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Title: Het Groenendaalse verzamelhandschrift van Jan van Leeuwen († 1378)
Subtitle: Codicologisch-filologische analyse en reconstructie van hs. Brussel, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, II 138
Author(s): VANDEMEULEBROUCKE, Eva , KORS, Mikel M.
Journal: Ons Geestelijk Erf
Volume: 87    Issue: 3-4   Date: 2016   
Pages: 359-408
DOI: 10.2143/OGE.87.3.3239923

Abstract :
This contribution conducts detailed codicological and philological research of the six sheets of parchment that are now preserved under signum II 138 in the Royal Library in Brussels. It demonstrates that these sheets were once part of the original opera omnia manuscript of the cook Jan van Leeuwen († 1378), which was made by his fellow brothers at the Groenendaal monastery in the first decades of the fifteenth century. The article (i) corrects the order in which the sheets are currently bound, (ii) reconstructs the lost quires to the extent that the remaining codicological elements allow, and (iii) discusses the physical creation of the original manuscript. This study not only reveals new information about the relationship between the original opera omnia manuscript and later fifteenth- and sixteenth-century copies, but also informs us of the ways in which the monks at Groenendaal selected, compiled, and edited Van Leeuwen’s texts while making the codex. The article thus sheds new light on the role the monks played in making the manuscript, the ‘target audience’ of their opera omnia collection, and the image of the monastery cook that they sought to propagate. From this we may conclude that Manuscript II 138 is an exceptionally valuable source for research into Jan van Leeuwen’s authorship.

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