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All auctions / Books, Maps & Manuscripts / [PAPILLON (Almanque) (1487–1553)]. - Lot 7
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[PAPILLON (Almanque) (1487–1553)]. Manuscript collection of the poetic works of the Almanque poet Papillon. [ANONYMOUS]. Life of Saint Vallère [Valérie de Limoges] In French, illuminated manuscript on parchment France, Paris? (or Lyon?) datable between 1532 and 1536 60000/80000 With two large illuminated compositions, attributable to an artist from the circle of the Master of François de Rohan, active in Paris between 1525 and 1546. 83 ff. (including 6 blank pages), preceded by three paper endpapers and two parchment endpapers (ff. I–II, old parchment, likely the manuscript’s original endpapers) and followed by 3 ff. of paper endpapers; complete [collation: i2, ii4+1 (inserted singleton: miniature), iii8, iv8+1 (inserted singleton: miniature), v8, vi8, vii6, viii6, ix6, x4, xi8, xii8, xiii8], mixed script in brown ink, two scribes (Scribe A: ff. 1–12v; 15–30; 31–42v; 44–54; 54v–57v; hand B: ff. 60–83v), text copied in 20-line columns (ff. 3–57v) and 28-line columns (ff. 60–83v), ruled in pale red ink (text size on ff. 1–57v: 170 × 112 mm; text layout ff. 60–83v: 175 × 102 mm), headings in red, paragraph markers in gold on a red or blue background, initials in gold on a blue background with white ornamental highlights (2 to 3 lines high), larger initials introducing major textual divisions in blue with white highlights on a gold background dotted with small black dots, decorated with floral motifs, scrollwork, or pink flowers (2 to 4 lines high); the second part of this manuscript (ff. 60–83v) contains a large ornate initial in blue with white highlights on a brown background with gold highlights (5 lines high, fol. 60) and several small gold initials on brown backgrounds (2 lines high), with two full-page paintings bearing the dedicatee’s coat of arms at the bottom (f. 1v and f. 14v), each serving as a frontispiece to the first two texts. Late 17th- or early 18th-century binding in supple brown morocco with flaps, triple gilt fillet on the covers with dotted fleurons in the corners, a large central decoration forming a gilt rosette with small interlaced patterns on a mosaic background of red and black morocco, plain spine adorned with a crowned “W” monogram surrounded by four suns and small dotted scrolls, gilt edges. Dimensions of the leaves: 230 x 162 mm; dimensions of the binding: 238 x 170 mm A superb and extremely valuable poetic manuscript, partly unpublished, offering a unique insight into the work of one of the finest poets at the court of Francis I. Illustrated with two large frontispiece miniatures, this manuscript has belonged to distinguished bibliophiles but has not yet revealed all its secrets. Masterfully calligraphed and illuminated on vellum, enriched with two remarkable full-page miniatures, it was created between 1532 and 1536 to be presented by its author, the poet Almanque Papillon (1487–1559), to François II de Bourbon-Vendôme (1491–1545), a comrade-in-arms of Francis I and great-uncle of Henry IV. The son of François de Bourbon-Vendôme and Marie de Luxembourg, he was knighted by Bayard at Marignan—just as François I had been—and served as governor of the Dauphiné beginning in 1527. In addition to his two large paintings, the manuscript of the poems is richly decorated with 15 initials featuring miniature floral designs on a gold background in the style of Tory, including five large ones at the beginning of the poems, 15 miniature initials in gold on a colored background, and several dozen small gold initials on a red or blue background. The titles are written in red ink. The Life of Saint Valérie is adorned with 22 gold initials on a light brown background, including a large initial at the beginning of the work. This precious manuscript was calligraphed and illuminated as a gift for one of Francis I’s close associates and one of the court’s most prominent figures, Francis II of Bourbon-Vendôme (1491–1545), whose coat of arms is painted at the bottom of the two miniatures. Born in Dijon in 1487, Almanque Papillon—a page to Marguerite of Navarre—was also, like his friend Clément Marot, a valet to Francis I, whom he accompanied during his captivity in Madrid. Whether because he produced little, because his work has not been clearly identified, or because it has been lost, the body of work formally attributed to him to date is extremely limited: a single poem signed with his name, *Le nouvel amour*, published in 1543 and reprinted several times, notably in 1547 in the *Opuscules d’amour*, a collection devoted to the famous *Querelle des Amies* pitting supporters against opponents of Neoplatonism. This poem had been preceded, in 1537, by *La victoire et triomphe d’argent contre le dieu d’amours* (*The Silver Victory and Triumph Against the God of Love*), published anonymously by François Juste in Lyon, accompanied by a response by Charles Fontaine. This single edition is known only from a single copy, preserved at the BnF. Also attributed to Papillon, *La réponse des oracles d’Apollon* is known only from the present manuscript and
Estimate:£51,134.1
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Estimate:
£51,134.1
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