The subject of this paper is the Livre des propriétés des choses, the fourteenth-century French translation [by Jean Corbechon] of the thirteenth-century encyclopedia De proprietatibus rerum [by Bartholomaeus Anglicus]. The translation was made for Charles V of France, and the original copy is lost. Here a reconstruction is offered of the appearance of the frontispiece of the royal exemplar. The textual additions of the translator and the iconography of this frontispiece reveal a new conception of the meaning and usage of the encyclopedia, as well as a concerted attempt to draw this authoritative work into the orbit of royal aims and aspirations. The reconstructed frontispiece also allows us to correct an error, which originates with Montfaucon, concerning the illustration of the original copy of the Livre des propriétés des choses. - [Abstract]

Language: English

DOI: 10.1016/0304-4181(81)90038-5