The Secular Reader Masters the Space of the Book in 15th century. On Introductions and Illustrations of the Two Manuscripts of the Evangiles des Quenouilles

In the focus of this article are the introductions and the illustrations of the two manuscripts, Chantilly, musee Conde, 654 and Paris, B.N. fr. 2151. The manuscripts were manufactured by unknown masters in the workshops of Bruges in between 1450-1485. Both books content one literary text, but in the course of the preparation of the latest book (Paris, B.N. fr. 2151) the text was principally changed. Both books come from the small isolated community of the secular readers from the circle of the duke of Burgundy Carl the Brave who owned the grounds in the rich and high urbanized North Flanders. The cultural activity of the community resulted in the creation of the original trends in literature, of the structure for the producing and stocking of the manuscripts. The courtiers of the dukes of Burgundy increased the book-reading, created the new texts and adopted the existing ones. The manuscripts in the focus of the article preserved for us the first publications of the Evangiles des Quenouilles. This text is the literary adaptation of the folk legends and signs of the North Flanders. The cause for the creation this unusual text was the curiosity of the courtiers for the folk culture and their intention to experiment with the borders between high and low in culture. In the late 15th century the book printing was already invented. The transition from the manuscripts to the printing books changed both the reading skills and the texts themselves. The article analyzes the function of the introductions and the illustrations of the manuscripts Chantilly, musee Conde, 654 and Paris, B.N. fr. 2151, the books of the transition period to learn more about the popularities of the trends of the perception of these texts by the readers of the 15th century. The introductions and the illustrations of the text created for the secular readers without professional skills for reading and writing help to prepare the imagination of the reader to percept the fiction.