The ''Petit Livre d'Amour'' (

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MS 955) is a collection of love poems (also known as ''Emblesmes et Devises d'Amour''), written in c. 1500 by (1457–1529), an

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and

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Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...

The poems extend to 18 folia (ff. 1r-17v, including a supernumerary fol. 9* inserted after fol. 9) and are followed by an 18th-century transcription of the same poems (ff. 18r-34r). It is dedicated by the author to his mistress and future wife, Marguerite Bullioud. The poems are in French, except for one in Italian, {{lang, it, Segua piano filliolo myo (f. 7v). The manuscript also includes 13 miniatures in colours and gold (on the ''recto'' of foll. 6 to 17), the one on f. 6r depicting Pierre Sala dropping his heart into a ''marguerite'' flower (viz. the namesake of his mistress'). Each miniature is facing a quatrain inscribed on a placard or scroll, accompanied above and below by the initials 'M' and 'P'. The miniature on f. 17r is a portrait of Pierre Sala. The painter is identified as the Master of the Chronique scandaleuse (according to Avril and Reynaud 1993), except for the portrait, attributed to Jean Perréal (b. after 1450 - d. after 1530). Manuscript measures are 13 cm x 9,5 cm and it was protected in a small case made of wood and golden green leather. The manuscript was formerly in possession of

Jean-Andoche Junot Jean-Andoche Junot, 1st Duke of Abrantes (24 September 1771 – 29 July 1813) was a French military officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Biography Early life Junot was born in Bussy-le-Grand, Côte-d'Or, son ...

(1771–1813), Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham (1776–1839) and his son Richard Plantagenet (1797–1861), who in 1849 sold it to

Bertram Ashburnham, 4th Earl of Ashburnham Bertram Ashburnham, 4th Earl of Ashburnham (23 November 1797 – 22 June 1878) was a British peer. He was the fourth son of George Ashburnham, 3rd Earl of Ashburnham. As the eldest son still living when his father died in 1830, he succeeded as ...

. It was acquired by the British Museum with the other Stowe manuscripts in 1883. A high-quality facsimile of the manuscript was published in 1994. Pierre Sala - Petit Livre d’Amour 01

The manuscript and its case was lent to French

Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon (french: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon) is a municipal museum of fine arts in the French city of Lyon. Located near the Place des Terreaux, it is housed in a former Benedictine convent which was active during the 1 ...

, for exhibition 'Lyon Renaissance. Arts et humanisme' from October 2015 to January 2016.

References

*Elizabeth Burin, 'Pierre Sala's Pre-Emblematic Manuscripts', Emblematica, 2 (1988), 1-30. *Janet Backhouse and Yves Giraud, " Kommentar, Commentaire, Commentary" in: ''Pierre Sala: Petit Livre d'Amour, Stowe MS 955, British Library, London'', Lucerne: Faksimile Verlag, 1994. *François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peinture en France 1440-1520 (Paris: Flammarion, 1993), no. 208.

External links

Stowe MS 955
(bl.uk)
''The Little Book of Love''
at ''

The Public Domain Review ''The Public Domain Review'' is an online journal showcasing works which have entered the public domain. It was co-founded by Jonathan Gray and Adam Green. It was launched on January 1, 2011 to coincide with Public Domain Day. The ''Review'' ...

'' 955 1500s books Love poems