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Detail View: Medieval Collection: Hercules and Deianiera

Image Number: 
JRL0927319dc
Reference Number: 
English MS 2
Previous Accession Number: 
Crawford MS 2
Link to Catalogue: 
Image Title: 
Hercules and Deianiera
Alternative Image Title: 
Envoy
Parent Work Title: 
Fall of Princes
Alternative Parent Work Title: 
Falle of Pryncys
Creator: 
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451?
Creator Role: 
Author
Display Creator: 
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451?
Date Created: 
15th-16th century
Page: 
29r
Image Sequence Number: 
029r
Description: 
Fall of Princes. Book one: Nessus requests that Deianiera (Deianira) give Hercules (Heracles) his blood stained shirt to wear in order that she and Hercules would be reconciled. When Hercules put on the shirt it burns him and sends him mad, eventually bringing about his death. Regretfully it was his trust in women that brought Hercules to his untimely end. An illuminated initial 'T' introduces the envoy which warns Princes not to let false women lead them into temptation. Red rubrication and an illuminated initial 'N' introduces the story of Narcissus however red text directs the reader to Ovid for the tale. Small illuminated and coloured initials introduce the verses. The written space is 285 x 200 mm in two columns and the script is rather an ugly and unstable anglicana formata.
Language Code: 
enm-GB
Subject: 
English literature
Subject: 
English literature--Manuscripts
Subject: 
Mythology, Greek--Poetry
Subject: 
Poetry, Medieval
Subject: 
Literature, Medieval--Manuscripts
Subject: 
Mythology in literature
Subject: 
Literature, Medieval
Subject: 
Mythology, Greek, in literature
Category of Material: 
Manuscripts
Sub-Category: 
Codex
Technique Used: 
Handwriting
Technique Used: 
Illumination (image-making process)
Medium: 
Ink
Support: 
Vellum
People Covered: 
Ovid, 43 B.C.-17 or 18 A.D.
People Covered: 
Hercules (Roman mythology)
People Covered: 
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451?
Item Height: 
417 mm
Item Width: 
292 mm
Current Repository: 
The University of Manchester Library, U.K.
Provenance: 
Fairfax, Brian, 1676-1749, the commissioner of customs and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Provenance: 
Child, Francis, Sir, 1735-1763, of Osterley Park, Middlesex.
Provenance: 
Lindsay family Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, former owner
Rights Holder - Image: 
The University of Manchester Library
Rights holder - Work: 
The University of Manchester Library
Access Rights: 
Creative Commons License
References: 
Parts of this catalogue have been reproduced from Ker, N.R., 'Medieval manuscripts in British libraries, vol. III, Lampeter-Oxford' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), p. 400. By kind permission of Oxford University Press
References: 
Tyson, Moses, 'Hand-List of the Collection of English Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library' (1928), p.7.
References: 
Bergen, Henry, 'Lydgate's Fall of princes.' (London: Pub. for the Early English Text Society by H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1924-27.)
Bibliographic Citation: 
Morgan, Margery M., 'A specimen of early printer's copy: Ryland English MS 2', Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, vol. 33 (1950), pp. 194-6.
Notes: 
Ostensibly the work is an adaptation of Laurent de Premierfait's 1409 translation of Giovanni Boccaccio's 'De casibus vivorum illustrium', a collection of moralized tragedies, extending from Adam to King John of France, that were designed to illustrate Fortune's fickle nature and the downfalls brought on by sinful living and unjust government.
Date Captured (yyyy-mm-dd): 
2009-08-11
Multi Page Number: 
315
Image Creation Technique: 
Digital capture by The University of Manchester Library
Date Image Added (yyyy-mm): 
2009-10
Metadata Language: 
eng-GB
Collection Code: 
Medieval