A rare King Arthur manuscript is going up for auction. Scholars hope it won't end up in a private collection

Eugenio Donadoni has seen a lot of worthful manuscripts in his daylight. But a rarefied and ornately illustrated 13th-century tome describing the adventures of billie jean king chester alan arthur has been the holy grail.

Donadoni is the director of medieval and renaissance manuscripts at Christie’s auction house, which has acquired a French manuscript of the foundational Arthurian myths, complete with 126 detailed illustrations.

"It's beautiful," Donadoni told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "It's a fantastic manuscript."

The manuscript has been tucked away in private collections for more than 700 years. Now that it's up for auction in July, scholars hope it will end up in a public institution where it can be studied in detail.

But with an estimated value of $3.7 million Cdn, there's no guarantee it won't disappear again into private vaults.

The manuscript is from the tales of the quest for the Holy Grail, Merlin the magician, and King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

It's from the Lancelot-Grail cycle of the Arthurian legend, originating in France in the 13th century.

Patrick Moran, a specialist of medieval French literature at the University of British Columbia, says this particular cycle of Arthurian legend spawned some of the most popular and enduring versions of the King Arthur legends, and solidified its place in romantic literature.

And while there are hundreds of copies of manuscripts from Lancelot-Grail cycle, this one, in particular, he says, stands out for its age and beauty. 

Dated between 1290 and 1310, it's known as an "illuminated" manuscript, meaning it's handwritten and adorned with all sorts of decorative flourishes, including bright colours, borders and small illustrations known as miniatures.

The text is one of three illuminated manuscripts from the cycle known to be in private collections, and the earliest to ever appear at auction. 

The miniatures were illustrated by a prolific illuminator from his era, known only as the Master of the Liège Apocalypse.

"They're so full in narrative detail, and they pack in so much information and so many events," Donadoni said. "Some of them are absolutely insane."

While the manuscript tells a rich story, Donadoni says "its provenance is almost as fascinating as the quest for the Holy Grail itself."

Some of its owners have included Michel de Gronnais, a 15th-century knight; Michel Chaverson, a 15th-century jouster; Thomas Phillips, "an obsessive medievalist" collector from the 19th-century; and 19th-century industrialist Jean Lebaudy, a decorated First World War soldier.

"You can imagine how the stories of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table … resonated so much throughout the centuries and into the First World War," Donadoni said.

But because it's spent so many centuries passing from one private collector to another, the manuscript has rarely ever been studied.

Scholars of Arthurian literature say that's a shame. 

"If the British library or somewhere accessible could manage the funds to buy it, then scholars could study it for literary, art history, paleography — so many things."

Siân Echard, a professor of English literature at UBC, agrees, but's she's not optimistic.

"Very few institutions would be able to afford the price tag," she said. "I don't think, much as I would love it, there's a Canadian institution that could bid for it successfully, though it would be a coup."

Moran noted the last time a significant Arthurian manuscript went up for auction was in 2010 at Sotheby's, and that one went to a private bidder.

"That was very disappointing," he said. "As  soon as it enters the private collection it becomes inaccessible."

He's hopeful that a consortium of libraries or other public institutions could work together to bid on the manuscript. 

If it ends up in a public institution, he says he'll be there studying it in a heartbeat — ideally with a whole team of scholars, including art historians, book historians, linguists and more.

The intense interest in the manuscript, he says, speaks to the enduring relevance of the stories contained within.

"The legend King Arthur has it all. It has conquest, adventure, love, destiny, free will, religion. It has, you know, Celtic folklore with fairies and dwarves and enchantresses," he said.

"It just encapsulates everything we love in stories and that kind of sense of hope and adventure and exploration, but at the same time, tragedy, drama, loss, grief. It kind of is Shakespeare before Shakespeare, if you want."

Interview with Eugenio Donadoni produced by Leslie Amminson

---

---