Bible of John the Good (BL Royal MS 19 D II)

Birth of Jacob and Esau, f. 26r.

Colloquial name(s): Bible of John the Good

Official name(s): British Library, Royal MS 19 D II

Date: c. 1350-56 (source)

Origin: Paris, France (source)

Online facsimile available via: British Library Digitised Manuscripts

This manuscript is a copy of Guyard de Moulins' Bible Historiale and  a French adaptation of Petrus Comestor's Historia Scolastica (source). It was made for John II (John the Good) (b. 1319, d. 1364), king of France (1350-64) and seized by the English at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 (source). This is noted in a late 14th C inscription of f. 1v:  'Cest livre fust pris oue le roy de Fraunce a la bataille de Peyters et le bon counte de Saresbirs / William Montagu la achata pur cent mars et le dona a sa compaigne Elizabeth la bone / countesse qe dieux assoile. Et est continus dedeins le Bible ent[er] oue tixt et glose le mestre / de histoires et incident tout en memes le volym la quele lyvre la dite countesse assigna / a ces executours de le vendre pur xl. Livers' (source).

The manuscript was written by two scribes, one working on ff. 1r-308r and the other working on ff. 309r-526v (source). The illuminations are attributed to the Master of the Coronation Book (source).

Basic descriptions of the illustrations are provided by the British Library with the facsimile.