Morgan Book of the Hunt by Gaston Phoebus Facsimile Edition

The Morgan Book of the Hunt is a sumptuous copy of the popular hunting treatise, Le livre de la chasse, by Gaston III Phoebus, Count of Foix. Created in Paris around 1406-1407, the book may have been commissioned by John, "the Fearless," Duke of Burgundy, for Louis, Duke of Orléans. Its original illumination comprising eighty-seven large miniatures is in the International Style favored in the courts of Europe at the time. The painting is of the very highest quality in the early style of the Bedford Master, perhaps including miniatures by the Bedford Master himself (if there was one) and the Josephus Master.

Gaston's treatise, composed in the 1380s, is divided into four sections: "On Gentle and Wild Beasts," "On the Nature and Care of Dogs," "On Instructions for Hunting with Dogs," and "On Hunting with Traps, Snares, and Crossbow."

Parisian International Style at Its Best

The miniatures in the Morgan manuscript are large, spanning the two columns of text and at least a half-page in height. They include paintings focused on the nature of various animals (including cats and bears), individual breeds of dogs, techniques for making and laying traps, various topographies in which one might hunt, the training of hunters, and how to conduct the hunt for various animals.

The scenes are set before diapered backgrounds with repeating geometrical patterns in gold on blue or red grounds or with patterns tooled into burnished gold. The artists rendered their principal subjects—the animals and the hunters—and the landscapes in intricate detail. At the same time that the paintings convey practical details of the hunt, the settings have an almost magical quality created by the stylized trees and delicately sinuous tufts of grass.

Picnic Break

Almost exactly in the middle of the treatise, a miniature of a picnic signals a break from the practical nature of both text and image. Pictured is a morning meal before the hunt, with the picnickers seated on grassy benches and the wine chilling in a spring from which some of the hounds drink (fol. 58r).

Focus on Dogs

The text, written in Gothic Textualis, is presented in two columns. Each chapter is introduced by a miniature and a decorated initial with border extensions. Much of the text is devoted to the description of various breeds of dog and the care of hunting dogs.

Prayers for a Duke

The last section of the text comprises prayers in Latin and French. A miniature showing a nobleman in prayer before an altar introduces them (fol. 111r). The identification of that nobleman cannot be firmly established, but—if the manuscript was made expressly for Louis, Duke of Orléans, who was its first owner—he is the subject of the painting.

Added Heraldry of Distinguished Owners

A duke of Brittany, probably François II (1435-1488), had the Brittany coat of arms added in the lower border of the opening page of the treatise proper (fol. 4r). The heraldry of Ferdinand V (1452-1516), King of Spain, and Isabella I (1451-1504), Queen of Spain, occupies a full page at the beginning of the book (fol. 1v).

The manuscript is next firmly traceable in the possession of George Spencer Churchill (1766-1840), Duke of Marlborough, before being owned by the bibliomaniac Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) and two of his descendants. It was eventually bequeathed to the Pierpont Morgan Library (since 2006, Morgan Library & Museum) by Clara S. Peck (1896-1983). The manuscript is currently disbound. Its last binding was of green velvet dating from before 1825.