The Influence ofMedieval Illuminated Manuscripts on the Pre-Raphaelites and the Early Poetry ofWilliam Morris

Michaela Braesel
When considering the influence ofmedieval book illumination on the work of Pre-Raphaelite arrists stress is generally laid upon examples from the thirreemh and fourreemh cemuries. These are the book illuminations recommended by John Ruskin, which 'in their bold rejection ofall principles ofperspective, light and shade, and drawing ... are infinitely more ornamen tal to the page owi ng to the vivid opposi tion of their bright colours and quaintlines, than ifthey had been drawn by Da Vinci himself'. I He also considered that they demonstrated the basic principles ofart: 'clearness ofoutline and simplicity, without the introduction oflight and shade'.1 Ruskin's emhusiasm for the aesthetic qualities ofilluminated manuscripts from the fourteenth cemury is evidenr from a statemem he made about the decoration ofa book ofhours in his own collection which he described as 'notofrefined work, but extremeIy rich, groresque, and full ofpure colour. The new worlds which every leafofthis book opened to me, and the joy I had, couming their letters, and unravelling their arabesques asifrhey hadall been ofbeaten gold ... cannot be told' ..1 Comrary to the view ofcontemporaries such as Gustav Friedtich Waagen or Henry Noel Humphreys, Ruskin considered that the most striking example of the demise of medieval book illumination was to be seen in the works ofGiulio Clovio (1498-1578), who had umil then been held in high esteem due to Giorgio Vasari's comparison ofhim with Michelangelo (1475-1564).4 It is miniatures from the thirreenth and fourteenth centuries, highly valued by Ruskin because of the brilliance of their colours, which Dante Gabriel Rossetti used as a starring poinr for his watercolours from the second halfofthe 1850s, several ofwhich Morris acquired. '; He knew the man uscript collections ofRuskin and the Bri tish Library, and studied them in order to draw poetic inspiration as well as to influence his art. 6 He also used as his models miniatures reproduced in contemporary publications, such as Henry Shaw's DressesandDecorations o/the Middle Ages (1843) and Henry Noel Humphtcys' and Owen Jones's

41

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Illuminated Manuscripts ofthe Middle Ages (1849). Rossetti's paintings on medieval subjects show the infl uence ofthese m iniatures in theit use ofa crowded picture plane, the diverse and dense ornamental areas, the slightly unclear spatial treatment within the paintings, the narrow and low spatial boxes and especially in the luminous quality ofthe colours'! Rossetti liked to combine different artistic models in the sets of his paintings and in the costumes ofhis protagonists in order to achieve an effect as interesting and charming as possible. S Only the paintings by Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddall on a jewellery box for Jane Morris (pre1862; now in Kelmscott Manor) are direct copies, taken from miniatures on a Christine de Pisan-manuscript from the early fifteenth century (British Library, MS Harley 4431, fo1. 376 and 48).') However, Charles Allston Collins' Convent Thoughts (1850-51; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) and Berengaria's Alarm for the Safety ofher Husband... (1850; Manchester Art Galleries) also demonstrate that illuminations from other periods, in this case the late-fifteenth and twelfth centuries, also served as models in Pre-Raphaelite paintings. 10 In contrast to Rossetti or Ford Madox Brown, who used miniatures as inspirations for single motifs within rhe painting, Collins quoted existing miniatures and incorporated them as illuminations into his work. 11 In the second generation of Pre-Raphaelites the influence of fourteenth-century media:val manuscripts is still recognisable. Edward Burne-Jones's design for The Arming and Departure ofthe Knights, one of the Holy Grail tapestries (189-95), draws on a miniature depicting the same scene in the Luttrell Psalter (British Library, Add. MS 42130, fol. 202V) dating from the early fourteenth century. In the late-nineteenth century the manuscript was still in a private collection; however, copies ofthe miniature had been published in the second volume of John Carter's Specimens ofAntient (sic] Sculpture and Painting now remaining in this kingdom from the earliest period to the Reign ofHenry VIII (2 vols, 1780-87), accompanied by a commentary by Richard Gough,12 in the sixth volume of Vetusta Monumenta (1839) with commentary by John Gage Rokewode, and in F. W. Fairholt's Costume in England (1846).13 It is also possible that the figure ofthe kneeling Galahad in the last tapestry of the cycle, The Attainment, was modelled on the figure of a kneeling knight in the Westminster Psalter (British Library, MS Roy.2.A.xxii), which was depicted in works by Henry Shaw and Joseph Strutt and is also to be found in Burne-Jones's sketchbook in Birmingham. 14 William Morris referred to illuminated manuscripts from the fifteenth century in the 1850S to research the applied arts. The minia-

42

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tures he used show decorated interiors as setting instead ofornamented backgrounds. For example, in his Daisies embroidery of1859 for Red House (Kelmscott House) he incorporated motifs from a miniature in British Library MS Harley 4380, fol. If, which shows the Dance a/the Wodehouses, and which was reproduced in contemporary works such as Henry Shaw's and Sir Frederic M adden's Illuminated Ornaments Selectedfrom Manuscripts and Early Printed Booksfrom the Sixth to the Seventeenth Centuries (183-33, ill. 26) or George Craik's and lames MacFarlane's The PictorialHistory a/Englandbeinga History a/the Peopleas well as aHistory a/the Kingdom (1839, vol. H, p. 255).15 Similar motifs can also be found in a page border in British Library, MS Royal 15.E.vi (circa 1445), fol. 2V. However, for his own illuminated manuscripts of the 1850S and for the book depicted in his painting La Belle lseult (1858; Tate Britain)' Morris returned (in contrast to his later illuminated manuscripts of the 1870s), to models from 1250-[350 which Ruskin had pointed our as exemplary. Morris illuminated in 1856 his own poem Guendolen and two stanzas of a canto from Robert Browning's Paracelsus (lines 190-205, in the 1849 version; Huntington Library, California, HM 6478).1(, In the following year he started to illuminate a parchment page with the text of The Story o/the lronMan after the fairy tale by the brothers Grimm (J. Paul Getty, Wormsley Library). This decoration remained unfinished. Morris also roughly sketched a frame decoration on a page with his own poem 'Think but one thought of me up in the stars', which was published the same year in the OxfOrd & Cambridge Magazine under the title 'Summer Dawn' (Huntington Library, California, HM 6480). Consequently, Ruskin was deeply impressed by Morris's work and recommended him to the custodian of the manuscript department of the British Library comparing his 'gift of illumination' to that of a 'thirteenth century draughtsman'. 17 Rossetti, too, was full of praise for Morris's ability as an illuminator and said in 1856: 'In all illumination and work ofthat kind he is quite unrivalled by anything modern that I know - Ruskin says, better than anything ancient' .18 In these illuminated pages Morris used closely related decorative motifs, which can be traced back to examples from the late-thirteenth and early-fourteenth century: the grotesque creatures, the long pointed leaves, the frame-borders with animal bodies at the ends and the coiling tendrils are based on English and French manuscripts dating from these times, as are the irregular borders and the asymmetrical background of the initials. This is also true for the rather dark colours cho43

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sen, which contrast with large gold areas. Morris would have seen such manuscripts in the British Library and in the Bodleian Library.19 Morris retained this preference for illuminated manuscriprs dating from this period into his later years. In the essay 'Some Notes on the Illuminated Books ofthe Middle Ages' written in 1894, he declared the last quarter ofthe thirteenth century to be the 'climax ofillumination' : 'Nothing can exceed the grace, elegance, and beauty ofthe drawingand the loveliness of the colour'.20 He explained that in the fourteenth century there were a number ofsignificant changes in the practice ofillumination which led to an abundance of motifs and a wonderful richness in colour, even if, at the same time, he criticises a certain 'mechanical redundancy' which resulted. 21 Characteristic of this period were richly ornamented or gilded and chased picture backgrounds, and lavish trimmings with leaves, flowers, birds and animals. The motifs were 'naruralistically treated (and very well drawn); there is more freedom, and yet less individuality in this work; in short the style, though it has lost nothing (in its best works) ofelegance and daintiness - qualities so desirable in an ornamen ted book - has lost somewhat ofmanliness and precision', a development which would continue until the end of the century.22 Although outstanding works were still being created in the first halfofthe fifteenth century, Morris observed an increasingseparation between ornament and picture which had an adverse effect on the harmony of the page. 23 Illuminated books of high quality were no longer created after 1530 and 'thus disappeared an art which may be called peculiar to the Middle Ages, and which commonly shows mediaeval craftsmanship at its best'. 24 Unlike Ruskin and Morris the authors of the numerous chromolithographic publications on illuminated manuscripts and the practical guidebooks on miniature painting in the second half of the nineteenth century were full ofpraise for fifteenth-century illuminated manuscripts. These publications provided examples, which were taken for the most part from manuscripts preserved in the British Libraryand which concentrated on the design of inirials and page borders. 2S Humphreys dedicated much space to the fifteenth century in his IlluminatedBooks ofthe Middle Ages and Shaw was ofthe opinion that illumination reached its artistic culmination in the second half of the 1400S.26 In Madden and Shaw's Illuminated Ornaments selectedfrom Manuscripts... 22 illustrations represent fifteenth-century examples, while only two reproduce thirteenth-century works. Manuscripts such as the Gorleston PsaLter (1310-25; British Library MS Add. 49622), are described as 'bizarre but splendid', whereas the fifteenth century saw 44

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the beginning of the perfecrion ofthe art. 27 This could be seen, next to the 'endless variety ofdesign and colouring', in the 'beauty and richness ofthe execution', which culminated in the sixteenth century.28 In the lighr of Ruskin recommending illuminated miniatures from the earlier medieval period it is perhaps surprising still to see an enthusiasm for the miniatures ofthe late-fifteenth century in the 'second generation' ofPre-Raphaelites such as Bume-Jones and Morris. It is known that Bume-Jones showed friends the Roman de la Rose manuscript in the British Library, MS Harley 4425, which is dated circa 1490-1500 and since 1915 has been ascribed to the 'Master of the Prayer Books of circa 1500', probably active in Bruges. 19 As George Price Boyce records:
Jones having promised to show us some of the most beautiful illuminated manuscripts in the collection [British Library]. First the 'Roman de la Rose', which is filled with the most exquisite illuminations, as fine as could well be in colour and gradation, tenderness oftone and mani pulation, and purity of colour and light: the landscapes perfectly enchanting, the distances and skies suggesting Turner's besr and show30 ing as well in every other parr close and long observation of narure.

Bume-Jones was not the first to recognise the importance of this manuscript. Already at the beginning of the nineteenth century the catalogue of the Harley manuscripts stated that the manuscript contained an extraordinary array ofminiatures and that they were executed' in the most masterly Manner [... ] that is not to be exceeded by any known MS in this or any other Library':'IThomas Frognall Dibdinalso mentioned the manuscript in his 1817 BibliographicalDecameron, dating it to 1480, and praising the group depictions as well as its 'delicacy and strength', but criticising the representation ofheads which he thought too large.32 He even compared some of the miniatures to the works ofAntoine Watteau (1684-1721) because of their lovely character. Joseph Strutt, who included two couples in his illustrations taken from MS Harley 4425, fol. 14V, honoured the Hariey manuscript as being 'the most perfect and most beautiful MS I ever saw. The paintings exceed too & are finished. Many of them equal the miniatures of the present day' .33 Henry Shaw also reproduced several figures after miniatures in the manuscript in his Dresses and Decorations a/the Middle Ages (2 vols., 1843).34 Shaw was mainly interested in the unusual clothing of the musicians on fol. 14V.35 He stated that 'it would be impossible to point out any miniature more beautiful than the illuminations which enrich the splendid copy ofthe Roman de la Rose, in MS Harley 4425, executed aboutA. D. 1480'.36 45

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The early popularity of the Roman de la Rose is also to be discerned in the fact that its miniatures served as inspiration for the decoration of the chimney piece in the 'Red Room' at Scarisbrick Hall, Lancashire, decorated by A. W N. Pugin for Charles Scarisbrick around 1840. The model for the left picture is the miniature on fol. 14V. The unknown paimer isolated the couple in the foreground to the right, which was also featured in the fromispiece to Strutt's second volume ofA Complete View ofthe Dress and Habits ofthe People ofEngland, and inserted it imo a landscape featuring the Scarisbrick Hall estate. The model for the figures in the second picture was the music-making couple in the garden of the miniature on fol. 12V. 37 Gustav Ftiedrich Waagen described the Roman de la Rose in his influential Treasures ofArt in Britain (1854), and in the earlier version of Kunstler und Kunstwerke in England (Artists and WOrks ofArt in England) of 183T 'The invention is inspired, the movemems graceful' .3H He especially praised the well-proportioned and drawn figures, the colours and the quality of execution which gave the 'wonderful ... impression of serenity, nearness, splendour and richness'. Waagen considered the manuscript to be the equal ofone ofthe most celebrated manuscripts of his time in the Bibliotheque Nationale Paris, the Book ofHours ofAnna de Bretagne, MS lar. 9474. While the above mentioned authors honoured the Roman mostly for aesthetic reasons, Burne-Jones and Mortis used this and other later manuscripts as a source for medieval motifs. In both cases this was due to the fact that these later illuminations contained more information on living and decoration in the Middle Ages than the earlier miniatures. This was why Mortis turned in the 1860s, in connection with the tile decorations for Queens' College, Cambridge, to the miniatures of the momhs in calendars from fifteenth-century books ofhours, among them some manuscripts from the Harley collection. 39 He used them in this case not for aesthetic bur for informative reasons, concerning the combination and the depiction ofthe different momhly labours. Julian Treuherz has been able to prove that Burne-Jones not only admired MS Harley 4425 but also transferted some of the motifs from it into his own work. He is of the opinion that Burne-Jones is referring to the Narcissus miniature (MS Harley 4425, fol. 20) in his Baleful Head (completed in 1887), which closes the Perseus cycle (Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart).'\O However, the only similarities appear to be in the face reflected in the water. It seems more plausible that the miniature ofPyramus andThisbe in the Christine de Pisan manuscript (MS Harley 4431, fo1. 112V) was used as inspiration - the manuscript that Rossetti had 46

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aI ready used as a model- as the octagon form of the fountain and its marble-like material show closer links [0 Burne-Jones's painting. "j'euherz further assumes that the triumph motif on the tapestry in f,aus Veneris (1873-78; Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne), refers to the miniature on fo!' 138v, that the fourth panel of the Pygmalion cycle, The SoulAttains (1870; private collection), references the I'ygmalion miniature on fo!' 178v, and that the depiction ofthe garden in The Knights Farewell (1858; Ashmolean Musem, Oxford) is based on

fiJI.

I2V.

It should also be noted that the colours and the depiction of interiors in MS Harley 44Z5 resemble paintings by Burne-Jones such as his I'ygmalion series, which repeat the combination ofgrey s[One and red brick walls with green Aoor tiles. The shimmering character of the tiles in the Harley manuscript is the result ofa slightly irregular application ofcolour and never reaches the gleaming quality ofBurne-Jones's work. 'rhe small spatial section depicted of the interior, which contains large figures, and the view into further courts resemble Burne-Jones's paintings and his miniatures in Morris's illuminated manuscript The Rubdiydt ofOmar Khayyam (circa 1872) for Frances Graham (private collection) .11 At the same time Morris and Burne-Jones's interest in the Harley Roman was motivated through its subject. It was treated by Geoffrey Chaucer. Morris's and Burne-Jones's favourite poet, whose rendering of the French original served as basis for their own version of the subject. In the 1870S Burne-Jones designed a 'Romance of the Rose' cycle, which was embroidered for Rounton Grange and was later woven at Merton Abbey (William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow). The tapestry The Heart ofthe Rose (Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe) is perhaps inspired by the last miniature of MS Harley 4425, fo!' 184v, while a drawing for The Pilgrim at the Garden ofIdleness (private collection), is reminiscent of the Harley Roman in its personifications: 12 where the French Roman describes the lover as contemplating a wall with painted recess figures of the virtues and the vices, the small miniatures depict them as live beings, which are positioned in the recesses. 4cl Burne-Jones transformed them into live metal figures and the material seems [0 belie the movement. Furthermore it is possible that the Harley Roman served Morris as an important inspiration for his poetry of the late 1850S despite his Ruskinian disregard for these later illuminations. This is interesting in that thus far the influence ofilluminated manuscripts on Morris's work has mostly been researched in the fields ofpaintingard the applied arts. 47

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However, some literary scholars have pointed out the intensity of the colours, the joy in relating even the smallest details and the visual phenomena which are obvious in Morris's early poetry.44 Carole Silver for example compared a landscape description in 'The Story of the Unknown Church' to miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. 45 The description cited by her ofa cornfield containing golden ears, poppies and cornflowers is reminiscent ofthe floral repertoire which is found in the page borders of manuscripts dating from the first half of the fifteenth century. In Morris's 'Golden Wings', published in The Defence ofGuenevere, and Other Poems (1858), a very close relation to MS Harley 4425 is to be observed. The poem begins with the description of an 'ancient castle' within a 'walled garden' with an 'old knight for a warden' .46The castle, which has walls of 'scarlet bricks' and 'old grey stone' on which apples grow, is enclosed by a ditch containing 'deep green water' Y This description is reminiscent of the miniature in MS Harley 4425, fo!' 39r [Colour Fig. A]. The miniature depicts 'Fair Welcome', who is being held captive by 'Jealousy', shown contrary to what the text says as an old man holding a set of keys, in a castle-like edifice built of red and grey bricks and surrounded by a ditch. Red and white roses grow on the battlements. Although Morris changes the roses into apples, his description of the castle sounds like that shown in the miniature, albeit with a more idyllic touch because Morris's poem is missing the guards visible in the miniature. The colour combination of brick, stone and apples which Morris describes is mirrored in a different miniature ofthe manuscript, in fo!' I2V, which shows couples in a garden with apple trees where roses grow on the walls. In this miniature the apple trees are towered by leafless black trees in which black birds are sitting. This combination ofdifferent trees, the flowering ones being near the figures which are enclosed by the leafless ones, seems to offer a parallel to the slowly increasing mood ofdecay in Morris's poem. In 'Golden Wings' Morris focuses on what is happening around the ditch where there is a 'boat / Of carven wood, with hangings green / About the stern', where lovers like to spend their time in summer. 48 This motif oflovers in a boat is not taken from MS Harley 4425, however it was popular in the May pages of the calendaria in Flemish Books of Hours dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, such as in British Library MS Add. 18855, fo!' 108-109 or MS Add. 24098, fo!' 22V dating from the early sixteenth century, the miniatures of which are attribured to Simon Bening. 49 Another poem in The Defence, 'A Good Knight in Prison', also

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shows the possible influence of Books of Hours dating from the late fifteenth century in its reference to falconty.;o The Queens' College tiles depict a female falconer based on designs by Ford Madox Brown for the month ofMay. Other passages ofthe poem point more to models taken from illuminated books upon which Morris based his own attempts in the 1850s: 'Like dragons in a missal-book, /Wherein, whenever we may look, / We see no horrors, yea, delighr / We have, the colours are so bright; / Likewise we note the specks ofwhite, / And the great plates ofburnish'd gold'.;l This passage demonstrates which aspects ofthe earlier works Morris himselfparticularly appreciared: the fantasy ofrhe motifs, the brightness ofthe colours and the quality ofthe burnished gold. In 'Golden Wings' the couples walking in a garden who wear rose garlands in their hair and are clad in red and white garments seem to point again to the Harley Roman de la Rose.;2 Fol. I4V [Colour Fig. Bl shows respectively a round dance of couples in rich garments, though more lavishly coloured and without garlands. The miniature of the 'Dance of Mirth' was one of the most famous miniatures in the manuscript and some ofthe figures were included by Strutt and Shaw as illustrations in their volumes. This scenario, described by Wiehe as containing references to the Garden of Eden and the garden of earthly delights, is mirrored in the state described at the beginning ofthe poem which then dissolves into destruction and war towards the end. S:l In his poem Morris also emphasises paradisiacal narure by replacing the roses with apples. The eclectic use ofsingle motifs and the adaptarion of mood in elements from miniatures shows Morris's similarly pragmatic use ofilluminated models in his poetry as in his applied art or in Bume-Jones's painting. It is interesting to observe in the case of'Golden Wings' a very close dependence on one of the more popular Flemish manuscripts of the late fifteenth century in an English collection instead ofon the early gothic examples Morris and Ruskin so much admired. But the Flemish manuscripts, in their detailed rendering of scenes, offered richer ideas of a medieval world more elaborate and narrative than that in early gothic miniatures in which the narration is restricted to the essentials and the scenic room is closed with an ornamental tapestry-like background. For Morris, early gothic illuminations exemplified an ideal of illumination, while the Harley Roman showed him images of a world he wanted engage in his poetry. The early gothic illuminations he regarded as a designer as the ideal realisation for the medium with regard to
49

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fitness of purpose and material, meaning that the two-dimensionality ofthe page was not to be destroyed by miniatures with a three-dimensional conception of space. However, Morris regarded the Harley Roman as a visualisation ofthe late-medieval world, independent from its quality ofillumination. Morris referred to these miniatures in his poems because through their detailed naturalism they provided him with inspiration for finding poetic similes. He regarded those miniatures not as illuminations but as pictures in their own right, whose messages he translated - with variations - from a visual into a verbal medium.

NOTES
I

John Ruskin, Collected WOrks, ed. E. T. Cook & Alexander Wedderburn, The Library Edirion, 39 volumes (London & New York: George Alien, 1903-1912: in rhe following called Lib. Ed.), vol. IX, p. 285. See also John Ruskin, 'Addresses on Decorative Colour' I, in ibid., vol. XII, p. 481: John Ruskin, The Stones ofVenice Ill, ibid., vol. XI,

P23 2 Ruskin, 3 Ruskin,

Lib. Ed, vol. XII, p. 481; see also p. 482. Praeterita Ill, Lib. Ed, vol. xxxv, p. 490. These statements refer to a book of

hours from Northern France (circa 1300), which Ruskin bought in I8501r851 and which is now part of the collection of the Victoria & A1berr Museum, London. See James S. Dearden, 'John Ruskin, the Collector, with a catalogue of the illuminated and other Manuscripts in his Collection', The Library 5: ser., 21 (1966), pp. 124-53, no.
30, p. 139 4 Ruskin, Lib.

Ed., vol. XII, p. 491. For the opinion on Giulio Clovio by Ruskin's contemporaries see: Gustav friedrich Waagen, Treasures of A rtin Britain: Beingan Accountof
I,

the Chie[Collections ofPaintings, Drawings, Sculptures, IlluminatedManuscripts, etc.,

p. 208 and vol. 2, p. 334; Henry

Noel Humphreys, The IlluminatedBooks ofthe Middle Ages: AnAccountofthe Development and Progress ofthe Art ofIllumination as a Distinct Branch ofPictorial Ornamentationfrom the IVth to the XVl1th Centuries. Illustrated by a Series ofExamples, of the Size ofthe Originals, Selectedfrom the Most Beautiful MSS. ofthe 1&rious Periods, Executed on Stone and Printed in Colours by OwenJones (London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longman, 1849: reprint London: Bracken Books, (989), commentary to plares XXXVIJ-XXXVIll; Henry Noel Humphreys, The Art ofIllwnination andMissal

Painting. A Guide to Modem Illuminators. Illustrated by a Series ofSpecimellSfrom Richly Illuminated MSS. of1&rious Periods. Accompanied by a Set ofOutlines, to Be Coloured by the Student According to the Theories Developed in the WOrk (London: H. G. Bohn, 1849), pp. 55-56. See also John Obadiah Westwood, Palaeo graphia Sacra Pictoria. Being a Series ofIllustrations ofthe Ancient Version ofthe Bible copiedfrom Illuminated Manuscripts Executed between the Fourth and Sixteenth Cen

THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS

turies, (London: William Smith, 1843-45), p. xv; Mauhew Digby Wyau and W. R. Tymms, The Art ofIlluminating as Practised ill Europe From the Earliest Times. Illustrated by Borders. Initial Letters and Alphabets Selected & Chromolithographed (London: Day & Son, 1860 [Isr ed. 1859]; reprint Hertfordshire: Wordsworrh Editions, 1987), p. 46. For Vasari's praise ofClovio see: Giorgio Vasari, Le Vite de'piri eccellenti pittori, scultori earchitectori, ed. Paola della Pergola, Luigi Grassi, Giovanni Previtali, 10 vols. (Novara: [stituto Geografico de Agosrini, 1967), vol. VII, p. 446. 5 See Ruskin, Lib. Ed., vol. XXIV, pp. 25-26. Morris acquired Rosseni's The Blue Closet, The Damsel ofthe Sanet Grael and The lime ofthe Seven Towers of 1857 (Tate Britain) as well as Fra Pace and The Death ofSir Bars sam Pitie. 6 See Rosserri's lerrer to his brother William Michael Rossetti, dated 18 September, 1849: 'f...] having wasted several days at the Museum, where [have been reading up all manner ofold romaunts [sic], to pitch upon stunning words for poetry. I have found several, and also derived much enjoyment from the things themselves, someofwhich are tremendously fine', William Michael Rosseui, ed., Dante Gabriel Rossetti: His Family Letters with a Memoir (London: Ellis & Elvey, 1895), vol. n, p. 51. 7 Ruskin, Lib. Ed., vol. XXXIII, p. 269. 8 See Julian Treuherz, 'The Pre-Raphaelites and Mediaeval Illuminated Manuscripts', in Pre-Raphaelite Papers, ed. Leslie Parris (London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1984), p. 158; Alicia Craig Faxton, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (New York & London: Abbeville Press, 1994 [1st ed. 1989]), pp. 92-95, 103, 111-13. 9 Joanna Banham &Jennifer Harris, eds., exhib. cat. William Morris andthe MiddleAges, Manchester Art Gallery and Museums (Manchesrer: Manchester Universiry Press, '984), cat. no. 57, pp. 120-21. TO SeeTreuherz, 1984, op. cit., pp. 156-58. Coliins used theArdinghelli-Segni prayer book (Soane Museum) and the initial page of the St. John's Gospel in the Arnstein Bible (British Library, MS Harley 2799, fol. ,85v), which was depicted in Henry Noel Humphreys and Owen Jones' Illuminated Books ofthe Middle Ages (London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longman, 1849), pp. 49, 50. 11 See Roy Srrong, Recreatingthe Past: British History andthe Victorian Painter (London & New York: Thames & Hudson, The Pierpom Morgan Library, 1978), pp. 58-59; Treuherz 1984, op. cit., pp. 154-55. 12 In a second edirion by Rush Meyrick and John Briuon, eds., London 1838. 13 F. W Fairholr, Costume in England. A History ofDress to the End ofthe Eighteenth Centltry, new enlarged edition by H. A. Dillon, 2 vols. (London: Bell, ,885; reprint Detroit: SingingTree Press, 1968 [ISI ed. 1846]), ill. 87 on p. 112. 14 See Banham & Harris, 1984, op. cit., cat. no. '53, pp. 191-92. The miniature is depicted in Shaw's Dresses and Decorations ofthe Middle Ages, 2 vols. (London: William Pickering, 1843), vol. I, ill. 17; in Joseph Srrurr's A Complete View ofthe Dress and Habits ofthe PeopleofEnglandfrom the EstablishmentoftheSaxons in Britain to the Present Time: illustratedby engravings takenfrom the mostauthentic remains ofantiquity to which is prefixed an introduceion, containing a general description ofthe ancient habits in use among mankindji-om the earliestperiod oftime to the conclusion ofthe sev enth century (2 vols., rev. ed. byJ. R. Planche, reprinted in London: Tabard Press Ltd.,

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OF WILLIAM MORRIS STUDIES SUMMER 2004

1970 [IS( ed. London, 1796; IS{ ed. ofthe revised edirion in 3vols. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1842]), vo!. I, ill. LxvI. 15 A. R. Dufty, Morris Embroideries: Tbe Prototypes (London: The Society ofAntiquaries, 1985), p. n, ill. 11, Ill. 16 For the Guendolen page see Alan G. Thomas-Sale, Sotheby"s, London, 21.-22.6.1993, lot 244; published as 'Rapumel' in The Deftnce ofGuenevere (1858). For Morris's early illuminations see: ]oseph Riggs Dunlap, 'The Road to Kelmscotr: WiUiam Morris and the Books Am before the Foundingofthe Kelmscorr Press' (Columbia University, Disserration 1972), pp. 109-28. 17 Quoted after William S. Peterson, The Kelmscott Press, A History ofWilliam Morriss TypographicalAdvellture (Oxford: Clarendon Press, (991), p. 60. 18 Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Letters ofDante Gabriel Rossecci to William Allingham 1854-1870, ed. George Birbeck Hill, London, 1897, p. '93, quoted in ]oseph Riggs Dunlap, 'Morris and the Book Am before the Kelmscolt Press', Victorian Poetry 13, 3-4 (Autumn-Winter 1975), p. 142. 19 See for example British Library, MSS Roy.I.D.i (Bible of William of Devon, 1260-1270), Roy.2.B.ii (French Psalter, middle of the thirteenth century), Add. 48985 (Salvin Hours, 1270-1280), Add. 17341 (French Gospel Lectionary, end of the thirteenth century), Add. 24686 (Alphonso or Tenison Psalter, 1284); Bodleian Library Oxford, MS Douce 366 (Ormesby Psalter, early fourteenth century). Compare]. W. Mackail, Tbe Lift ofWilli4m Morris (New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1995 [1st ed. London, 1899]), vol.l, p. 276. 20 William Morris, 'Some Notes on the Illuminated books ofthe Middle Ages' (t894), in The Ideal Book: Essays and Lectures on the Arts ofthe Book by William Morris, ed. William S. Peterson (Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1982), p.lO. 21 Ibid., p. 12. 22 Ibid., p. 13. 23 See ibid., p. 121, note 7. 24 Ibid., p. 14 25 See for example: H. N. Humphreys's The Art ofIllumination and Missal Paillting. A

Guide to Modern Illuminators Illustrated by a Series ofSpecimens}Tom Richly IlluminatedMSS. ofVarious Periods. Accompanied by a Set ofOutlines to be Coloured by the Srudentaccording to the TheoriesDevelopedin the WOrk (1849); Henry Shaw'sA Handbook oftheArtofIllumination as Practisedduring the Middle Ages with a Description of the Metals, Pigments, and Processes Employed by the Artists at Diffirent Periods (london, 1866); W. R. Tymm's and M. D. Wyan's The Art ofIlluminating as Practised in Europe}Tom the Earliest Times. Illustrated by Borders, Initial Letters andAlphabets Selected & Chromolithogmphed (r860 [ISt ed. 1859]).
26 H. N. Humphreys, 18491r989, op. cit., p.!? Shaw, 1843, I, op. cit., Introduction, no page nos. 27 Sir Frederic Madden & Hen ey Shaw, Illuminated Ornaments Selected}Tom Manu scripts and Early Printed Books}Tom the Sixth to the Seventeenth Centuries (London: William Pickering, 1830-33), p. 12.

THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS

28 Ibid. p. 13. 29 Thomas Kren. ed. exhib. car. Renaissance Painting in Manuscripts: Treasures ofthe British Library (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1983), cat. no. 6, pp. 49-58. 30 Diary entry in George Price Boyce's diary. 14 ofApril, 1860; cired in Treuherz. 1984, op. cic., p. 167, after VirginiaSurrees. The DiariesofGeorge Price Boyce(Norwich: Real World. 1980), p. 30.

31 A Catalogue ofHarleian MSS in the British Museum with Indices ofPersons, Places 6Matters, 4 vols. London 1808-[2, vol. I 1808, preface, p. 25. For a similar assessment which copies the exacr wording ofrhe caralogue. 'in a mosr masrerly manner', when describing rhe miniarures see Thomas HarrweU Home, An Introduction to the Study ofBibliogmphy(London: Cadell & Davies, 1814). vol. I, p. r31. 32 Thomas Frognall Dibdin. The Bibliographical Decameron; or, Ten Days Pleasant Dis-

course upon Illuminated Manuscripts and Subjects Connected with Early Engraving, Tjpography, andBibliography, 3vols. (London: W. Bulmer, r8I7), vol. I, pp. ccxi-ecxii,
nore. 33 Strurr's notes in British Library, MS Eg. 888.1, fol. 16. Strutt 1970, op. cit., vol. n, frontispiece. p. 271. 34 Shaw, 1843. n. op. cir., ill. 56-58. 35 Ibid., rext to ill. 57. 36 Ibid., rext to ill. 56. 37 For more infoImation abour rhe chimney piece see Mark Girouard, The Victorian Country House (New Haven & London: Yale University Press. 1979), figs. 85 and 86 on p. JI5. 38 Gustav Friedrich Waagen, Kunstwerke "nd Kiinstler in England und Paris (Berlin: Nicolaische Buchhandlung, 1837), vol. 1, p. 147; see also Waagen 1854, op.cir., vol. I, p. JI8. Waagen ascribed rhe manuscripr ro rhe French School and dared ir around r500. 39 See Morris's norebook, Brirish Library, MS Add. 45305. Compare Michaela Braesel, 'The Tile Decorarion by Morris & Co. for Queens' College, Cambridge: The Inspirarion ofIlluminared Manuscripts', Apollo 149, no. 443 (January 1999), pp. 25-33. 40 Treuher2, 1984, op. cit., p. 167. 41 Compare Burne-Jones's Pygmalion-cycle and rhe miniarures in MS Harley 4425, fol. 60rand 78r. 42 Barbara Eschenberg and Helmur Friedel, eds. exhib. car. DerKampfder Geschlechter: Der neue Mythos in der Kunst I85O-I930 (Cologne: DuMont, [995), car. no. 8, p. 60. 43 See for example MS Harley 4425, fol. IIV. 44 See Carote Silver, The Romance ofWilliam Morris (Athens. Ohio: Ohio Universiry Press, 1982), pp. 2, 5, I3;Jerome McGann: '"A Thing to Mind": The MaterialisricAesrheric ofWilliam Morris', in The Pre-Raphaelites in Context, ed. Malcolm Warner (San Marino, California: Henry E. Hunrington Library and Arr Gallery, 1992), pp. 59 45 Silver, 1982, op.cir., p. 6. 46 William Morris, 'Golden Wings'. in The Collected WOrks ofWilliam Morris, ed. May Morris (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1910), vol. I, p. JI6, verse I, lines 3. 1,4.

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JOURNAL OF WILLIAM MORRIS STUDIES SUMMER 2004

47 Ibid., verse 11, lines 1,2,3 and verse IV, line 1. 48 Ibid., verse IV, line 4 and verse v, line 2. 49 Kren, 1983, op. cit., pp. 79-80. MS Add. 18855: Bruges, around '450, Bourdichon Schoo!. The May page ofrhe MS is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Salt ing Bequest, MS 2538v. On the amibution see Janet Backhouse, The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries o/ManuscriptPainting in the British Library (London: The British Library, 1997), no. 210, p. 231. 50 Verse 11, line 2: 'My Lady often hawking goes', cited in Collected I17orks, vo!. I, op. cit., p.82. 51 Verse VII, lines 8-13, ibid., p. 83. For more information about this poem see Lindsay Smi th, Victorian Photography, PaintingandPoetry: The Enigma ofVisibility in Ruskin, Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp. 175-79 52 Morris, Collectedl17orks, vo!. t, op. cit., p. Il7, verses XII-XVI. 53 Roger Wiehe, 'Sacred and Profane Gardens: Self-Reflection and Desire in PreRaphaelite Painting and the Poetry of the Rossettis', in Pre-Raphaelitism and Medievalism in theArts, ed. Lianade Girolami Cheney (Lewiston, Lampeter, Queenston: Edwin Mellon Press, 1992), pp. 109-27; p. 109.

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