7 - [PAPILLON (ALMANQUE) (1487–1553)].

[PAPILLON (ALMANQUE) (1487–1553)]. Manuscript collection of the poetic works of the Almanque poet Papillon. [ANONYMOUS]. Life of Saint Vallère [Valérie of Limoges] In French, illuminated manuscript on parchment France, Paris? (or Lyon?) datable between 1532 and 1536 With two large illuminated compositions, attributable to an artist from the circle of the Master of François de Rohan, active in Paris between 1525 and 1546. 83 ff. (including 6 blank pages), preceded by three paper endpapers and two parchment endpapers (ff. I–II, old parchment, likely the manuscript’s original endpapers) and followed by 3 ff. of paper endpapers; complete [collation: i2, ii4+1 (inserted singleton: miniature), iii8, iv8+1 (inserted singleton: miniature), v8, vi8, vii6, viii6, ix6, x4, xi8, xii8, xiii8], bastard script in brown ink, two scribes (Scribe A: ff. 1–12v; 15–30; 31–42v; 44–54; 54v–57v; scribe B: ff. 60–83v), text copied in 20-line columns (ff. 3–57v) and 28-line columns (ff. 60–83v), ruled in pale red ink (page dimensions ff. 1–57v: 170 x 112 mm; text size ff. 60–83v: 175 × 102 mm), headings in red, paragraph markers in gold on a red or blue background, initials in gold on a blue background with white ornamental highlights (2 to 3 lines high), larger initials introducing major textual divisions in blue with white highlights on a gold background dotted with small black dots, decorated with floral motifs, scrollwork, or pink flowers (2 to 4 lines high); the second part of this manuscript (ff. 60–83v) contains a large ornate initial in blue with white highlights on a brown background with gold highlights (5 lines high, fol. 60) and several small gold initials on brown backgrounds (2 lines high), along with two full-page illustrations bearing the dedicatee’s coat of arms at the bottom (f. 1v and f. 14v), each serving as a frontispiece to the first two texts. A late 17th- or early 18th-century binding in supple brown morocco with flaps, triple gilt fillet on the covers with dotted fleurons in the corners, a large central decoration forming a gilt rosette with small interlaced patterns on a mosaic background of red and black morocco, plain spine adorned with a crowned “W” monogram surrounded by four suns and small dotted scrolls, gilt edges. Leaf dimensions: 230 x 162 mm; binding dimensions: 238 x 170 mm A SUPERB AND VERY PRECIOUS POETIC MANUSCRIPT, PARTLY UNPUBLISHED, A UNIQUE TESTAMENT TO THE WORK OF ONE OF THE FINEST POETS OF THE COURT OF FRANÇOIS I. ILLUSTRATED WITH TWO LARGE FRONTISPICE MINIATURES, THIS MANUSCRIPT HAS BELONGED TO GREAT BIBLIOPHILES, BUT HAS NOT YET REVEALED ALL ITS SECRETS. Masterfully calligraphed and illuminated on vellum, enriched with two remarkable full-page miniatures, it was produced between 1532 and 1536 to be presented by its author, the poet Almanque Papillon (1487–1559), to François II de Bourbon-Vendôme (1491–1545), a comrade-in-arms of François I and great-uncle of Henri IV. The son of François de Bourbon-Vendôme and Marie de Luxembourg, he was knighted by Bayard at Marignan—just as François I had been—and served as governor of the Dauphiné beginning in 1527. In addition to its two large paintings, the manuscript of the poems is richly decorated with 15 initials featuring miniature floral designs on a gold background in the style of Tory, including five large ones at the beginning of the poems, 15 miniature initials in gold on a colored background, and several dozen small gold initials on a red or blue background. The titles are written in red ink. The Life of Saint Valérie is adorned with 22 gold initials on a light brown background, including a large initial at the beginning of the work. THIS PRECIOUS MANUSCRIPT WAS CALLIGRAPHED AND ILLUMINATED TO BE PRESENTED TO ONE OF FRANÇOIS I’S CLOSE ASSOCIATES AND ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT FIGURES AT COURT, FRANÇOIS II DE BOURBON-VENDÔME (1491–1545), WITH HIS COAT OF ARMS PAINTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TWO MINIATURES. Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1975