[MANUSCRIT]. [BELGIUM]. [TOURNAI]. Original... - Lot 1 - Nouvelle Etude

[MANUSCRIT]. [BELGIUM]. [TOURNAI]. Original accounts of household and domestic expenses of families at the beginning of the 14th century. Manuscript belonging to Mr. Monteil. In French, handwritten documents (fragments) on parchment, ancient fragments interspersed with paper sheets (transcription in brown ink of medieval texts on interspersed paper sheets placed opposite the 14th century fragments, binding and compilation made in the 19th century by Amans-Alexis Monteil) Belgium, Tournai, second quarter of the 14th century [dates: 1326, 1337, 1338] 71 ff. in all, preceded by 3 paper endpapers, (modern) parchment title, with 34 14th-century parchment fragments alternating with 35 paper leaves (with modern ink transcriptions), followed by one modern parchment leaf and two paper endpapers; several hands, documentary cursive Gothic script. Bound in full glazed bottle-green calf, smooth spine decorated with title "Dépenses mobiliaires et domestiques", double gilt framing on the boards, romantic frieze and gilt fillet frames, supra-libris in capital letters in the central frame: "Comptes originaux de dépenses mobiliaires et domestiques des familles au début du XIVe siècle. Manuscript belonging to Mr. Monteil", simple gilt fillet on the edges, marbled paper counterguards and endpapers. Good general condition but some spotting and rubbing to the binding. Covers and corners dulled. Size of the paper leaves on which the fragments are fixed: 185 x 235 mm; size of the binding: 197 x 246 mm. Beautiful compilation of rare 14th century accounts for the inhabitants of Tournai. These accounts are written in ancient French and therefore, in addition to the financial and social information they contain, they also constitute a philological treasure trove of which a first transcription is given by Amans-Alexis Monteil, to be perfected and completed. This manuscript contains fragments of 14th century accounts and lists of debts for inhabitants and residents of Tournai, associated with modern paleographic transcriptions. There are 14 accounts in all, sometimes divided into several fragments (e.g. the third account is in three parts). The accounts are in Old French and bear witness to linguistic influences decidedly from the north with forms such as "warde" (for "guard"), "eswardeurs", "recheu", "eskievins" or "roumanciaus". One will also note the half-letters or half-drawings on the edges of the documents, testifying that we are in presence of chirographic documents or "charter-parties" (in English "indentures"), with an act or document established in two copies. The two texts are separated by large letters or symbols (in diplomacy we speak of "chirographic motto") and the parchment is cut in the center of these large letters to give each member of the transaction a half of the document. Thus the two parts together allow the validation of the act. Each of the two parties can have a copy of the act and the bringing together of the two copies, which alone allows the reading of the central sentence, guarantees without possible discussion their authenticity. In the north of France and in Belgium, the double forms become triple with the central part given to the aldermen. The mention of Tournai is found several times (for example ff. 33, 35, 37; streets of Tournai are mentioned, such as the "rue des Foulons" or the "rue Blandegnoise" (f. 35)), but several localities of the north of France are also quoted, such as "Valenchiennes", Douai, Lille, Boulogne and alia. Let us note the names of lords such as de Fiennes, de Chastillon, de Mortagne et alia. Provenance : Manuscript compiled and bound by Amans-Alexis Monteil (1769-1850), historian and bookseller, born in Rodez (Aveyron). It is quoted in his Traité de matériaux manuscrits (1835), volume I, p. 244: "Original accounts of household and domestic expenses of families at the beginning of the 14th century. One vol. in-4, blue calf, dent. 50 fr. The analysis of this manuscript is in its title. If one could personify a manuscript, one would represent it under the figure of a father or a mother of family, the purse in the hand, the bunch of keys to the belt...". The present manuscript is also cited in his Catalogue des manuscrits et d'une partie des livres imprimés composant la bibliothèque de feu M. Amans-Alexis Monteil (1850), no. 367: "Ms sur parchemin avec transcription sur papier intercalé". An experienced paleographer, Monteil discovered, at random, pieces and manuscripts of great interest in scattered archives, which he inventoried in his Traité de matériaux manuscrits (1835), which is in fact a bookseller's catalog in disguise. Sensitive to the destruction of ancient documents during the Revolution, Monteil launched a national petition to alert public opinion to the problem of the destruction of manuscripts.