Beschreibung:

ADVEU DE ODET DE BRETAGNEILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT OF HENRY II and DIANE DE POITIERS, on vellum, in French, signed "Seigneur d'Ingrande", 27 long lines per page written in black ink, in "letter courante" script for the text, manuscript inscription with date (1556) on first fly-leaf, headings in elaborate display, richly illuminated, silver sometimes tarnished, some show-through of pigments, coat of arms on title-page largely illegible, modern parchment over pasteboards preserving original vellum end-leaves, title in gilt on upper cover, modern velvet chemise, folio (365 x 260mm.), France, 1556FootnotesAN FINE EXAMPLE OF FRENCH RENAISSANCE ILLUMINATION - FOR HENRY II AND DIANE DE POITIERS.
In this document addressed to King Henry II of France, Odet de Bretagne, Count of Vertu, First Baron of Brittany, Lord of Avaugour, Clisson, Ingrande, and Champtocé, makes declaration of the state of his holdings in Ingrande in the duchy of Anjou and Champtocé in the castellany of Angers, both of which he holds in fief from Henry II. There follow meticulous enumerations and descriptions of the properties contained in each of these territories, together with detailed listings of the taxes, rents, duties, and services owed to him in each, after which he reaffirms his allegiance to the king. The text is followed by three notarial attestations, the first dated 25 February 1556.
The Duchy of Brittany was joined to France under the king only in 1532. Henry became king in 1547, and it is likely that this document was compiled in consequence of that circumstance. Diane de Poitiers, a well-educated French noblewoman was Henry's mistress from the mid-1530s until his death. She was a notable bibliophile, and the books and manuscripts from her collection are marked with the emblems found in this codex.
ILLUMINATION: over 250 illuminated initials on square or rectangular grounds, the smaller ones c.15-20mm. in height, the larger ones c.35-65mm., and one (f. 1r) measuring 88 x 84mm., decorated in French renaissance style, burnished gold initials on coloured grounds, coloured initials on burnished gold or burnished silver grounds. F.1r with full illuminated border: at the top, the royal arms of France in a laurel wreath, supported by two angels; in the margins the emblems of Henry II of France, a crowned H, and that of Diane de Poitiers, a double D and H linked, and three interlaced crescents; an achievement of arms in the lower border.
Provenance: King Henry II of France (1519-1559), reigned 1547-1559, and his mistress Diane de Poitiers (1500-1566), as shown by their emblems on f.1r; Charles Serund-Deschamps, 1906, bookplate.