Manuscript

Museum Meermanno, MMW, 10 B 25

Codicology

Produced: France, c. 1450
Location: Museum Meermanno, Hague, Netherlands
Type: Miscellany
Language: Latin
Folios: 78
Illustrated: Yes
Binding: 17th-century vellum
Media: Vellum
Script: Littera hybrida
Dimensions: Height: 25.2 cm Width: 18 cm
Folio 11v

Description

Contains a bestiary (folio 1r-50r), a herbal and a lapidary, and a text on human anatomy. There are 103 miniatures, many very small; also decorated initials with border decoration, and penwork initials, some in gold, with pen-flourishes. The bestiary is only partly illustrated (after folio 44r no space for miniatures was left open). The beast illustrations have a gold border; many also have gold stars in the sky. The perspective in many of the pictures is odd, with some beasts appearing in the foreground but behind background trees, and other perspective anomalies.

The bestiary sections are: Beasts (mammals), folio 1r-25r; Birds (and some insects), folio 25v-37r; Serpents (snakes, dragons, reptiles), folio 38v-43v.

In 2001 the manuscript was housed at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands) while the museum was being renovated. At the that time the manuscript was digitized; the facsimile is hosted by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek.

Additional Descriptions

Additional description 1
Additional description 2

Editions and Facsimiles

Digital facsimiles

Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Partial, bestiary only, mostly extracted images)