162 1987-U References cited in text 1. Gathercole (1968), p.12 Return to main Special Collections
Exhibition Page Julie Gardham February 2009 |
