Egerton Genesis Picture Book (BL Egerton MS 1894)

Scenes from stories from Lamech to Noah, f. 2v.

Colloquial name(s): The Egerton Genesis Picture Book

Official name(s): British Library Egerton MS 1894

Date: 3rd quarter of the 14th Century (source)

Origin: England (Norfolk?) (source)

Online facsimile available via: British Library Online Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts

This book contains a cycle of 149 illustrations from Genesis, starting at Creation and finishing in the latter part of the history of Joseph (source). The drawings are arranged in one to four compartments on each page, are executed in ink and either have colour washes or are unfinished (source). Those on ff. 1r-9v have short captions in Anglo-Norman French, based on Petrus Comestor's Historia Scohlastica (source).

There are a number of other English manuscripts in a related style, including (source):

• The Fitzwarin Psalter (BNF, MS. lat. 765).
• The Jame Memorial Psalter (BL Add. MS 44949).
• The Derby Psalter (Oxford, Bodlein Library, MS Rawlinson G. 185).

The artist responsible for the illuminations and drawings has been named the Master of the Egerton Genesis, after this manuscript (source). Some believe he may be identified with Michiel van der Borch, a Flemish painter working in England (source).

A complete list and description of the illuminations are provided by the British Library and are as follows:

1r-1v	The Days of Creation.
2r	The descendants of Adam.
2v-4v	Scenes from the stories of Lamech to Noah.
4v-6r	The descendants of Noah-Shem until the Calling of Abraham.
6v-11v	The story of Abraham and Sarah. (The correct order for these folios is: 6v, 9v, 11r-11v, 10r-10v.)
12r-13v	The story of Abraham, Isaac and Rebecca. (The correct order for these folios is: 13r-13v, 12r.)
12v, 14r-15r	The story of Isaac, Esau and Jacob. (The correct order for these folios is: 12v, 14r-15r.)
15v-18r	The story of Jacob and Rachel.
18r-18v	The story of Joseph.