Notes for the Illuminator: The Case of the Omne bonum

Abstract

The Omne bonum, a unique illustrated encyclopedia composed in London between 1360 and 1375 by James le Palmer, Treasurer's Scribe in the Exchequer, was left unfinished at the compiler's death in 1375, both as to its text and its extensive program of illustrations. Subsequently, ca. 1380, twenty-three historiated intitials—for which there are written marginal instructions—were inserted in spaces that had been left empty. Examination of the respective parts played by the author, original scribe, later instruction-writer, and artist suggest a more independent role for the illuminator than is usual in cases where marginal notes are supplied for manuscript images.

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Notes on contributors

Lucy Freeman Sandler

Lucy Freeman Sandler is the Helen Gould Sheppard Professor of Art History at New York University. She is the author of Gothic Manuscripts 1285–1385 (Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles, V) and numerous studies on book illumination of the Gothic period. She is presently at work on a study of the Omne bonum manuscript in the British Library [Department of Fine Arts, New York University, New York, NY 10003].