An oversight in A. Molinier's catalogue of the Bibliotheque municipale at Cambrai has caused the thirteenth-century prose bestiary [Bibliothèque Municipale de Cambrai, MS 370] published here to remain unknown until now. While it is always desirable to bring to light any medieval French text of literary intent, this particular bestiary merits attention for additional reasons. It is an early sample of the suppression of didactic elements in such treatises... Derived from the Bestiaire d'amour of Richard de Fournival, it also accounts very largely for the origin and form of the late thirteenth-century Provencal adaptation in the famous La Valliere chansonnier (Bib. Nat. fr. 22543). Discovery of the Cambrai bestiary increases the evidence for the rather considerable contemporary popularity of Richard de Fournival... - [Author]

Language: English