Forgotten Marginaliaand the French and Latin manuscript tradition of Le mirouer des simples ames by Marguerite Porete

Abstract

This article advocates a fresh critical study of the manuscripts of the “heretical” book, Le Mirouer des simples ames by Marguerite dicta Porete, and an examination of codicological evidence which neither the standard editions nor the modern translations take into account. It argues for analysis of the codex traditionally known as the Chantilly manuscript (Musée Condé, ms. F xiv 26, cat. 157) and of the manuscripts of the Latin branch preserved in the Vatican Library (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. Lat. 4355; Cod. Rossianus 4; Cod. Chigianus B IV 41; Cod. Chigianus C IV 85 and Vat. Lat. 4953). The analysis focuses on the marginal marks (maniculae, nota bene and iconography) which demonstrate that those books were used by active readers. The article also highlights the way in which the marginal marks provide us with information about the transmission and reception of the Mirror, and classifi es them according to function, depending on whether they facilitate access to, evaluate or even contribute to the meaning of the text of the Mirror itself.