De Pisan Christine Book of the Duke of True Lovers

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The only two known MSS., both early fifteenth century French, of the love-story here rendered into English prose, are the one in the Bibliotheque Nationale (836), and that in the British Museum (Harley, 4431).<br><br>The MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale forms one of the treasures of the famous collection of MSS. made by Jean, Duc de Berry, the Mecaenas of illuminated MSS. At his death it passed into the possession of his daughter Marie, who, by marriage, had become Duchesse de Bourbon. When, in the reign of Francois I., the Connetable de Bourbon, to whom it had descended, was disgraced, the king seized his books and MSS., and carried them off to Fontainebleau, well pleased to add by any means, righteous or unrighteous, to the treasures of the royal library.