Penn in Hand: Selected Manuscripts

[Genealogical chronicle of the kings of England to Edward IV] [manuscript].

[London?, England, ca. 1461]

1 roll (13 membranes) : parchment ; 1122.25 x 32 cm.

An illuminated chronicle tracing the descent of Edward IV from Adam, through Brut and Arthur (generally following the 12th-century account of Geoffrey of Monmouth), and the historical kings of England. The text draws on other historical authors such as Roger of Wendover, Matthew of Paris, and Ranulf Higden. The latest event in the text is the marriage of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou in 1445 and the appointment of Edward's father, Richard, duke of York, as regent in France; the illustration of Edward IV as king must be from his accession in 1461 or later. On the verso (outer surface of roll) is the Compendium historiae in genealogia Christi attributed to Peter of Poitiers, illustrated with drawings, followed by a diagram of Roman emperors and Christian popes.

Ms. roll.

Title supplied by cataloger.

Incipit: "Temporum summam lineamque descendentem ... " (prologue from Roger of Wendover's Flores historiae); explicit: "Et tunc dominus Ricardus dux Ebor regens nationem francie."

Script: Written in an anglicana hand.

Decoration: 3 large roundels with tinted drawings of Adam and Eve, a T-O or tau world map, and Noah's ark (membrane 1); 3 mandorlas with tinted drawings of full-length figures (Brut, membrane 2; Claudius and Lucius, membrane 5; Arthur, membrane 7); 14 medium roundels of bust-length kings and queens in color in frames of burnished gold linked by bands of burnished gold following a full-length portrait of William the Conqueror in a frame of burnished gold (membrane 12); about 160 small roundels with bust-length kings and queens in color; one roundel of the monogram of Jesus; yellow, green, and red bands linking roundels containing names or portraits. In text, rubrication, capitals touched yellow, numerous blue initials flourished in red, and 3 large initials with staves of burnished gold on divided grounds of pink and blue. On the verso, 9 roundels with tinted drawings (an illegible one that probably showed Adam and Eve, Noah harvesting grapes, sacrifice of Isaac, diagram of the sons of Jacob, David playing the harp, Zedekiah, diagram of Jerusalem with its gates, the Nativity, the Crucifixion); red and blue bands linking yellow roundels with names; names of emperors and popes ringed in red.

Origin: Written and illustrated in England, probably London, soon after the accession of Edward IV in 1461.

UPenn Ms. Roll 1066.

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania Ms. Roll 1066