Staff Pick of the Week
The Hundred Year’s War is a slight misnomer; it was actually a series of multiple wars occurring between the years 1138 and 1450 with an occasional peace treaty in between periods of intense battles. Contemporary accounts of the events happening during these years are essential for historians to gain a better understanding of the time period, even if they are exaggerated or clearly biased recordings of the events at hand. One of the many historical accounts from this time is that of Frenchman Sir John Froissart. While not born into nobility, Froissart spent much time surrounded by nobles as he chronicled the happenings of the first half of the War, and his Chronicles are a vital resource for historians about that time. He also wrote a variety of poetry and even an Arthurian Romance, along with his historical accounts.
Today’s Staff Pick of the Week is an edited version of the English translation of The Chronicles of Froissart by John Bourchier, Lord Berners (1467-1533), edited by the English classical scholar G. C. Macaulay (1852-1915). John Bourchier was an English translator, as well as a soldier and statesman. His translation of the book was said to have made a significant advancement in English historical accounts and made the book accessible to a much wider audience than simply those educated to read and understand French.
The edition shown here is the 1959 Limited Editions Club (LEC) production of Froissart's Chronicles, printed by Peter Beilenson (1905-1962) of the Peter Pauper Press, with illustrations by American artist Henry C. Pitz (1895-1976), in an edition of 1500 copies signed by the illustrator. Pitz's marginalia illustrations appear to emulate those of medieval illuminated manuscripts. There are a wide variety of people depicted in clothing of the time of the Hundred Year’s War, as well as shields, weapons, animals, and buildings which are most likely meant to add a visual link to the time in which this account was originally recorded and published. Besides these marginalia, there are 16 full page-spread illustrations reproduced from Pitz's line-and-wash paintings, hand-colored through stencils at the Walter Fischer Studio.
– Sarah S., Special Collections Graduate Intern.
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