The Library’s latest display looks at The Romance of the Rose, a poem included in one of the manuscripts within our medieval manuscript collection.
Whilst many of our manuscripts are theological in subject matter, MS. 10 includes one of the most influential poems of the medieval world: Roman de la Rose or The Romance of the Rose.
This celebrated fourteenth century French allegorical poem, which took over 40 years and two authors to complete, went onto shape European literary culture for centuries. Geoffrey Chaucer translated large portions into Middle English, and the work is often described as the single most important literary influence on his writing. The manuscript within our collection dates to the end of the fourteenth century and is written in the original French.
Our display explores the story of the poem and its impact. It also highlights the unique features of the physical copy held at Gray’s Inn Library. Our copy of this poem contains 34 miniature illustrations in colour; each illuminated with gold. Although almost 300 manuscripts of The Romance survive today, most remain in France and many do not feature complete illustrations.
Come into the Library to discover how a medieval dream vision became one of Europe’s most debated and enduring poems, and to see more images from one of the most beautiful manuscripts within our collection.
Visit our medieval manuscript collection to learn more.
Images shown here are all pages from MS. 10.