The First Presentation Miniature in an English-Language Manuscript

Author / Editor
Coleman, Joyce.

Title
The First Presentation Miniature in an English-Language Manuscript

Published
Joyce Coleman, Mark Cruse, and Kathryn A. Smith, eds. The Social Life of Illumination: Manuscripts, Images, and Communities in the Late Middle Ages (Turnhout: Brepols, 2013), pp. 403-37

Description
Explores the argument that the lack of Chaucerian presentation miniatures suggests that Chaucer did not write for wealthy patrons. Identifies the first presentation miniature in an English-language manuscript as the 1409 incipit image in John Trevisa's "Governance of Kings and Princes," reviews the history of presentation miniatures in French-language manuscripts, and shows that, in both languages, presentation miniatures seem to be reserved for "serious" literature, such as national chronicles and translations of learned Latin material.

Alternative Title
Social Life of Illumination: Manuscripts, Images, and Communities in the Late Middle Ages.

Chaucer Subjects
Manuscripts and Textual Studies