The Chansonnier of Oxford Bodleian MS Douce 308: Essays and Complete Edition of Texts

Abstract

The manuscript Oxford, Bodleian Library, Douce 308 is indeed a fascinating source. Its nearly 300 folios contain three courtly narratives (two in poetry, one in prose), plus two eschatological-allegorical works, between which is a large collection of anonymous lyrics arranged in seven sections. Because it is without musical notation and without authorial attributions, it has lain at the edge of both musicological and literary scholarship since it was first described by Meyer in 1868, but the collection of lyrics now forms the focus of Mary Atchison’s book. As she points out in her introduction, the chansonnier is complete without musical notation: there are no empty staves. In addition, the organizing principle of the lyrics is generic, not by author, as is evinced by the index, rubrics, and initial miniatures, which depict each genre conceptually, rather than picturing author figures or specific pieces. The five initial essays treat the overall structure of the manuscript, the structure of the lyrics section, its scribes, the motets and rondeau section, and the miniatures. The main findings can be swiftly stated. The first chapter argues that the manuscript was part of a planned medieval compilation, now split between Bodleian Douce 308 and British Library Harley 4972. The structure of the chansonnier itself—its division into six single genre sections followed by a mixed motet and rondeau section, probably added later—is well known. Atchison newly identifies two scribal hands in the collection, the same two hands that copied the long narrative poem that precedes the lyrics in Douce 308. She argues that the motet and rondeau section is part of the original book, by these same two scribes, but representing a second layer of copying. Finally, she examines the miniatures, noting their role in articulating the generic divisions of the lyrics and their depiction of the genres that they head. The bulk of the book is then given over to the presentation of all the texts in the lyric section of Douce 308 in their manuscript order.