James Laidlaw
Christine de Pizan: the Making of the Queen's Manuscript (London, British Library, Harley MS 4431)
The research programme, financed by the British Arts and Humanities Research Council, began in October 2004 and will end in July 2009. The research is being carried out by a team of scholars drawn from Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The programme of the Sixth International Christine de Pizan Colloquium, held in Paris in 2006, included a Table Ronde at which members of the team described the aims of the project and outlined some initial findings. The Bologna Colloquium, which takes place three months after the research programme ends, would provide an excellent opportunity for the team to present some of the results which have been achieved.
Table Ronde:
1. James Laidlaw, Introduction to the project web-site: from 'diplomatic to scholarly': the different ways in which the researcher can access and search the editions of Christine's works in Harley MS 4431.
2. Christine Reno, The structure of Harley MS 4431. The manuscript, presented to Queen Isabeau early in 1414, is made up of eight fascicles; when and in what order were these separate parts prepared and adjusted to fir with one another? Christine Reno, Vassar College).
3. Marie-Thérèse Gousset, Masters and ornemanistes: who were the artists whom Christine engaged to illustrate the Queen's Manuscript?
4. Gabriella Parussa, Glossary and Concordance of Harley MS 4431; tools for researchers.