Description
This manuscript, completed in the later part of the thirteenth century, contains William of Tyre's Estoire d'Eracles (to 1229), Les Faits des Romains (continuation, Tiberius to Julian), and a letter of Prester John. While the origin of the manuscript is debatable between Acre and Paris, Jaroslav Folda suggests a strong connection with Epinal 45, a manuscript known to have been created in Paris during this same time. Versions of William of Tyre's work were particularly popular in France during the latter part of the thirteenth century. The volume of William de Tyre's history of the Crusades housed at the Walters Art Museum features eighteen historiated initials, completed by four different artists' hands, of varying competence. What sets this particular manuscript apart from its contemporaries is the two unusual appended texts and its selective pictorial style.





William of Tyre's "Histoire d'Outre Mer"
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
Loan Consideration | examined for loan | |
10/02/2013 | Treatment | binding stabilized; examined for digitization; media consolidation; splits mended |
8/19/2016 | Treatment | binding stabilized; examined for loan; repaired; splits mended |
Exhibitions
- Tales in the Telling: Secular Narrative Illustration in the Medieval Book. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1991.
- The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Academy Art Museum, Easton; Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton; The Mitchell Gallery, Annapolis; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown. 2002.
- Checkmate! Medieval People at Play. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2010.
- Jerusalem 1000–1400: Every People Under Heaven. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 2016-2017.
Provenance
Gordon of Buthlaw, mid 19th century; Bertram, 4th Earl of Ashburnham, London, 1861, no. CLIV; Sale, Sotheby's, London, March 16, 1903, lot 689; purchased by Léon Gruel, Paris, March 16, 1903 [1]; puchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1903; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
[1] Gruel and Engelmann bookplate 'No 138'
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1903
Creators
- William of Tyre (French, ca. 1130-ca. 1190) (Author)
- French (Artist)
- Léon Gruel (French, 1841-1923) (Binder)
Period
4th quarter 13th centuryMedium
ink and pigments on medium-weight parchment bound between boards covered with velvet(Manuscripts & Rare Books)
Accession Number
W.137Measurements
Folio H: 13 7/16 × W: 9 5/8 in. (34.1 × 24.5 cm)Geographies
- France, Paris (Place of Origin)