Lancelot du Lac (BL Royal MS 20 D IV)

Galahad, f. 53.

Colloquial name(s): Lancelot du Lac
Official name(s): British Library, Royal MS 20 D IV

Date: 1300-1325 (Part 1); c. 1360-c. 1380 (Part 2) (source)
Origin: NE France (Arras?) (Part 1); Pleshey Castle, S. England (Part 2) (source)

Online fascimile available via: British Library Online Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts and British Library full facsimile

This copy of Lancelot du Lac has illustrations attributed to the Master au menton fuyant (source). It contains a number of colour-and-gold miniatures. The second part contains two illustrations that were added c. 1360-c. 1380; additionally, two of the initials have been overpainted with the arms of England and Bohun (source). This suggests that the manuscript was at some point owned by a member of the Bohun family, possibly Humphrey of Bohun, 11th earl of Hereford, Essex and Northampton (d. 1373) or his daughter, Eleanor (d. 1399) (source). Alternatively, it might have been the posession of Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester, the seventh son of Edward III (b. 1355, d. 1397) who married Eleanor Bohun - when Thomas' posessions were seized at Pleshey by Richard II, following Thomas' arrest and murder, the inventory listed "un large livre en Rannceis appellez le Romance de Lancelot" (source).

The illustrations include a number of miniatures from the Lancelot du Lac portion of the Grail story, plus bas de page illustrations of everyday scenes.

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