Copy number: (M-307)(1)

Parts I–III, bound in two volumes: in volume 1 part I, in volume 2 parts II and III. Leaf A1 repaired. This copy is listed by Wijsman at 232. Gathering x of volume 1 contains 7 leaves, rather than 6, as BMC; in gathering x leaves 1-2 (with printed signatures x_i and x_ii), 4 (with early manuscript signature x_iiii), 6-7 are printed in 114 B, whilst leaves 3 (with printed signature x_iii) and 5 are printed in 119 B.

Binding: Eighteenth-century gold-tooled calf.

Size: Vol. 1: 348 × 244 × 55 mm; vol. 2: 348 × 244 × 57 mm.

Size of leaf: 339 × 226 mm.

Bibliographical notes by Wodhull on the recto of the front endleaf of volume 1. Some early marginal notes in both volumes, apparently in the same sixteenth-century hand, including comments on the text and ‘nota' marks, also occasional corrections to the text in black ink. On the recto of the rear endleaf of volume 1 is a note by Wodhull ‘to p. 156 June 2^d 1794'. Between cc5 and cc6 is a slip of paper containing the following note: ‘October 21 1793 Michael Wodhull Esq [ ] by Tho. West half a years land tax due Michell. last £13. Tho. Robinson Tho. Kingston collectors'.

Provenance: Michael Wodhull (1740-1816); purchased in 1787 from Payne for £4. 4. 0; inscription on the recto of the front endleaf of vol. 1: ‘M. Wodhull Feb. 16th 1787. Payne's sale 3 v in 2. best edit. £4. 4 ='; Payne's sale not identified, and this item not found in Wodhull's sales in 1801 or 1803. Purchased for £4. 16. 0; see Books Purchased (1843), 34.

SHELFMARK: Auct. 2Q 1.30, 31.

Copy number: (M-307)(2)

Part II only, printed on parchment.

Wanting A1.

The number of the volume is erased on A2v, A8v, and [rum10v].

Binding: Sixteenth-century English (London, second half of the century) blind-tooled calf over wooden boards, with gold-tooled spine; two clasps and catches lost. On both covers intersecting triple fillets form four concentric frames. Within the second, third, and fourth frames is a ‘heads in medallions' roll (Oldham, Blind-stamped Bindings, pl. xlvii, rolls 775, 772, 775 [repeated]). Further triple fillets form the inner rectangle which is decorated with a lozenge formed by triple fillets containing Oldham, Blind-stamped Bindings, pl. xlvii, roll 772.

Size: 356 × 262 × 73 mm.

Size of leaf: 345 × 249 mm.

In 32 places the chapter headings have been painted over with miniatures, the obliterated text being written in the margin in a sixteenth-century hand. Three- and five-line initials are supplied in red with gold acanthus scrolling or in gold on blue or red grounds; paragraph marks are supplied in gold on red or blue grounds decorated in gold; capital strokes in yellow; the device is painted over in gold, blue, red, brown, and pink; the text is enclosed within single red rules, with ruling in red. A leaf inserted before B1 has on the verso a full-page painting in three compartments, illustrating the beginning of part II of the Chroniques. In the upper left-hand compartment, a figure dressed in black sitting on a seat covered with a fleur-de-lis covering, gives or receives a document from two kneeling figures, whilst three others look on from behind; in the upper right-hand corner a French king is shown in a red and gold gown kneeling on the right, about to receive communion from a priest assisted by two acolytes on the left, with four figures behind, looking on and dressed in fleur-de-lis tabards, one holding a blue banner with the words ‘Vive le Rois' in gold on it; in the lower compartment a French king is seated on a throne covered with a fleur-de-lis cover, on either side of which is a bishop, and with courtiers at both sides, including one on the left who is holding a sword, and two on the right, one holding a robe of blue with golden fleurs-de-lis and ermine, the other a helmet surmounted by a golden crown. This illumination seems to illustrate the beginning of part II of the Chroniques, with the news of the death of King Charles VI of France (1368-1422) being conveyed to his son, Charles the Dauphin, Duke of Touraine (1403-1461), followed by the latter's coronation as Charles VII. It and the other miniatures are French, probably Parisian, early sixteenth century, and by the same artist.

Provenance: Traces of an inscription(?), unread under ultraviolet light, on the pastedown of the lower cover. David Harris (sixteenth century); inscription on the recto of the back endleaf: ‘Medio tutissimus ibis. Dauyd Harrys, teste Johanne Harryes'. John Bagford (1650-1716); name on the rear pastedown. Date of acquisition unknown; not in Fysher, Catalogus, and therefore presumably acquired after 1738.

Former Bodleian shelfmarks: Arch. Bodl. D c.7; Arch. Bodl. D 71 subtus.

SHELFMARK: Arch. B c.4.