Ipomadon and Other Works
English, written on paper, late fifteenth century
This fifteenth-century literary anthology contains several different items written in a number of different hands. The volume includes texts of saints' lives, chivalric romances, copies of letters and a treatise on good manners.
The largest item is Ipomadon, an Anglo-Norman romance composed in around 1180 by Hue de Rotelande, which tells the story of Ipomadon, a young Apulian prince, and his lover, the Queen of Calabria. The Chetham's copy is believed to be the earliest surviving Middle English version, and is composed in a dialect originating from the north of England, although from a London scriptorium.
The manuscript was purchased for the Library at the Farmer sale of 1798 for the sum of fourteen guineas. To view the first folio in more detail, click on the image below.
