(Bourgogne).

CATALOGUE DES MANUSCRITS de la Bibliothèque Royale des Ducs de Bourgogne, Publié par Ordre du Ministre de l’Intérieur. Inventaire N° 1- 18000 Résumé Historique; Répertoire Méthodique (Première et Deuxième Partie).

      Bruxelles et Leipzig C. Muquardt 1842. 3 vols. Folio. 15 plates, folding table. Ex.-lib. with sm. ink stamps to prelims., some light browning, contemporary pigskin backed dec. boards, recased with much of original spines laid down, extremities rubbed, accession nos. to tail of spines, some wear to boards. The Library of the Dukes of Burgundy has justifiably been considered, since the Middle Ages, to be one of the most splendid collections of Western civilisation. Begun by Philippe le Hardi and continued by his successors, Jean sans Peur and Philippe le Bon, the Library had by the time of the death of Charles le Téméraire in 1477 reached 950 volumes. From an artistic and literary perspective many of the works had even in their own day gained an international reputation. We need only mention the Peterborough Psalter, the Chroniques et conquestes de Charlemagne, Jean Mansel’s Fleur des Histoires, the three-volume Chroniques de Hainaut, the Très Belles Heures du Duc de Berry or even Aristotle’s Ethics. The dukes were committed and enthusiastic book-collectors who were interested in all fields of learning. Literature, history, science, moral philosophy and the classics all attracted their attention. In order to expand and embellish their collection the dukes called upon the greatest artists of the period. Their constant demand for books drew together large numbers of translators, copyists, scribes and illuminators. Notwithstanding the wars and conflicts of these centuries, the book production under the patronage of successive dukes was spectacularly glamorous. But, like all medieval collections, it has suffered at the hands of history and the Burgundian Library has been dispersed, pillaged and in part lost. Nonetheless, despite what are probably irreperable losses, almost 270 volumes are still held in the Manuscripts Department of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek / Bibliothèque Royale in Brussels. ‘In the quality and number of manuscripts preserved, the Librairie des Ducs de Bourgogne (Library of the Dukes of Burgundy) is an exceptional heritage and indisputably one of the most remarkable expressions of the ducal house’s interest in arts and letters. At his death, in 1477, Charles the Bold, the last Duke of Burgundy, left a library of some 1,000 manuscripts, a substantial figure for a private library at the end of the Middle Ages. The number of manuscripts preserved is equalled only by their quality: in order to increase and enrich their collections, the Dukes were constantly enlisting the services of the best illuminators, copyists, translators and binders of the time (see 3. 1). Book-collecting became nothing short of a family tradition and was undoubtedly an important factor in giving the Burgundy dynasty a specific cultural identity. Officially established in Brussels since the sixteenth century, the Librairie des Ducs de Bourgogne forms the historical core of the Bibliothèque royale de Belgique (Royal Library of Belgium), which today preserves the vast majority of the remaining manuscripts – approximately 300. Other traces of this collection are nowadays found mainly in Europe (Bibliothèque nationale de France, the British Library and the Austrian Nationalbibliothek) and the United States. The detailed inventories carried out at the death of each Duke constitute an invaluable source that has enabled a great many unique and original manuscripts to be traced and identified with certainty.’ UNESCO US$978