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Manuscript from the Library of Saint Genevieve.

No. XXV.

The only object concerning La Pucelle contained in this collection, is a quarto manuscript, comprising a poem in Latin stanzas, divided into four books; the author being named Valerranus Variantius; the title of the work is, De Gestis Johanna Puella Lotharinge (Of the feats of Jeanne of Lorraine). This poem is below mediocrity, although some stanzas which occur from time to time are passably well written; the sole interest therefore of the present production, consists, in its having been penned by an author who lived very shortly after the heroine of his tale.

Manuscript from the Depôt of Historical Charts and Monuments preserved in the Place Vendôme at Paris.

No. XXVI.

The first manuscript enclosed in this thick volume, maxima carta, of which we shall treat more at length under Number XXVIII. is entitled: Petit Traité par manière de chronique, contenant en brief le Siége mis par les Anglais devant la ville d'Orléans, la venue et les vaillans faits d'armes de Jehanne la Pucelle, et comment feist partir les Anglois, et enleva le siége par grace divine et force d'armes.

This recital, occupying thirty leaves in folio, commences on Wednesday, the 12th of October, 1428, with the siege of Orleans, of which it gives a daily account, as well as of the arrival and the exploits of Jeanne d'Arc in that city. It then continues, but with much less detail, until the submission of Paris to Charles VII. in 1435. The

writer of this chronicle appears to have been wise, ́reserved, and void of enthusiasm; the style of writing is of the sixteenth century.

Manuscript from the Library of St. Victor.

No. XXVII.

This same, Traité brief ou Chronique du Siége d'Orléans, is the first manuscript comprised in the volume of the collection of Saint Victor under 417, of which we have spoken at the previous articles XI. and XX. It occupies seventy leaves, and is merely a transcript.

Minutes, in French, of the Process of Condemnation, in the Depôt of Historical Charters and Monuments, Place Vendôme, at Paris.

No. XXVIII.

The manuscript now under review deserves the most scrupulous attention, as it is presumable, that it contains a transcript of the major part of the minutes of the process of condemnation passed upon Jeanne d'Arc, written in French.

It is a very thick volume, transcribed upon the most beautiful vellum, the penmanship being of the fifteenth or early in the sixteenth century; the letters are well formed and to be read with facility; it contains two hundred and ninety leaves, one hundred only being paged. At the bottom of every sheet contained in this document, are inserted as catch-words, the first sentence of the ensuing sheet; the volume is fourteen inches and a half high by twelve in width.

The binding is of wood, covered with green velvet, in a very tattered condition; and in the centre of each cover are the armorial bearings of Honoré Durfé, the famous author of Astrea. At the four corners of each cover are triangular brass ornaments, which appear to have been formerly gilt.

It is not ascertained in what manner this volume, containing four manuscripts, came into the Depôt of Legislation and of the Historical Charts and Monuments in the Place Vendôme; but it appears from the Historical Library of France, vol. ii. page 184, that it was formerly the property of M. Fevret de Fontette, who describes it in few words. He states, that before it became his property, it belonged to Thomas d'Istan, who had it from M. de Chavannes, and that it had originally been in the possession of Honoré Durfé, upon which account it is decorated with his arms engraved on gilt brass.

M. de Fontette gives an account of the four manuscripts which the volume contains; relative to the second, he states, that the part comprising the process of condemnation is not so complete as the following, and that it condenses a portion of the documents of the process and of the interrogatories of La Pucelle, half in Latin and the other moiety in French.

On this subject I must observe, that in speaking of the fourth article in this volume, which contains the process of revisal, M. de Fontette calls one of the notaries Perimitis, stating that his real name was Dionysius Comitis, which should mean Dennis le Compte; the other notary was Franciscus (Francis Ferrebouc).

This large volume encloses four manuscripts; the first is the Chronicle of the Siege of Orleans; the second contains,

to all appearance, the minutes of the process of revisal in French; the third, the process of condemnation; and the last, the act of revisal or absolution.

The whole manuscript consists of two hand-writings, one of the fifteenth, and the other apparently of the sixteenth century; it begins with the more modern writing of the two; that of the fifteenth century commencing precisely at the sheet where are found the minutes of the condemnation, at the end of the 13th interrogatory of the sitting of the third of March 1430: the whole that occurs subsequently is of the same penmanship, not only to the termination of the minutes in French, but also the entire process of absolution and that of revisal, comprising the opinions of the doctors down to a certain epoch, at which a new sheet commences with writing of the sixteenth century. The conclusion of the opinion of a doctor consulted, which was begun, is not terminated. The vellum is of a more recent date than that upon which the ancient penmanship appears.

Thus, the six first sheets of the volume, comprising the Chronicle of the Siege of Orleans, and two sheets of the process of condemnation in Latin, are of a penmanship and transcribed upon vellum of the sixteenth century; from whence we may infer, that it was copied from some old mutilated manuscript which was afterwards perfected.

The four concluding sheets of the volume are precisely the same; the writing and the vellum being of more modern date, with a void in the opinion of the doctors consulted during the process of revisal. Some leaves had also been lost in the manuscript, which have

been substituted by transcripts of the sixteenth century, but they bear no reference whatsoever to the leading object, namely, the minutes written in French. Thus, the manuscript would be of no utility whatsoever, if it did not comprise at least a portion of the minutes of condemnation in French, which renders it of inestimable value, especially if the original should never come to light, or at least some transcript in a perfect condition.

The Twenty-ninth and the Thirty-first Manuscripts, inclusive.

Preliminary Observations." Upon application being made by M. de Breteuil and through the care of Cardinal de Bernis, as a substitute for the defects in the minutes of the process, new extracts were made from manuscript documents in the library of the Vatican at Rome."

The baron de Breteuil addressed the manuscripts to the Royal Library at Paris, the whole being labelled 5970; this number having been chosen in order that the new manuscript at the Royal Library might serve as a supplement to No. 5970, which is the process of revision and justification of Jeanne d'Arc, being a large folio.

The volume last alluded to comprises three manuscripts, the first occupies to folio 47, the second to folio 103, at which page the third begins, and concludes the volume.

First Manuscript.-This document and the succeeding may throw some light upon the steps pursued by Charles VII. before he entered upon the proceedings of

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