UC-NRLF 1 . PKH$ -.. .-' ;.' -.. . ' LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. RECEIVED BY EXCHANGE Class THE ISOPIC FABLES IN THE MIREOIR HISTORIAL OF JEHAD DE VIGNAY j EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY BY GUY EVERETT SNAVELY Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD OP UNIVERSITY STUDIES OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY IN CONFORMITY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. BALTIMORE J. H. FURST COMPANY 1908 BESANCON, BIBLIOTHEQUE MUNICIPALE, 434, FO. 371 vo., COL. ], TOP. (BKDUCED.) THE mm FABLES IN THE MIREOIR HISTORIAL OF JEHAN DE VIG1Y EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY BY GUY EVERETT SNAVELY dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY IN CONFORMITY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. BALTIMORE J. H. FURST COMPANY 1908 TABLE OF CONTENTS- 1 PAGE. FACSIMILE OF THE BESANCON MANUSCRIPT, - - Facing Title-Page. TITLE-PAGE, 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS, 3 PREFATORY NOTE, 5 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, PART I. Introduction, 7 a. Biographical Notice, -- - 7 6. Literary Work, 16 c. Influence on English Literature, 28 d. Latin Source of the Fables, - 31 e. Scheme of Fable Manuscripts, ------ 36 PART II. Critical Text with Manuscript Variants, - PART III. Appendices, .-_- a. Books of Reference, -------- b. Manuscripts of Jehan de Viguay, ------ c. Editions of Jehan de Vignay, d. Editions of the English Translations, - e. Chart preserved in the Archives Nationales at Paris, BIOGRAPHY, --- 47 x The whole of Parts II and III have been omitted, as well as a portion of Part I, e. , and the List of Abbreviations. 173291 PREFATORY NOTE. While working on ^Esopic Fable Literature as a member of the Romance Seminary of the Johns Hopkins University in the Spring of 1903, my attention was attracted to the short col- lection of ^Esopic fables contained in Jehan de Vignay's Mireoir Historial. Upon investigation it appeared that no critical study of these fables had hitherto been made, nor had the text of them ever been published. Indeed, very little was known concerning the life and works of this once popular Old-French author, aside from the frequent occurrence of his manuscripts. Through the kindness of Dr. G. C. Keidel, who allowed me to make use of his notes on manuscripts in European libraries, and through personal research in various libraries both in this country and abroad, I have been able to make out a list of one hundred and thirty-two manuscripts of Jehan de Vignay that are still extant. Several short and very incomplete lists of his manuscripts had previously been made by various scholars, but none of them were serious attempts at making a fairly com- plete manuscript bibliography for this author. 1 In connection with my work on this subject I have made use of the private library of Prof. A. Marshall Elliott of the Johns Hopkins University, of 'the libraries of the Peabody Institute and of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and of the Library of Congress in Washington. During the summer of 1905 I worked on the original manuscripts and incunabulum editions also of the British Museum in London and of the Bibliotheque Rationale in Paris. *Cf. Paul Meyer, Romania, Vol. xxv (1906), pp. 405-423; Gustav Grober, Grundriss der Romanischen Philologie, Vol. n, Part I, p. 990; and also an unpublished list of manuscripts of the Mireoir Historial made by mem- bers of the Romance Seminary of the Johns Hopkins University. 5 6 JEsopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. As a basis of work on the Old-French text I had at hand before going abroad a photographic copy of the manuscript in the Bibliotheque Municipale of Besanc,on, kindly made for me in 1905 by Dr. M. P. Brush of the Johns Hopkins Univer- sity. During my stay in Europe in the summer of 1905 I collated two additional manuscripts in the Bibliotheque Rationale at Paris; and I have since had the remaining Paris manuscripts copied by a professional copyist, as also the manuscript in Lei- den. The manuscripts in the Vatican Library and the British Museum, on the other hand, I have had photographed for my use in preparing this edition. PART I. INTRODUCTION. A. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. Prominent among the many translators of Latin works into Old-French prose is a fourteenth century author named Jehan de Vignay. His work as a translator is notable not only for its unusual extent, but also for the great popularity which it enjoyed during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and even the sixteenth centuries. It seems strange that we should know so little about the life of an author of such note as Jehan de Vignay; but unfortu- nately the information on this subject found in his own works seems to be very meager, and the evidence outside of these is also extremely scanty. One thing at least is certain, namely, that our author was a monk of the order of St. Jacques, living about the time of the last kings of the main Capetian line, and that of Philippe VI (1328-1350). It was by the order of the wife of the latter, Jeanne de Bourgogne, that he made most of his translations; and it was to her also that he usually dedi- cated them. One translation le Livre des Eschez he dedi- cated to Philippe's oldest son, Jehan de France, Due de iSTor- mandie. In fact he was for many years held in high esteem at the royal court under whose patronage he worked. This is attested by the fact that the manuscripts copied during the au- thor's lifetime were on a magnificent scale, and were beauti- fully illuminated, being intended for the most part for the pri- vate libraries of the royal family. 1 In acknowledgment of 1 Cf. Delisle's article on the Manuscrits royales of the Mireoir Historial, in the Gazette Archtologique, Vol. xi (1886), pp. 37-101. 7 8 JEsopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. these honors Jehan de Vignay in the great majority of the intro- ductions or colophons to his translations makes humble obeisance coupled with well-wishes for the continuance of prosperity to all the members of the " ligne des fleurs de lys." Before going into the details of the life of our author it may be appropriate briefly to discuss the probable spelling of his name. It is found with many variant spellings in its French form, and in one Latin form, if the names in question are to be identified. The latter is Johannes Vignacus. The French va- riants are: 1. Jehan du Vingnai, 2. Jean du Vignay, 3. Jehan de Vignay, 4. Jean de Vignay, 5. Jean de Vignai. These are the usual interchangeable forms in the manuscripts I have seen, but we find P. Paris 1 in his catalog of manuscripts giving in addition, Jean de Vignoy, de Vingnoy, de Vygnai and de Bignay. The former variant, Vignoy, is also used in a chart 2 preserved in the Archives Rationales, which is given in the Appendix. 3 The latter spelling, Bignay, occurs also in the catalog of manuscripts of the Library of the University of Turin 4 (officially known as the Biblioteca Nazionale di Torino). In all the fourteenth century manuscripts the first name is written Jehan. Of course this is merely an older spelling for Jean, which has become the accepted modern French form, and even in the author's lifetime Jean and Jehan were both in use. This is easily to be noticed in the chronicles of the period since, for example, we find Philippe's son and successor mentioned *P. Paris, Manuscrits frangois, Vol. I, pp. 53 sqq. 2 Archives Nationales, Trfeor des Chartes, Reg. LXI (Charles le Bel, 1321-1323), Vol. i, cote JJ 61. 8 Appendix e. 4 Pasiims, Codices MS8. Bibl. Regii Taurinensis, Taurini, 1749, Vol. II, p. 438. In two other references here, pp. 476, 479, we find Vignay. These manuscripts were probably destroyed in the disastrous fire of 1904. JEsopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 9 occasionally as Jehan of Normandy, and again as Jean of Nor- mandy. Hence we discard Jean as a modernized product, and on the evidence of more and older manuscript readings adopt Jehan as the probable writing of his Christian name. With respect to the variations de and du, it seems that the manuscript evidence would indicate de as more probably correct. Both, however, appear in the older manuscripts, although de occurs more than twice as often as du in the manuscripts that I have examined. The last part of our author's name, Vignay, was no doubt originally derived from the Latin form Vignacus as used by Haureau. 1 In the researches of Jubaiiiville on the subject of the development of place names, 2 we find the general rule that -acus gave -ay in North France, and -ac in Provence (-ach in the Celtic dialects). Thus we obtain from Turnacus (formed on Turnus) the form Tournay in Normandy, and Tournac in Gascony. Of course some place names have remained with the variant ending -ai, as Cambrai, out of Camaracus. Evidently, then, our form Vignay (or Vignai) came from a Latin term referring to the vine; and probably belongs to the same group of derivative names, to which belong de Vignais, de Vigny, De Lavigne. 3 At present there are two communes in France named Vignay. 4 One is in the Departement de TAriege in the ex- treme South of France ; the other in the Departement de Seine- et-Oise. As the latter is near Paris and in what was the old ile-de-France province, it is very likely that our author came from there. The form Bignay which occurs in the Turin catalog 5 can J B. Haur6au, Histoire Litleraire de la France, Tome xxx, Paris, 1888, pp. 289 sqq.: Jean de Vignay, Graramarien, Professeur a Dijon. 2 H. de Jubainville, Recherches sur I'origine de la Propriete Fonciere et des Noms de Lieux habites en France, Paris, 1890, pp. 170 sqq.; pp. 467 sqq. 3 See J. Sabatier, Encyclopedic des Noms Propres, Paris, 1865, pp. 151, 188. 4 See Gindre de Nancy, Dictionnaire des Communes de la France, Paris, 1885, p. 904. 5 Pasinus, loc. cit. 10 JEsopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. be explained as a simple variant spelling common in Italy, sines b and v were easily interchanged in early Italian. 1 It may also be borne in mind that h and v very much resemble each other in many late French manuscripts. Likewise, we know that the French language was very unstable during the early part of the fourteenth century, 2 and thus would arise the variants ending in -oy, just as we have the old form estoy for modern etais. Thus we have accounted for all the variants of Vignay, except Ving- nai, found in the oldest manuscript of the Mireoir Historial. 3 This latter form incorporates an n before the g solely to indicate that the gn was nasal. Now we have eliminated all the forms except Vignay and Vignai, either of which the spelling of the time in its variable- ness would permit. To compare the relative frequency in the occurrence of each form I have noted twelve spellings from the earlier manuscripts themselves. Of these twelve forms one is written Jehan du Vingnai 4 four are spelled Jehan du Vig- nay,, 5 and seven have the form Jehan de Vignay. Q In the last group, one manuscript 7 is dated 1348, which date was but 1 Cf. Parodi, Del Passagio di Vin B e di Certe Perturbazioni delle Leggi FoneticTie nel Latino Volgare, Romania, Vol. xxvii (1898), pp. 177-240. 2 On this subject cf. M. Brunot's article on Le xive Siecle, pp. 533 sqq. in Petit de Julleville's Litterature francaise, Vol. n. Cf. also infra, p. 12, where is quoted a passage from Jehan de Vignay. 3 Paris, Bibl. Nationale, fr. 316. For a photograph and facsimile from this manuscript cf. Suchier und Birch-Hirschfeld, Geschichte der Fran- zosischen Litteratur, opp. p. 261. 4 The form Jehan du Vingnai is the one adopted by Jordan, Jehan du Vingnai und sein Kirchenspiegel (Halle dissertation, 1905), p. 5. The reason given by Dr. Jordan for adopting this form is that it is found in MS. B. N. f. 316, in his opinion from the pen of Jehan de Vignay himself. However at the beginning and close of the Mirouer de I'Eglise, the text of which he publishes, the form used is Jehan de Vignay. Dr. Jordan also mentions in this connection the other usual spellings to be found in the manuscripts. 5 Carpentras, Bibl. Mun., 402; London, British Museum, Royal 19. D. i: Paris, Bibl. Nat., fr. 242; Ashburnham-Barrois, 19. 6 Bruxelles, Bibl. Royale, 9467; La Valliere-Sale, no. 263; Paris, Bibl. Nat. fr. 241, 244, 245, 19810; Roma, Bibl. Vaticana, Reg. 1678. 7 Paris, Bibl. Nationale, fr. 241. Fables in JeJian de Vignay. 11 some fifteen years after the original work of de Vignay was fin- ished. This fact, proximity in date, ought to be of much im- portance in deciding the proper spelling of our author's name. Accepting these data, we must assume that the usual spelling of our author's name in his own time was Jehan de Vignay. Let us now pass to the main facts of the author's life. I have not been able to find any information concerning him in the leading histories of French literature, except the bare men- tion that Jehan de Vignay was a translator of the Middle Ages. The following histories of Old-French Literature mention him : 1. Petit de Julleville, LUterature frangaise, Paris, 1896; Vol. II, pp. 262, 270, 299, 313. 2. Suchier und Birch-Hirschfeld, Geschichte der Franzos- ischen Liiteratur, Leipzig und Wien, 1900 ; opp. p. 261. 3. G. Grober, Grundriss der Romanischen Philologie, II. Band, I. Abteilung, Strasburg, 1902; pp. 984, 990, 1012, 1015, 1020, 1023 f., 1027, 1030. 4. Voretzsch, Einfuhrung in das Studium der Altfranzos- ischen Litteratur, Halle, 1905 ; p. 498. In order, therefore, to give any account of de Vignay's life, we have to look to his own works, from which we are able to gather a few facts. A few additional and corroborative statements are drawn from B. Haureau's article on Jean de Vignai 'in Vol. xxx of the Histoire Litteraire de la France, 1 and from S. Berger's La Bible franqaise au Moyen Age. 2 His father's name has only recently been discovered in a legal account of a most important incident in Jehan de Vignay's life from the Archives Ratio- nales in Paris. 3 1 Cf. B. Haurgau, loc. clt. 2 S. Berger, La, Bible frangaise au Moyen Age, Paris, 1884; p. 221. 5me partie: Versions du XlVe Siecle, Jean de Vignay. 3 Cf. Appendix e, where the legal document is given in full. Of course there is a possibility that this refers to another man of identical name. But the evidence seems to indicate that this Latin chart concerns our au- thor; especially as it is dated about five years before he commenced his great literary work. 12 ^Esopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. Although, as early as 1298, we find our author to be a " vice- doctor " at Dijon, 1 we must conclude from the following state- ments of himself that he was a Norman by birth. As first evidence we may cite a paragraph inserted in his translation of Primat's Chronique, Chap. XLVIII, as follows: "Les miracles que frere Jehan de Vignay vit avenir en Nor- mandie de monseigneur saint Louis. La vegille de la feste du benoit saint Loys, je, frere Jehan du Vignay, translateur de ce livre, estoie au Molay Bacon demeurant a 1'escole avec la per- sonne de ladite ville, qui estoit mon parrain et portoie son nom, si avint que plusieux autres personnes orent volente de devotion de venir a Baieux, qui est a II lieues du Molay Bacon pour veillier a une chapelle de Saint Michel de Bayeux, en laquelle I autel du benoit saint dessus dit estoit f onde de nouvel ; si avint que une moye cousine et sa fille estoient aveuques moy au partir de la ville pour venir a ladite vegille, si que elle vouloit amener I sien filz clerc, mon cousin et compaignon de escole." 2 This would show that Jehan de Vignay was born in Nor- mandy, or at least, if he were not, he had relatives living there, and spent his early school days there, that is, at the little village, Molay Bacon, which is near Bayeux. For further evidence of Jehan de Vignay's Norman origin we may also cite the dedication of Le Livre des JEschez to Jean de France, due de Normandie. Here, after some flattering remarks to the oldest son of the first Valois, our author contin- ues: a je, frere Jehan de Vignay, vostre petit religieux entre les autres de vostre seignorie, ay mis ung petit livret de latin en francois." 3 1 Haureau, loc. cit. 2 P. Meyer, Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France, Tome xxiii, Paris, 1876, p. 72. The Chronique de Primat is a continuation of Vincent's Speculum Historiale covering the life of St. Louis, cf. infra, pp. 20, 21. In this quotation we see illustrations of the instability of the spelling of the time ( cf . supra, p. 10 ). We notice J. du Vignay by the side of J. de Vig- nay, St. Louis and St. Loys in the same line, also Baieux followed by Bayeux. 3 Cf. Notices et Extraits des Hss., Vol. xxxin, Part 2, Manuscrits fran- cais de Rome par E. Lanerlois, p. 194. MS. Reg. 1678 UNI *i Fables in Jehan. de Vignay. 13 There is no mention anywhere of the date of Jehan de Vig- nay's birth. 1 But we may infer that it was about 1275 A. D. This would make him some sixty-six years of age in 1341, the date of his latest translations. 2 It is between 1320 and 1340 that we find him writing his stupendous translations: Legende Doree, Mireoir Historialj etc. 3 The date 1275 may not be too early for that of his birth, for in 1298 we find him a professor at Dijon. 4 In fact he was a " vice-doctor " of the monastery there. The colophon to the Lamballe manuscript 5 of his Latin works contains the following statement : 6 " Explicit Margarita philosophiarum completa Divione a magistro Johanne Vignaco, vice-doctore Divionis, anno Domini 1298, communicato scholaribus ab eodem." Assuming that it was the same Jehan de Vignay 7 who wrote this Latin treatise, Margarita Philosophiarum, and who, later, made many French translations from Latin religious works, our supposition that he was born about 1275 would make him about twenty-three years old when he composed his Latin works in 129 8. 8 Compatible with this probable date of his birth would be a statement in the Chronique de Primat concerning his fa- ther> who witnessed an accident that occurred to the ship of St. Louis on the latter's return from his crusade to Egypt. This accident was related to Jehan de Vignay by his father, Gille de Vignay: 9 1 Oursel, Nouvelle Biographie Normande, Vol. n, Paris, 1886, p. 567, mentions " Jean de Vignai " as a " moine " of the fourteenth century, born "environs de Bayeux (Calvados)." 2 Cf. infra, p. 26. 4 Haureau, loc. tit. 3 Cf. infra, pp. 16 sqq. 5 Lamballe, Bibl. Municipale. 6 Haur6au, loc. tit. 7 It is not likely that two men of the same name would be publishing, within the same generation, especially men of religious orders. Moreover- the general style for the Latin and French is the same, that is, rather care- less. Most conclusive is the fact that in the Margarita is an anecdote concerning Primat, whose Chronique Jehan de Vignay later translated into French. 8 See infra, p. 17. 9 The authority for this name is based upon a document found in the Archives Nationales, and given in Appendix e. 14 2E 'so pic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. " lequel avoit este en cell passage aveuques son oncle, qui estoit a donques clerc du roy saint Loys, et avoit nom Guillemes du Pont." 1 The date of this occurrence must, therefore, have been 1254, the year in which Louis IX returned to Paris from his first crusade, being recalled by the death of his good and noble moth- er, Blanche of Castile. After these early school days in Normandy, we next find our author filling a professorship in the monastery at Dijon. This was in 1298. In a Latin work, Margarita philosophiarum, pub- lished by him at that time, he shows himself to be a grammarian and a logician. In his philosophical discussions 2 he held to the views of the nominalists. The next important incident of Jehan de Vignay's career of which we have record occurred in 1318. This event is his ac- quittal from the suspicion of having murdered a certain Colinet de la Ville au Bos. At that time, it appears from the court re- cords, he was living under the jurisdiction of the " damoiselle de Louvain et dame de Montcarnet." Jehan de Vignay had been held in prison for some time on a charge of manslaughter. But he was entirely cleared from all suspicion of the crime by the local court, which was presided over by a certain Geras de Saint Prueve. His complete acquittal was greatly influenced by the fact that he had as bondsmen eight important fiefmen of the above-mentioned " damoiselle." The " confirmatio ab- solutionis " is declared within the record to have occurred in 1318, " le dimenche devant la feste de 1' Ascension notre Seig- neur." On the other hand, the date of its being recorded at Paris is given as December, 1322. 3 The next recorded appearance of our author was in Norman- dy, probably holding a monastic position at Rouen, and when Jeanne of Burgundy 4 wanted a prayer book in French, the J Paul Meyer, op. cit., Chap. XLIIH, p. 225. 2 Cf . Haure*au, loc. cit. Cf. Appendix e. 'This "Jeanne de Bourgogne " was the wife of Philip VI (1293-1350), although the consort of Philip V was also known as " Jeanne de Bour- JEsopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 15 Pope selected Jehan de Vignay to make for her a translation of the Latin Gospels. 1 This translation is entitled Epistres et Evangiles de tout Van. As is to be seen in its introduction, the date of the completion of this work was 1326. Apparently from this time on Jehan was taken under the patronage of the Valois family, and especially of the queen ; Jeanne de Bourgogne, for it was at her request that he did most of his translating. Besides, he dedicated several of these trans- lations to her, as is. to be noted in the introduction to the respec- tive works. It is evident, also, that he worked under the orders of her husband, King Philip VI (1328-1350). 2 We know, moreover, from the dedication in his Le Livre des Eschez 3 that he made at least one translation for Queen Jeanne's son, John, Duke of ISTormandy, who afterward became King John the Good (1350- 1364). In the introduction to most of his works, we find the last- fact concerning our author; namely, that he was a priest, a " hospitalier " of the order of " Saint Jacques du Hault Pas " in Paris. According to Dr. O. Jordan's recently published dissertation (1905) in which Jehan de Vignay's Mirouer de I'Eglise is edited, we find that 1348 is the probable date of our author's death. 4 gogne." The latter died in 1330. Jehan de Vignay's patroness, however, lived until 1348, when she died at Clermont-en-Beauvaisis. She was the third daughter of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy, and, through her mother Agnes, was the grand-daughter of Saint Louis. It was in the latter's honor that she commanded Jehan de Vignay to make some of his transla- tions. She married Philip of Valois in 1313, who became Philip VI in 1328. 1 S. Berger, loc. cit. 2 Cf. his translation of Brocarde, Directoire a faire le Passage de la Terre Sainte. See infra, pp. 21, 22. 8 See infra, pp. 23, 24. * This appeared. after most of the work of my dissertation had been com- pleted. In it we find a brief account of the Church of St. James " du Haut Pas," p. 7. 16 & so pic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. B. LITERARY WORK. Jehan de Vignay translated at least twelve Latin works into French prose, and he is, besides, the author of one, or possibly two, Latin treatises. Below follows a list of his works given as nearly as possible in a chronological order. The figure after each work represents the year of its appearance. When the exact date is not given in the manuscript or old library cata- logs an approximate one is given, which is based on the in- ternal evidence afforded by the works themselves. A. Latin Treatises: 1. Margarita PhilosopJiiarum . ... 1293 2. Glossa in Doctrinale Alexandri de Villedieu 1298 B. French Translations: 1. Les Epistres et les Evangiles. . 1326 2. Vincent de Beauvais, Mireoir Historial 1332-1333 3. Eobert Primat, Chronique 1333 4. Brocarde, Directoire 1333 5. Jacques de Varazze, Legende Doree ab. 1334 6. Jacques de Cessoles, Le Livre des Eschez ab. 1335 7. Hugo, Mirouer de I'Eglise 1335-1340 8. Theodore Paleologue, Enseigne- ments 1335-1340 9. Odorique de Frioul, Merveilles de la Terre d'Outremer 1335-1340 10. Gervais de Tilbury, Oisivetez des Emperieres 1335-1340 11. Livre Royale 1335-1340 12. Roman d'Alixandre 1341 ^Esopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 17 A. LATIN TREATISES. 1. Margarita Philosophiarum. 2. Glossa in Doctrinale Alexandri de Villedieu. The Latin works of our author include a lengthy disserta- tion on the arts and sciences entitled Margarita philosophiarum, and another small work contained in the same manuscripts * as the Margarita. The authorship of the latter may doubtless be attributed on general internal evidence to Jehan de Vignay. The title of this second work is Glossa in Doctrinale Alexandri de Villedieu. 2 The original Doctrinale itself is a treatise on grammar written in Latin verse by Alexandre de Villedieu. 3 B. FRENCH TRANSLATIONS. Jehan de Vignay's French works will now be taken up ona by one in the order given in the preceding list. As the present dissertation is chiefly concerned with the ^sopic fables found in the Mireoir Historial, his greatest work, but few details will be given in mentioning his other translations. 1. Les Epistres et les Evangiles. Our author's first translation, then, is entitled Les Epistres et les Evangiles. We find in the final chapter of the work, that it was finished May 13, 1326, at the order of Jeanne de Bourgogne, wife of Philippe de Valois (1328-1350). This translation was used in the Church services in the fourteenth century, as was also the Evangiles de Cambrai, an earlier work whose authorship is unknown. M. Berger compares and con- trasts the two works just mentioned, concluding that as they 1 Cf . Appendix 5. 2 Villedieu is a town in Normandy (Manche). This Alexandre was a well-known scholar of the 13th century. Cf. Sandys' History of Classical Scholarship, 2nd. ed., Cambridge, 1906, pp. 554 sqq. 'See Haure"au, loc. cit. 18 ^Jsopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. are similar at times Jehan de Vignay drew occasionally from the Cambrai translation, or, else, that they both went back to a previous French version of the Gospels. 1 There are four manuscripts which contain Les Epistres et les Evangiles. A list of them is given in the Appendix. 2 2. Vincent de Beauvais, Mireoir Historial. The Mireoir Historial is probably Jehan de Vignay's second translation. This work was completed in 1333. 3 It is a trans- lation of Vincentius Bellovacensis, Speculum Historiale, 4 which was compiled by the order of St. Louis about 1240. As its title indicates, the Mireoir Historial is an encyclopedia of the history of the world, from the creation, until the reign of St. Louis (1226-1270). Although this was one of Jehan de Vig- nay's earlier translations, it was so popular at the time that several members of the royal family ordered copies of it to be made for their own libraries. The latter no doubt understood most of the story from the numerous fine illustrations contained in the work. Thus, it is very evident, that the Mireoir Historial is Jehan de Vignay's most important work. He made the translation at the command of Jeanne de Bourgogne, by whose orders he also executed his first translation previously described. The entire Mireoir Historial is a massive production consisting in its manuscript form usually of four folio volumes, of about four hundred leaves each. I have found mention of forty-one extant manuscripts of this work; 5 one of which (a fragment containing the fables only) I have in a photographic copy, 6 and 1 See Berger, loc. tit. 2 See Appendix 6. 3 Cf. Delisle in Gazette Archeologique, Vol. XI (1886), pp. 87-101. 4 This is a part of Vincent's Speculum Quadruples: Naturale, Doctrinale, Historiale, Morale. The Morale was really of other authorship. 5 See Appendix 6. fl Besanson v , Bibl, Municjpale, 434. Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 19 six others I myself have examined. 1 B. 1ST. f. 316 no doubt affords the best text of the various manuscripts containing the fables because of its nearness to the original in point of time. As it is dated 1333, it is no doubt one of the copies made for the queen Jeanne, 2 or for a member of her family, and hence is very close to the original made by the author himself. Its old numbering and general appearance show it to have been made expressly for one of the royal family. The first minia- ture in this manuscript, made in brilliant colors and remark- ably well done for that period, shows on one side Saint Louis ordering Vincent de Beauvais to compose the work, and on the other side portrays Jeanne de Bourgogne commanding Jehan de Vignay to make the translation. There are some three hun- dred and twenty miniatures in this royal manuscript. Another manuscript of the Mireoir Historial especially well illustrated, and also for a long time retained in the royal libraries, is MS. Codex Vossianus gallicus, no. 3 A, Universiteits Bibliotheek, Leiden. In fact this manuscript bears the signature of " Jehan, Due de Normandie et de Guienne." Hence it also must have been copied before 1350, in which year Jean II. (le Bon) be- came king. It contains some two hundred and eighty minia- tures, the first one being identical with the first miniature in MS. fr. 316 of the Bibliotheque Rationale. 3 As the initial rubric of the Leiden manuscript contains some valuable information it may be well to quote it here in full. It reads as follows : " Ci commence le premier Volume du Mire- oir hystorial translate (de latin) en frangoiz par la main Jehan de Vignay, a la requeste de tres haute et tres excellente dame Jehanne de Bourgogne, roynne de France. Et fu commencie ou quint an de son regne, 1' an de grace mil CCC et XXXII, selonc Topinion de frere Vincent, qui en latin le compila a la requeste de Monseigneur saint Loys, jadis roy de France.' 7 1 London, British Museum, Royal 14. E. i; Paris, Bibl. Nationale, fr. 50, 308, 312, 316, 6354. 2 Cf. Delisle, Cab. des Mss., Vol. in, p. 324, where he considers this manuscript the one presented to the queen by Jehan de Vignay himself. 3 See Delisle's article in Gazette Archeologiyve, loc. cit. 20 JEsopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. More stress is here laid on the Mireoir Historial because it contains the text of the ^Esopic fables which is edited in the present dissertation. These fables appear in the fourth book of the first volume. They are inserted in the history of Persia after a short account of the life of their author, ^Esop, who was " slain by the Delphians, during the first year of the reign of Cyrus the Great." x As the Mireoir Historial was almost the earliest translation of Jehan de Vignay, he had not yet developed his best form. Hence, as is shown later, 2 the fables, which occur in the early part of the Mireoir Historial, are close to the Latin in their constructions and are not put into the best French. In fact our author continues throughout his career to be a very literal translator, and even often writes ungrammatical sentences, in order probably to follow more closely his Latin model. How- ever, later on, he takes the liberty to add a few of his own ideas and to interpolate, occasionally, an important historical incident which otherwise would be lost. 3 3. Robert Primat, Chronique. Jehan de Vignay's third translation is entitled Chronique de Primat. It is found in only one manuscript, which I have ex- amined. 4 This chronicle is a continuation of Vincentius Bel- lovacensis, Speculum Historiale. It takes up French history where he left off in 1250 A. D. and brings the narrative down almost to 1285 A. D., thus covering parts of the reigns of Louis IX (1226-1270) and Philip the Bold (1270-1285). Therefore it is really an additional chapter of the Mireoir His- torial made to bring the latter up to date. The Chronique de Primat also, according to the translator, was made " a la re- 1 Cf . Part II. The text reads " En 1'an du regne Gyre premier Esope eat occis de Delphins." 2 See infra, pp. 32 sqq. 3 For instance, note the above-mentioned miracles connected with St. Louis, p. 12. * London, British Museum., Royal 19. D. i. (no. VI). Fables in JeJian de Vignay. 21 queste " of Queen Jeanne. Since the Queen desired his uni- versal history to contain an account of St. Louis, her maternal grandfather, it is natural to suppose that our translator took up the Chronique as soon as he had completed the Mireoir His- torial. Thus, then, it would be dated about 1333. Moreover, we have his own word that he completed his next work, the Di- rectoire, in 1333, which he probably did not begin until he had finished the Chronique and the Mireoir Historial. The Chroni- que de Primat was first composed in Latin by a monk of St. Denis whose name was Robert Primat. 1 The French version has been published in its entirety by M. Paul Meyer in Vol. xxin of the Recueil des Historiens de la France. 2 According to M. Meyer, this translation, like the others made by our au- thor, " est lourd mais exact." 4. Brocarde, Directoire a Faire le Passage de Terre Sainte. The fourth translation made by Jehan de Vignay is entitled Directoire a faire le Passage de Terre Sainte. The Latin orig- inal was written in 1332 by Brocardus, a traveling " frere de 1'ordre des prescheurs," who witnessed the things recorded. 3 This Directoire was also translated in 1333, as is evident from the introduction which contains the following: " et fu translate en frangois par Jehan de Vignay Tan mil cccxxxm/' From the introduction we find, in addition, that this work was dedicated to Philip VI (1328-1350), the husband of Jehan de Vignay ? s former patron, Jeanne of Burgundy. It contains 1 For a discussion of Primat and other particulars, cf. P. Meyer, Docu- ments Manuscrits de I' Ancienne Literature de la France, Paris, 1871, pp. 16 sqq.; N. de Wailly, Bibl. de I'ticole des Chartes, xxxin, pp. 39-40; 2 Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France, Vol. xxin, Paris, 1876, pp. 1-105: "Chronique de Primat traduite par Jean du Vignay." 3 P. Meyer, Archives des Missions Scientifiques et Litteraires, Deux. Se"rie, Tome III, pp. 319-326. 4 Cf. British Museum, MS. Royal 19. D. I. Cf. also Le Roulx, La France en Orient au XIV e Siecle, Paris, 1886, p. 89, note. 22 JEsopic Fables in JeJian de Vignay. also a miniature showing the "f rere mineur " presenting his book to the king. The Directoire is found in two manuscripts. 1 5. Jacques de Varazze, Legende Doree. The next work that de Vignay completed, and probably in the following year, 1334, is the Legende doree. This is a trans- lation of the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine. 2 This work contains the lives and miracles of the saints. There was also another French translation of this same work made by Jehan Belet (flourished ab. 1300), which has been preserved in a number of manuscripts. Jehan de Vignay, however, in his translation adds forty-nine additional legends. 3 Nevertheless Belet's translation is freer and not so literal as that of our author, who, as usual, follows his original too closely, and thus makes the sense to be at times obscure. 4 Manuscript fr. 241 of the Bibliotheque Nationale, which bears the date of 1348, shows exactly the same order and contents as the Latin text, with one or two omissions and no additions or amplifications. 5 This translation also was made " a 1' instance et requeste de tres haulte et noble et puissante dame ma dame de Bourgoigne, par le grace de Dieu, royne de France." 6 There are twenty- eight manuscripts containing the Legende doree, 7 two of the oldest of which I have examined. 8 There are at least eighteen 1 Cf. Appendix 6. 2 Jacobus de Voragine (Varazze) (1230?-1298) was a Dominican monk as well as a zealous student and theologian. He became archbishop of Genoa in 1293, and was instrumental in keeping peace between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. 3 Cf. Blades, Life and Typography of W. Caxton, London, 1861-1863, Vol. n, p. 155. 4 Cf. Romania, Vol. xxxm (1904), pp. 5, 6. P. Meyer here says of the different translations of the Legenda Aurea : " celle de Jean de Vignay qui a obtenu le plus de succes, est peut-e"tre la plus mauvaise; c'est un mot & mot, in intelligent et depourvu de style." " Cf. P. Butler, Legenda Aurea Legende doree Golden Legend, Balti- more, 1899 (Johns Hopkins diss.), pp. 35 sqq. Cf. Bibl. Nat. fr. 17232. T Cf. Appendix 6. 8 Paris, Bibl. Nat. fr. 241, 242; the former is dated 1348. 2Esopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 23 incunabulum editions of this work; * and in the case of six others I am not certain whether they contain our author's trans- lation, or that of Jehan Belet. 2 As the following seven translations of Jehan de Vignay have no date, and leave no special indications to aid us in attempting to date them, we may surmise that they most likely appeared between 1334 and 1341, the year of his last dated work, and I shall therefore consider them without reference to possible dates for their production. 6. Jacques de Cessoles, Le Lime des Eschez. We may next consider the Le Livre des Eschez inasmuch as this work seems to have been very important in its day. This last fact is evidenced by the great number of extant manuscripts,, there being in all forty-six manuscripts of the French trans- lation. 3 I have examined the two oldest of these, namely, Brit- ish Museum, Harley 5440, and Bibliotheque Rationale, fr. 1169, which bear the dates 1360 and 1367 respectively. There exist, also, some five copies of the two incunabulum editions of the Livre des Eschez. 4 The translation itself is made from the original Latin of Jacobus de Cessolis. It is primarily a treatise on the game of chess, and includes the sayings of doc- tors, poets, philosophers, and ancient sages made for the moral instruction " des hommes et gens.' 7 In this work Jehan de Vig- nay does not follow so closely his Latin original, at least in the first part ; he is rather prolix in paraphrasing, and puts the titles of the chapters at the beginning, not at the head of each section 1 Cf. Appendix c. 8 We have a most recent reprint from this work in the following : " Ex- position de la messe from la legende doree of Jean de Vignay. With il- luminations reproduced from Fitzwilliam Museum MS. 22. Edited by Walter Frere, Priest of the community of the Resurrection. Alcuin Club Collections. Vol. II, 1898-1899. London: Longmans, Green & Co. Fol." O. Jordan, op. cit., pp. 14-15, says that this does not have the same text as Jehan de Vignay's Legende doree, and hence he considers it to be an ad- ditional translation. 8 See Appendix 6. * See Appendix c. 24 JEsopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. as did Jacobus de Cessolis, and as did also Jean Ferron in his translation. 1 The latter bears the date May 4, 1347, and is extant in numerous manuscripts. It is also evident that in the Livre des Eschez Jehan de Vignay took the liberty of adding stories and fables not in his original. 2 The dedication of the work was addressed to Jean le Bon (1350-1364), who was then " due de Normandie," as I have noticed in my discussion on the author's life. 3 7. Hugo, Mirouer de I'Eglise. As Jehan de Vignay ? s seventh work we may take up the Mirouer de I'Eglise. This work, of a religious character, like the majority of our author's translations, is taken from a work written " per fratrem Hugonem Cardinalem ordinis predicato- rum." 4 We have no indications of the date of the translation, nor do we know to whom it was dedicated, although on the last page of the Paris manuscript containing this work we find the words : " treshault et trespuissant seigneur et roy souverain." It is extant in two manuscripts, 5 of which I have examined B. !N". f. 19810. The latter is a fourteenth-century manuscript and it contains for the first sixty-one leaves the " Art de Cheva- lerie," which is written in a different hand from that in which the remaining forty-four were copied. The latter contain Je- han de Vignay's Mirouer de I'Eglise. As usual the translator follows his original very closely even so far as to make serious *Cf. Lajard, Histoire litteraire de la France, Tome xxv, pp. 29 sqq. The author here adds that the reason for the latter part of the translation being close to the original is because Jehan de Vignay was, no doubt, pushed for time. 2 Cf. Blades, loc. cit. 8 See supra, p. 12. 4 Cf. O. Jordan, op. cit., pp. 15 sqq. Here is given a short account of the Latin author. We also note that there was an Italian translation of the Mirouer de I'Eglise, but on comparison it is clear that neither Jehan de Vignay nor the Italian author drew on each other, but that both used their Latin original directly. 5 See Appendix I. The text from the Paris manuscript has just been published in the afore-mentioned dissertation by Jordan, pp. 25 sqq. JEsopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 25 mistakes in his French idiom. Moreover, he does not translate all of the Latin text, although he has inserted matter from other sources also. These insertions and omissions, as the transla- tor says, are to make this treatise on church functions entirely compatible with his personal ideas. 1 8. Theodore Paleologue, Enseignements. The next one of Jehan de Vignay 7 s works, which is without date, though probably between 1335 and 1340, is entitled En- seignements. As its title indicates, this work contains instruc- tions for those who have " guerres et grans gouvernemens a f aire," and was " fait en latin par Theodore Paliologue, mar- quis de Montferrat et filz de I'empereur des Griez; et le mist de latin en francois frere Jehan de Vignay." There are two manuscripts which contain this translation 2 which seems to be the only one known. 3 It was probably dedicated to Philippe VI, or to his son Jean. 9. Odorique de Frioul, Merveilles de la Terre d'Outremer* The ninth translation made by Jehan de Vignay is known as Les Merveilles de la Terre d'Outremer. This also is not dated, but probably falls between the years 1335 and 1340. The events recorded in this work were witnessed by the original au- thor, Odoricus de Foro Julii, a de Tordre des freres meneurs." The latter wrote the work in 1330 and died in 1332. 4 The French translation is preserved to us in two manuscripts. 5 10. Gervais de Tilbury, Oisivetez des Emperieres. The next translation that was probably made by Jehan de Vignay is entitled Oisivetez des Emperieres. This was the Otia 1 Cf. Jordan, op. tit., pp. 23-24. 2 See Appendix 6. Cf . Romania, Vol. xxv (1896), p. 409. *Cf. P. Meyer, Arch, des Missions, II S6rie, Vol. m, p. 317 sqq. 5 See Appendix 6. 26 ^Esopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. Imperialia of Gervasius de Tilbury and was " translate de latin en frangois par Jehan du Vignay, frefe de Haut pas." Although it bears no date we are reasonably safe in consider- ing that it was written between 1335 and 1341. This work is to be found in* only one manuscript. 1 11. Livre Royale. This work is not extant in manuscript form, although S. Berger, in his work on the Bible of the Middle Ages, 2 men- tions it as one of the works of Jehan de Vignay dedicated to Jeanne de Bourgogne. 12. Roman d'Alixandre. The twelfth and last translation made by Jehan de Vignay is the Roman d'Alixandre. This is in prose and is dated 1341. 3 As we have no works of our author dated later than this, there is no doubt that the year 1341 marks the close of his literary activities, and our author being by this time a very old man it is also very likely that he died soon after this date. 4 There is no extant manuscript containing the Roman d'Alixandre, al- though there is one mentioned in the old catalogs of the Louvre. 5 Now that I have given a short account of each of Jehan ds Vignay's works, it may be pertinent to sum up very briefly 1 See Appendix 6. 2 Cf. S. Berger, loc. cit. 3 Cf. L. Delisle, Cab. des Mss., Vol. in, p. 163 (Librairie du Louvre, 1373-1424), where we, have the following description of a lost manuscript. " 1070. Alixandre en prose, translate" 1'an 1341 par frere Jehan de Vig- nay. A 365, B 386, D 250, E 291, F 271. Sa langue ou palays. 16s.'' From this we learn that the manuscript in question was in the Louvre as early as 1380, or possibly even as early as 1373; that it was still there in 1411, in 1413 and in 1424. See Delisle, op. cit., p. 114. 4 Jordan, op. cit., p. 6, gives 1348 as the date of de Vignay's death. 5 Cf. L. Delisle, op. cit., Vol. in, p. 163. A thirteenth translation by Jehan de Vignay, la Chose de Chevalerie, is mentioned by Jordan, op. cit., pp. 13-14; but M. Paul Meyer has written me that in his opinion this is from another pen than that of Jehan de Vignay. 2Esopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay, 27 his style and general literary characteristics. And this is nec- essary especially for the purpose of noticing at what stage of his literary development are to be found the fables, with which we are particularly concerned. Throughout his whole career as a translator Jehan de Vignay closely followed his Latin ori- ginals and made his translations very literal, at times absurdly so. Indeed he has occasionally followed the Latin so closely as to make his translation unintelligible. These generalities on our author's style are based mostly on the statements already variously recorded * of the distinguished savant, M. Paul Mey- er, the great authority on Old-French manuscripts. Moreover, my own humble comparisons for the fables, as shown in a later chapter, 2 lead to the same conclusion; namely that our author constantly sacrificed clearness of expression for the sake of fol- lowing his original the more closely. Although the Mireoir Historial, in which the fables herewith edited occur, was among the very first of our author's produc- tions, he seems at no later time to have made any noticeable im- provement in his style. Nevertheless a slight exception may here be noted in that he shows a certain freedom in making a few additions of a personal character in some of his later works. The first instances of this kind are the afore-mentioned refer- ences to Saint Louis in the Chronique de Primat : 3 he also, as I have said, makes interpolations in the Livre des Eschez, 4 and, in fact, we have seen that he translated only selected passages in his Mireour de I'Eglise, making arbitrary additions from various sources. 5 Hence it is evident that he developed a lit- tle more freedom, and logically reached the " high- water mark " of his translation toward the close of his career. Thus, we finally conclude that Jehan de Vignay was a trans- lator of prodigious activity, and also added a little original mat- ter to our historical knowledge in his interpolations which give us bits of information not recorded elsewhere. The last x Cf. supra, pp. 21, 22. 2 Of . infra, pp. 33 sqq. 3 Cf. supra, pp. 12, 13, 14, 21. * Cf . supra, p. 24. Cf. supra, pp. 24-25. 2& 'so pic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. point, as M. Paul Meyer suggests, causes us to overlook his shortcomings as a translator. The fact that Jehan de Vignay was working for the greater part of his life at the command of various members belonging to the family of the first Valois king, and that his works were copied especially for the libraries of the succeeding monarchs, shows that he was of considerable importance in his time. His popularity is attested both by the large number of manuscripts that contain his works and by the great care with which many of them have been copied and il- luminated. These are considerably over a hundred in number. 1 The number of early editions of certain of his works is also quite considerable, attesting to their long-continued vogue, even down into the sixteenth century. C. INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH LITERATURE. 2 The influence of Jehan de Vignay's works on English litera- ture in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was of some impor- tance, as is evidenced by numerous English editions. 3 It is of especial interest to note that it was William Caxton who trans- lated and printed two of the most important of Jehan de Yig- nay's works: the Livre des Eschez 4 and the Legende Doree. 5 In a section of the Appendix 6 are listed the editions in Eng- lish of which mention has been found. They number ten in all, and most of them are black letter editions dating from the latter part of the fifteenth, and the earlier portion of the sixteenth 1 Cf . Appendix 6. 2 1 have not discovered that Jehan de Vignay has had any influence on any other literature, although there is a Spanish version of the Legende Doree, and a Dutch one of the Mireoir Historial. But both of these seem to be from the Latin original, as may be seen in the description of copies of each, which are contained in the British Museum. See British Museum, Cat. of Printed Books, s. v. There is also an Italian version of the Mirouer de I'Eglise, which likewise has no relation to Jehan de Vignay's work. Cf. Jordan, op. cit., pp. 17-18. 3 Cf . Appendix d. 4 See supra, pp. 23-24. 5 See supra, pp. 22-23. 8 See Appendix d. M 'so pic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 29 century. Half of these editions were printed by William Cax- ton. When we consider the condition of printing at the time and the rarity of books, it seems very evident that the works of Jehan de Vignay were highly esteemed by the English-reading public. Caxton himself tells us that he followed Jehan de Vig- nay's translations in preference to the Latin originals, or other Trench translations, notably Jehan Belet's translation of the Legenda Aurea. 1 The importance of Jehan de Vignay to English literature is still more apparent when we consider the fact that two of his works were among the first selected for translation by the first English printer. It might be added that Caxton' s earliest dated publication, and probably the first book printed in England, was The Game and Playe of Chesse. 1 The source of this work may be seen, from the Introduction to its first edition, to have been Jehan de Vignay's version of the original Latin text. This edition of the Chess Boole bears the date 1475, and there are nine copies extant which have been listed in the Appendix. 2 That this edition has become much sought for may be observed from the prices paid for copies at sales about the middle of the last century; for instance, one copy sold for 10 1. 3 A second edition of The Game and Playe of Chesse, also pub- lished by William Caxton, is dated 1483, and references have been found to some seven extant copies of this edition. 4 Four of these copies, however, have several pages missing ; the remain- ing three seem to be perfect. The copies of this edition, like those of the first, have been much sought after by book collec- tors. 5 1 CL Blades, op. cit., Vol. i, pp. 136 sqq.; Vol. n, pp. 155 sqq. 2 See Appendix d. 8 This book was bought by Mr. J. Holford. Of. Blades, op. cit., Vol. n, pp. 8-12, where, among others, we find the Duke of Devonshire paid 42 for a copy, and Mr. H. Cunliffe gave 62 10s. for another copy. * See Appendix d. 5 As an instance of the high value placed on this edition it may be men- tioned that a copy was sold to the Duke of Devonshire about 1850 for 173 5s. For other prices cf. Blades, op. cit., Vol. n, pp. 95-98. 30 2 'so pic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. The other work of Jehan de Vignay translated into English was the Legende DoreeS This, like the Chess Book, was trans- lated by William Caxton, and it was first printed by him in 1483 under the title The Golden Legend. In 1487 a second edition was issued by Caxton. Of the first edition of The Golden Legend numerous copies are extant, as noted later in the Appendix. 2 This edition was a great undertaking for those early days of printing, for it con- sisted of some four hundred and forty-nine folios. All the existing copies are unfortunately incomplete, that is, have some pages wanting throughout the work. 3 The copies of Caxton'* second edition are also fragmentary ; they are five in number, all of which have been bound together with copies of the first edition. 4 The popularity of The Golden Legend is shown by the fact that five other English editions appeared after the death of Caxton. Four of these were published by Caxton' s successor, Wynkyn de Worde, in the years 1493, 1498, 1512, and 1527. July an Notary also published an edition in 1503. In section d of the Appendix have been collected the references to copies of these later editions of Caxton's Golden Legend. Hence it is unnecessary to give here any further details concerning them. It 4 is also not a mere supposition that Caxton translated from Jehan de Vignay, and not from the Latin original or some other French version. For in the Introduction to the Golden Legend Caxton himself states that he translated from Jehan de Vig- nay, although he had the Latin, and other French and English versions before him. Caxton also makes the same statement concerning his Chess Book. 5 In fact we find that Caxton fol- lowed Jehan de Vignay rather closely in his translation, as may be shown by a short parallel reference to the versions of the two authors. In the first place, let us take a few lines of the French 1 See P. Butler, op. cit., pp. 35 sqq. 2 See Appendix d. 8 Blades records that the Due d' Aumale paid 230 for one of these de- fective copies. 4 See Appendix d. 6 See Blades, o^ sit., Vol. n, pp. 8-12. Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 31 of Jehan de Vignay found in the British Museum manuscript, Harley 5440, 1 from which it is most likely that Caxton made his translation. The French version is as follows : " II nest au Jour Duy nulle chose qui tant grieue Rome ne ytalie come fait le college Des notaries publicques Car ilz ne sont mie a un accort ensemble." The corresponding English passage is: " For ther is no thynge at this day that so much greueth rome and Italye as doth the College of notaries and aduocates pub- licques. For they ben not of oon a corde." 2 When we consider that Caxton selected the works of Jehan de Vignay from which to make his translations and thus give them the distinction of being among the very earliest English printed books, and, moreover that his successors continued publishing the same works, we may conclude that Jehan de Vig- nay's influence on English literature was quite appreciable, at least in the early days of printing. 3 D. LATIN SOURCE OF THE FABLES. While the ultimate source of the short collection of ^Esopic fables contained in Jehan de Vignay's Mireoir Historial is prob- ably to be found in Classical Greek literature, 4 it will be suffi- cient for the purposes of the present dissertation to investigate our author's immediate source. This latter is readily shown to be the same as that of the remainder of the work; namely, the Speculum Historiale of Vincentius Bellovacensis, which con- tains the same set of fables in a Latin prose form. Vincentius Bellovacensis was a Dominican monk who lived 1 Cf. supra, p. 23. 2 Cf. Blades, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 135. ' Hervieux, op. cit., Vol. i, p. 406, states that Caxton made two English editions of the Mirour of the World. Undoubtedly this is not a transla- tion of the Mireoir Historial, but of the Image du Monde by Gautier de Metz. This is also corroborated by Dr. G. C. Keidel who has seen a copy of the English edition in the Lenox Library, New York. * Cf. J. Jacobs, History of the &sopic Fable, p. xx. 32 JEsopic Fables in Jelian de Vignay. from 1190 (?) to 1264, and who was on terms of intimacy with St. Louis (Louis IX, King of France, 1226-1270). Indeed it was he who assisted the King very largely in the formation of the newly-founded Royal Library at Paris, while at the same time the manuscripts of the King supplied him with the neces- sary materials for his own voluminous writings. 1 The Speculum Historiale, the most popular of all his works, was written in Latin prose, by the order of his royal patron, St. Louis. In its manuscript form this is a massive work of four thick folio volumes divided into thirty-two books giving a gen- eral survey of the history of the world from the Creation to the beginning of the Thirteenth Century. After a very brief account of the ancient nations of the East, the author proceeds to treat of the history of the Persians in Book IV. In enumerating the historic events of the reign of Cyrus the Great, he puts down as the most important occurrence in the first year of his reign the killing of ^Esop by the people of Delphi, and proceeds to give a short account of his life and work in fable literature. At this point our author gives by way of illustration a collec- tion of twenty-nine ^Esopic fables, which he inserts bodily into his text. It seems likely that the general moral character of these fables recommended them to the attention of our author as being in close accord with the tone of all his own writings. In further support of this statement it is to be noted that espe- cial emphasis is placed on the lives and deaths of the Christian martyrs, as would naturally be expected in a universal history written by a monk. 2 If we turn our attention now to the text of the fables, we find that Jehan de Vignay has given a very close translation of his Latin original. Apparently he does not attempt to expand the text of his model, although he makes a few mistakes, as will *Cf. L. Delisle, Cab. des Mss., Vol. I, p. 8. 2 This fact was personally verified by an examination of MS. fr. 316 of the Bibl. Nationale, Paris, containing Jehan de Vignay's translation. ^Esopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 33 be noted below. 1 We can not, however, make the same statement concerning all the translations by Jehan de Vignay. It has already been mentioned 2 that he has shown originality in others of his works, and made many important additions to them. To show how closely our author follows his Latin original in the fables under discussion, specimens of both the Latin and the French texts, arranged in parallel columns, will next be given. Let us compare first a few lines of the introduction to the fa- bles: VlNCENTIUS BELLOVACENSIS. 3 Anno regni primo Hesopua a Delphis interimitur. Extant Hesopi fabule elegan- tes et famose quas Romulus qui- dam de Greco in Latinum transtu- lit et ad filium suum Tyberinum dirigit, ita scribens: De civitate Attica Hesopus qui- dam homo grecus et ingeniosus fa- mulos suos docet quid observare de- beant homines. Et ut vitam homi- num ostendat et mores, inducit aves et arbores bestiasque loquen- tes, probanda cuiuslibet fabula. JEHAN DE VIGNAY.* En 1'an du regne Cyre premier Esope est occis de Delphins. L'Aucteur. Les fables de Esope sont nobles et renommees les queles Romulus, un Grec, estrait de Grec en Latin et les envoia a son filz, Tyberim, escrivant ainsi : " De la cite de Atice Esope, un homme grec et engigneus enseigne ses sergens quel chose les hommes doivent garder. Et a fin que il devise et demonstre la vie des hom- mes et les meurs il amaine a ce arbres, oysiaus et bestes parlans a prouver chascune fable." If we carefully compare these parallel passages, it is at once apparent that Jehan de Vignay closely imitates the style of Vin- centius Bellovacensis. The former even, as it seems, places his words as near as possible in the same order as those in Latin. Thus in the first sentence he places the adjective " premier " after " Cyre," as if it modified that noun and not " an," as con- veyed by the Latin " primo "in " anno regni Cyri primo." This and similar examples tend to prove that Jehan de Vig- 1 See infra, pp. 33-36. 2 See supra, pp. 12, 22, 24, 25, and 27. 3 See L. Hervieux, Les Fabulistes Latins, Phedre, Vol. n, 2nd ed., Paris, 1894, p. 234. * See Part II. 34 2E 'so pic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. nay's translation is merely a mechanical rendering of the words without strict attention to the sense. It is to be noted further that between the first and second sen- tences we have the words " L'Aucteur " l inserted in the French version. Although the interpolation exists in this form in all the manuscripts of the fables, 2 the Latin text published by Her- vieux, 3 as well as that of Inc. 1480 bis B, Bibl. de 1' Arsenal, Paris, 4 contains the words: " Eusebius et actor." The same words appear again at the conclusion of the fables. 5 They are written in red ink like all titles in all but the late manuscripts. In the second sentence we find that our author again trans- lates very literally. The only noticeable difference between the original and the translation is that the French has after " Romulus " the words " un grec," whereas " quidam " appears in the Latin original. This discrepancy and evident error (as Romulus sounds like a Roman name) may be explained by the proximity of the words " de greco " to " Romulus " in the Latin. In the next sentence there is no variation at all from the Latin, and the translation is as literal as possible. However, in the fourth sentence we find what might appear a slight attempt at originality of style; namely, the expansion of " ostendat " into " devise et demonstre." But as this is doubtless a common phrase in Old French and suits here very well our author readily adopted it. The remainder of the text is translated literally. As a second specimen of Jehan de Vignay's methods of work we may cite a passage taken from about the middle of his fable collection, and compare it with the original: 1 Cf. P. Meyer in Romania I, 364: Spec, histor., xxix, 108. Author (c'est- a-dire Vincent lui-me'me). 2 See Part II. s Cf. Hervieux, op. cit., Vol. n, 2nd ed., pp. 234-245. The text here is taken from the second edition of Mentelin. 4 A copy of the fables in this incunabulum was made by Dr. G. C. Keidel in 1897. * See Part II. M 'so pic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 35 VlNCENTIUS BELLOVACENSIS. 1 Item contra pauperum super- bum. In prato quodam Rana ui- dit pascentem Bouem: putabat se posse fieri talem, si rugosam im- pleret pellem, et inflans se natos suos interrogauit. Sum ipsa quan- ta Bos? Dixerunt non. JEHAN DE ViGNAY. 2 De rechief centre le povre orgueil- leus. Une raine vit un buef pes- sant en un pre et cuidoit que ele peust estre faite icele se ele emploit sa piau froncie. Et ele enflant soy, demanda a ses filz se ele estoit ja aussi grant comme un buef, et il distrent que non. Here, again, we notice the closeness in forms, order, and con- struction between the French text and its original. Jehan de Vignay, however, leaves his model in the last part of this pas- sage, and changes the question and answer to the indirect form ; that is, he has here preferred to keep to one style of narration, instead of changing to the direct form of address, as does his Latin original. Another illustration, taken from toward the end of the collec- tion, may now be finally given: VINCENTIUS BELLOVACENSIS.* Item contra pigros. Formica hyeme frumentum ex cauerna tra- hens siccabat quod estate colligens coagulauerat. Cycada autem earn rogabat esuriens ut daret aliquid illi de cibo, ut uiueret. JEHAN DE VIGNAY. 4 De rechief contre les peresceus. Le formi el temps d'yver traioit le fourment de sa fosse hors et le sechoit, le quel fourment il avoit conqueilli en este. Le gresillon si le prioit que il li donnast aucune chose de viande pour vivre, car il mouroit de fain. This, again, illustrates how closely our author followed Vin- centius Bellovacensis in his translation. A few points may be commented upon, as his rendering of " hyeme," an ablative of time, by "el temps d'yver" instead of the more usual "en yver." This preposition " en " he employs a few lines below in the phrase " en este," as a translation for " estate." Moreover 'See Hervieux, op. cit., Vol. II, 2nd ed., p. 240. 3 See Part II. 8 See Hervieux, op. cit., Vol. n, 2nd ed., p. 245. * See Part II. 36 JEsopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. for the relative " quod " he gives in French both the relative and its antecedent,, " le quel fourment." Again he condenses " colligens coagulauerat " into " avoit conqueilli." Finally de Vignay expands the participle " esuriens " into the clause " car il mouroit de fain." But these changes, as well as those mentioned before, are of minor importance, and remembering that this same general closeness in forms and constructions prevails throughout the whole collection we may safely conclude that Jehan de Vignay translated as literally as possible. E. SCHEME OF FABLE MANUSCRIPTS. Before attempting to show the relations that exist among the manuscripts of the Mireoir Historial, which contain the .ZEsopic fables, it is necessary to give a brief description of these manu- scripts. Out of the forty-one manuscripts 1 so far found that contain some portion of the Mireoir Historial of Jehan de Vig- nay, there seem to be only nine which have the text of the fables. These nine manuscripts are the following arranged in alphabeti- cal order according to the cities where they are now preserved : LIST OF MANUSCRIPTS. A = Besangon, Bibl. Municipale, 434 (fol. 371-375). (1372 A. D.) B = Leiden, Universiteits Bibliotheek, Vossianus gallicus, folio 3 A. (ab. 1345 A. D.) C = London, British Museum, Royal 14 E. i. (ab. 1500 A. D.) D = Paris, Bibl. Rationale, fr. 50 (anc. 6731; 542). (ab. 1.460 A. D.) E = Paris, Bibl. Rationale, fr. 308 (anc, 6930; 257), (1455 A. D.) *See Appendix 6. Msopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. 37 F = Paris, Bibl. Rationale, fr. 312 (anc. 6934; 62: Exp. 27). (1396 A. D.) G:= Paris, Bibl. Rationale, fr. 316 (anc. 6938; 412). (1333 A. D.) H = Paris, Bibl. Rationale, fr. 6354 (anc. suppl. 46; Bethune). (ab. 1450 A. D.) I = Koma, Bibl. Vaticana, Eeg. 538. (ab. 1465 A. D.) The fable manuscripts may now be considered in detail in the order given above. % MS. A. MS. 434 of the Bibliotheque Municipale in Besangon bears the date of 1372 A. D., and, therefore, is especially important because it is the third oldest manuscript under discussion, being about forty years after the composition of the Mireoir HistoriaU In the description given in the printed catalog 2 of the library this manuscript is shown to be a compilation of portions of sev- eral works. It is entitled on the back : " Traites philosophiques et moraux," which title is appropriate to its contents. Among other moral and philosophical treatises in the collection are two of the works of Jehan de Vignay. The first is the Livre des Eschez, and the other is an isolated portion of the Mireoir His- torial, which contains only the fables. It is to be especially noted that out of the whole four folio volumes of the latter work, which amount to some sixteen hundred leaves, the fables alone, which occupy only four leaves, have been copied by the compiler 1 Cf. supra, p. 18, the date of composition being about 1332-1333. 2 Cf. Catalogue General des Manuscrits des Bibliotheques Publiques de France. Departements. Tome xxxii: Besangon, Vol. i, Paris, 1897. See pp. 250-253. In the description of MS. 434 there are mentioned Jehan de Vignay's Le Livre des Eschez followed by a collection of prose fables, whose source the cataloger does not give. When these fables were com- pared with those in MS. fr. 316 of the Bibl. Nationale they were seen to be an extract from the Mireoir Historial. 38 ^Esopic Fables in Jehan de Vignay. of this miscellany. 1 The text of these fables has been photo- graphed for use in the present dissertation. 2 They were written in a very legible Gothic hand, the same in which all the rest of the manuscript is written. At the beginning there are four miniatures 3 illustrating the following four fables in the col- lection : I. The Lamb and the Wolf. II. The Frog and the Mouse. VI. The Crow and the Fox. V. The Wolf and the Crane. The fables are found in this manuscript between folios 371 verso, col. 1, and 375 recto, col. 2. The total number of folios in this manuscript is four hundred. MS. B. The second manuscript is in the University Library of Lei- den. Its shelf number is Codex Vossianus gallicus, 3 A : it was written before the middle of the fourteenth century, and is there- fore next to the oldest manuscript containing our fables. 4 This 'Hervieux, loc. cit., notes that this fable collection also occurs in Latin manuscripts apart from the whole Speculum Historiale. This would evi- dence a greater popularity in the Middle Ages for the fables than for the rest of the work. 2 This photograph was very kindly made at Paris (whither the manu- script had been sent by request) and sent to me in May, 1905, by Dr. M. P. Brush of the Johns Hopkins University. 3 Cf. the facsimile given at the beginning of this monograph. 4 Cf. L. Delisle's article on the Manuscrits royales du Mireoir Historial du xive Siecle in Gazette Archeologique, Vol. xi, Paris, 1886, pp. 87-101. On the inside of the rear covering of the manuscript M. Delisle deciphers, " Cest livre est le due de Normandie et de Guienne. Jehan." The hand- writing of this note corresponds with another specimen of his writing to be found at the end of a French Chronicle (B. N. fr. 67). As Jehan did not become king until 1350, the manuscript must have been written between 1333 (the date of its composition) and 1350, else it would have been signed Jehan, Roi. Fables in Jehan de Vignay. . 39 manuscript contains three hundred and fifty-nine folios, and our fables are situated between folios 117 and 121. Like the earliest manuscript of this series, B. ~N. fr. 316, this one includes the first eight books of the Mireoir Historial.' 1 Likewise the first illustration in both manuscripts is identical. 2 The Leiden manuscript has in all two hundred and eighty illus- trations. It was first owned by King John II (1350-1364) while he was still Duke of Normandy and Guyenne, and later by Charles V (1364-1380). This is known from the signatures at the back of the manuscript. 3 The initial rubric of the man- uscript is as follows : " Ci commence le premier Volume du Mirouer hystorial . translate [de latin] en frangoiz par la main Jehan de Vignay, a la requeste de tres haute et tres excellente dame Jehanne de Bourgongne, roynne de France. Et fu com- mence on quint an de son regne, Tan de grace mil CCC et XXXII, selonc 1'opinion de frere Vincent, qui en latin le compila a la requeste de Monseigneur saint Loys, jadis roy de France. 77 4 MS. C. v - The next manuscript is Royal 14. E. i., in the British Mu- seum, London. This, like the preceding, contains the first eight books of the Mireoir Historial, and the fables are to be found between folios 133 b and 137 b (Book IV, ch. 2-8). It is also beautifully illustrated, and Mr. Thompson thus describes the first miniature : " The scribe is writing at a desk fitted on a cranked pivot which enables him to draw it well over his knees. His magni- fying glass stands on an adjacent table. The walls of the room 1 There are altogether thirty-two books in the Mireoir Historial. These are, as a rule, divided into four volumes with eight books to a volume. 2 See infra, pp. 42-44. 3 Cf . L. Delisle, loc. cit. * The copy of this manuscript I owe to the good offices of Dr. E. Slijper of Leiden. 40 r I Ht f UNIVERSITY OF 47