Christine de Pizan - The making of the Queen’s manuscript
James Laidlaw (dir.)
Présentation du projet
The Making of the Queen’s Manuscript focuses on London, British Library, Harley MS 4431, the largest surviving manuscript of the works of Christine de Pizan (1365-c.1431). Commissioned by Queen Isabeau of France, the collection was planned, copied, decorated and corrected under Christine’s direct supervision, before being presented to Queen Isabeau early in 1414. This research programme is funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant of £199,716 over the four years from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2008, and is being carried out in partnership with the British Library which has contributed a complete set of high-resolution digital images of Harley MS 4431.
The planned outcomes of the research programme include a detailed study of Christine de Pizan’s language. In that connexion the University of Edinburgh has signed a collaboration agreement with ATILF (Analyse et Traitement Informatique de la Langue Française – Analysis and Computer Processing of the French Language), a joint research unit of the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and the University of Nancy 2. ATILF (http://www.atilf.fr) is recognised worldwide for its outstanding work on the French language from the Middle Ages to the present day. Of particular relevance to The Making of the Queen’s Manuscript is the ATILF research on Old and Middle French which has developed the Dictionnaire Électronique de Chrétien de Troyes (http://www.atilf.fr/dect) and the Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (http://www.atilf.fr/dmf).
The project is located in the University of Edinburgh, partly in the French section of the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, partly in the Special Collections department of Edinburgh University Library (EUL). The Project Director is Professor James Laidlaw. Dr Andrew Grout, Special Collections Digital Library Officer, is Project Officer. The Research Associate is Charlie Mansfield. Dr Justin Clegg, Curator of Medieval Literary Manuscripts, is the Project Officer for the British Library.
