![[HERALDRY.] -- LIVRE DES ORDONNANCES DE LA TOISON D'OR, in French, DECORATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2006/NYR/2006_NYR_01769_0207_000(122633).jpg?w=1)
Details
[HERALDRY.] -- LIVRE DES ORDONNANCES DE LA TOISON D'OR, in French, DECORATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Netherlands, c.1560]
230 x 135mm, 107 leaves: 18, 27(of 8, ii cancelled blank), 3-68, 77(of 8, vi cancelled blank), 8-118, 127(of 8, viii cancelled blank), 138, 146(of 8, iv and viii cancelled blanks), TEXT COMPLETE, mostly 15-18 lines written in black ink in a cursive hand from one left-hand vertical ruled in grey, many initials extended into margins, FIVE LARGE PENWORK INITIALS with staves of strapwork or entwined stems (repair into bottom line of text f.104, slight wear to margins, some darkening of vellum). Contemporary brown calf with gilt stamped corner- and centre-pieces, upper cover with central cartouche lettered ENDURANT IESPERE P VAN ROYEN, lower cover with date 1568, four green ties, spine in six compartments gilt (upper joint split, lightly scuffed, ?resewn, ties probably replaced).
PROVENANCE:
1. P. van Royen, 1568: as lettered on the binding. A note in French pasted within the upper cover wrongly identifies this as the father of the astronomer Willibrord Snel van Royen or Snellius (1591-1626), whose father was called Rudolph. Van Royen was not an unusual name in the Netherlands.
2. Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1892): 'Phillipps Ms 21184' inscribed on first folio; remains of numbered label on spine. Phillipps recorded in his catalogue that his numbers 21184-21189 came from the Parisian bookseller, A. Bachelin-Deflorenne, who also had a branch in London; it was probably purchased in the late 1860s (A. Munby, Phillipps Studies IV, 1956, p.136).
CONTENT:
Statutes and ordinances of the Order of the Golden Fleece, ff.2-93v: blank, f.1; Table of Contents, headed 'Sensuyt la table de ce p[rese]nt livre des ordonnances de la thoison dor. Le nombre des chevaliers et conditions diceulx', the statutes with 66 articles for the knights, followed by 'Sensuit la table des quattre officiers apartenant a ladicte ordre', ordinances with 28 articles on the duties and privileges of the chancellor, treasurer, secretary and herald, or king of arms; this is the revised form approved by Philip the Good in 1446 (f.5v blank), ff.2-9; blank, f.5v; the foundation of the order by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in Bruges on the day of his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, 10 January 1430 (n.s), opening 'Philippes par la grace de dieu duc de Bourgogne', the Statutes in 66 articles, opening 'premierement ordonnons que en Lordre avantdicte aura trente et ung chevaliers', and ending 'lan de grace mil quattre cens trente et ung' -- to give the 1446 revision authority it was dated to the same day as the original statutes instituted at the first chapter held at Lille in 1431, ff.10-52; ordinances for the officers, opening 'Sensuyt les ordonnances et instructions', and ending 'le fait de son office en touttes choses leallement et diligamment a son pouvoir', ff.53-66; blanks, ff.66v-67v; confirmation by Philip II of Spain, 5 January 1557 (n.s) of the confirmation of 8 December 1478 of his grandfather, Maximilian of Habsburg, sovereign of the Order by his marriage to the heiress Mary of Burgundy, of the Privileges granted to the Order by Mary's father, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy in 1473, opening 'Philippes par la grace de dieu roy de castile de leon daragon' and ending 'lequel privilege estoit scelle en double liasse de cire verde', ff.68-93v; names of the knights of the order from its foundation through the elections made at each chapter until Ghent in 1559, ff.94-104v; blanks, ff.105-107.
The Order of the Golden Fleece is discussed under the previous lot. It was customary for every Knight to have a copy of the statutes regulating his prestigious Order. This prestige was reflected in the continuing use of vellum, although few copies received much illumination, and in the strength of a tradition which ensured that nearly all copies share the same dimensions, being between 200-250 mm high. The 1446 revision of the statutes is the text standardly found in all copies; only three are known to include Maximilian's 1478 confirmation of the 1473 Privileges in its original form (The Hague, KB, Ms 76 E 12, and Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum, Ms 10 C 11, and Brussels KBR, Ms 12648-50). There were clearly many variants in circulation: revisions were ordered in 1531 in response to complaints about the numerous inaccurate and out-dated copies available; in a bid to establish an authorised text, the knights were requested to surrender their existing copies, once they had received the new, approved version.
The combination of texts in the present lot seems individual, since it ignores both the revisions of the statutes ordered in 1531 at the chapter in Tournai and in 1545 at the chapter in Utrecht. The compilation was perhaps made for a discriminating antiquary, who would appreciate the delicately worked initial letters, rather than for a member of the Order, for whom a more complete and up to date volume would have been necessary. The latest information contained is the elections at the chapter in Ghent in 1559, held just before Philip II left for Spain. Two of the new knights recorded on f.104v only received their collars subsequently: Francis II of France in 1560 and Joachim, Baron of Neuhaus, in 1561, perhaps indicating that the book was written a little after 1559.
The meeting at Ghent proved to be the last chapter, partly because the knights had insisted on electing Antoine de Lalaing, the count of Hoogstraten, against Philip's wishes, and partly because of the practical difficulties of convening members scattered throughout Europe -- Philip's official justification. Philip never returned to the Netherlands. Within little over a decade, his fellow Knight of the Golden Fleece, William of Orange, elected at the previous chapter in Antwerp in 1555, f.104, became the leader of the Netherlandish revolt against Spanish rule. It was for the Ghent Chapter that printed editions of the Statutes were first issued, published in Antwerp. In more ways than one, this attractively ornamented manuscript book marks the end of an era.
[Netherlands, c.1560]
230 x 135mm, 107 leaves: 1
PROVENANCE:
1. P. van Royen, 1568: as lettered on the binding. A note in French pasted within the upper cover wrongly identifies this as the father of the astronomer Willibrord Snel van Royen or Snellius (1591-1626), whose father was called Rudolph. Van Royen was not an unusual name in the Netherlands.
2. Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1892): 'Phillipps Ms 21184' inscribed on first folio; remains of numbered label on spine. Phillipps recorded in his catalogue that his numbers 21184-21189 came from the Parisian bookseller, A. Bachelin-Deflorenne, who also had a branch in London; it was probably purchased in the late 1860s (A. Munby, Phillipps Studies IV, 1956, p.136).
CONTENT:
Statutes and ordinances of the Order of the Golden Fleece, ff.2-93v: blank, f.1; Table of Contents, headed 'Sensuyt la table de ce p[rese]nt livre des ordonnances de la thoison dor. Le nombre des chevaliers et conditions diceulx', the statutes with 66 articles for the knights, followed by 'Sensuit la table des quattre officiers apartenant a ladicte ordre', ordinances with 28 articles on the duties and privileges of the chancellor, treasurer, secretary and herald, or king of arms; this is the revised form approved by Philip the Good in 1446 (f.5v blank), ff.2-9; blank, f.5v; the foundation of the order by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in Bruges on the day of his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, 10 January 1430 (n.s), opening 'Philippes par la grace de dieu duc de Bourgogne', the Statutes in 66 articles, opening 'premierement ordonnons que en Lordre avantdicte aura trente et ung chevaliers', and ending 'lan de grace mil quattre cens trente et ung' -- to give the 1446 revision authority it was dated to the same day as the original statutes instituted at the first chapter held at Lille in 1431, ff.10-52; ordinances for the officers, opening 'Sensuyt les ordonnances et instructions', and ending 'le fait de son office en touttes choses leallement et diligamment a son pouvoir', ff.53-66; blanks, ff.66v-67v; confirmation by Philip II of Spain, 5 January 1557 (n.s) of the confirmation of 8 December 1478 of his grandfather, Maximilian of Habsburg, sovereign of the Order by his marriage to the heiress Mary of Burgundy, of the Privileges granted to the Order by Mary's father, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy in 1473, opening 'Philippes par la grace de dieu roy de castile de leon daragon' and ending 'lequel privilege estoit scelle en double liasse de cire verde', ff.68-93v; names of the knights of the order from its foundation through the elections made at each chapter until Ghent in 1559, ff.94-104v; blanks, ff.105-107.
The Order of the Golden Fleece is discussed under the previous lot. It was customary for every Knight to have a copy of the statutes regulating his prestigious Order. This prestige was reflected in the continuing use of vellum, although few copies received much illumination, and in the strength of a tradition which ensured that nearly all copies share the same dimensions, being between 200-250 mm high. The 1446 revision of the statutes is the text standardly found in all copies; only three are known to include Maximilian's 1478 confirmation of the 1473 Privileges in its original form (The Hague, KB, Ms 76 E 12, and Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum, Ms 10 C 11, and Brussels KBR, Ms 12648-50). There were clearly many variants in circulation: revisions were ordered in 1531 in response to complaints about the numerous inaccurate and out-dated copies available; in a bid to establish an authorised text, the knights were requested to surrender their existing copies, once they had received the new, approved version.
The combination of texts in the present lot seems individual, since it ignores both the revisions of the statutes ordered in 1531 at the chapter in Tournai and in 1545 at the chapter in Utrecht. The compilation was perhaps made for a discriminating antiquary, who would appreciate the delicately worked initial letters, rather than for a member of the Order, for whom a more complete and up to date volume would have been necessary. The latest information contained is the elections at the chapter in Ghent in 1559, held just before Philip II left for Spain. Two of the new knights recorded on f.104v only received their collars subsequently: Francis II of France in 1560 and Joachim, Baron of Neuhaus, in 1561, perhaps indicating that the book was written a little after 1559.
The meeting at Ghent proved to be the last chapter, partly because the knights had insisted on electing Antoine de Lalaing, the count of Hoogstraten, against Philip's wishes, and partly because of the practical difficulties of convening members scattered throughout Europe -- Philip's official justification. Philip never returned to the Netherlands. Within little over a decade, his fellow Knight of the Golden Fleece, William of Orange, elected at the previous chapter in Antwerp in 1555, f.104, became the leader of the Netherlandish revolt against Spanish rule. It was for the Ghent Chapter that printed editions of the Statutes were first issued, published in Antwerp. In more ways than one, this attractively ornamented manuscript book marks the end of an era.