De Migieu, Abraham-Guy
Dijon 4 April 1718 – 8 February 1749

Manuscript diary of his travels in Italy, 1739–1740, in the company of Charles de Brosses; bound circa 1754 with manuscripts by other authors, relating their own travels to Italy (in 1623 and 1664)

provenance Anthelme-Michel-Laurent de Migieu, marquis de Savigny (1723–1788), inscribed by him on lower endpaper Demigieu 1754 and 4 li[vres] 10s[ols]¹ — sold by heirs, c 1805² — Nicolas, marquis de Richard d’Ivry (1762–1850), ex-libris dated 1809³ — Vicomtes de Vaulchier, proprietors of Château de Savigny-lès-Beaune, c. 1921–1972⁴ — Pierre Jammes (1925–2009) — his sale by Sotheby’s, ‘Rome et l’Italie: Collection d’un érudit bibliophile’, Paris, 12–13 October 2010, lot 55

bound in 18th-century olive morocco, covers decorated by a gilt frame featuring a heart and flower tool; back divided into seven compartments, decorated in gilt by flower tools; lettering-piece Voyage d’Italie

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The journal of a tour through italy made in 1739–1740 by Abraham-Guy de Migieu, the elder son of Abraham-François de Migieu (1682–1735), marquis de Savigny-sous-Beaune, président à mortier of the Parlement of Dijon. Written with different pens and inks, with phrases scored out, and other corrections, the manuscript seems the actual document compiled by the young traveller during his itinerary. The writer follows the usual conven­tions of manuscript travel diaries, presenting geographical, historical, and architectural informa­tion on major locations and landmarks, interlaced with his own obser­vations and opinions. Some of the latter concern one of his travelling companions, Charles de Brosses (1709–1777), and offer an enlightening perspective on De Brosses’ own ac­count of their journey.⁵ The free expression of the author’s feelings strongly suggests that he wrote for his own reference, and did not intend that his mem­oir should circulate among family and friends.

The manuscript was preserved after Abraham-Guy’s death in 1749 by his younger brother, the bibliophile Anthelme-Michel-Laurent de Migieu (1723–1788).⁶ In 1754, Anthelme caused it be bound with other manuscript accounts of journeys made in Italy, recording the date and the price of the binding on the lower endpaper: 1754 | 4 li[vres] 10 s[ols].He placed Abraham-Guy’s manuscript (15 folios) at the front of the volume, supplying himself a handwrit­ten ‘title-page’: Voyage d’italie par abraham guy demigieu conseiller au par­lement de dijon en 1739 (see Fig. 2). An earlier manuscript journal, documenting a voy­age to Italy undertaken by ‘Cudanson’ in 1623, was placed at the end: Mémoire de mon voiage d’Italye commencé le jour de feste de la nostre dame d’aoust de l’année 1623 (39 folios). In between were bound seventy folios of blank paper.⁷ On these blank leaves Anthelme cop­ied accounts of Italy which he found in manuscripts in the libraries of two friends, Charles-Marie Févret de Fontette (1710–1772) and abbé Jérôme Richard (1720–1795). Four accounts were transcribed by Anthelme in 1754; he evidently lost interest thereafter, and seventeen folios remain blank:

(1) Mémoire des plus excellens tableaux et statues qui sont dans les églises de Rome (8 folios), from the Févret de Fontette library;
(2) Remarques sur le voyage d’Italie – Voyage d’Italie fait en 1664 (27 folios), from abbé Richard’s library;
(3) Traité des anciennes familles de Rome (12 folios);
(4) Traité du gouvernement civil et ecclésiastique de Rome (6 folios), from the Févret de Fontette library.

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This volume is no. 82 in a catalogue of Anthelme’s manuscript collection, listing some 210 items, which the collector prepared in 1760 for the Lyonese anti­quary Pierre Adamoli.⁸

In recent years, historians of French continental tourism have worked to establish biblio­graphical control over their subject, compiling lists of the diaries, letters, and documents of voyagers, both manuscript and printed. Although still in progress, this research, led by François Brizay,⁹ Giovanni Dotoli,¹⁰ and Gilles Bertrand,¹¹ suggests that surviv­ing docu­ments by French ‘precursors of the Grand Tour’ are scarce, and the two seventeenth-cen­tury accounts in our volume, by ‘Cudanson’ in 1623 and by an unnamed traveller in 1664, are propitious additions to a surprisingly slight corpus.¹²

Contents (in order of binding)

De Migieu, Abraham-Guy
1718 – 1749

Voyage d’Italie par Abraham Guy Demigieu conseiller au parlement de Dijon en 1739

quarto (220 × 165 mm), (15) ff., written on rectos and versos by Abraham-Guy de Migieu (except f.2v and f.15v, both blank), f.15r subscribed (by Anthelme de Migieu): Par Abraham Guy Demigieu Cons.er au P. de Dijon. Preceded by an otherwise blank leaf inscribed (by Anthelme de Migieu): Voyage d’Italie par Abraham Guy Demigieu conseiller au parlement de dijon en 1739.

paper manufactured by Antoine Palhion, at his mill Rochetaillée-en-Forez (Loire)¹³

literature René de Vaulchier, ‘Un Voyage en Italie au xviiie siècle’ in La Revue de Bourgogne 10 (1922), pp.5–15; Charles de Brosses, Lettres familières, edited by Giuseppina Cafasso; introduction, notes and bibliography by Letizia Norci Cagiano de Azevedo (Naples 1991), ii, p.661 (note 12)

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Abraham-Guy departed from Dijon on 9 September 1739, chaperoned by Bénigne Legouz de Gerland (1695–1774). Passing through Lyon, Turin, Alexandria, Geneva, Pisa, Livorno, Florence, and Siena, they entered Rome on 16 December 1739. Here they met their compatriots Charles de Brosses (1709–1777) and Germain Anne Loppin de Montmort (1708–1767), like De Migieu conseillers laïques of the Parlement of Dijon;¹⁴ and the brothers Edmond La Curne (1697–1779) and Jean-Baptiste La Curne de Sainte-Pelaye (1697–1781). The six Burgundians resided in Rome until the end of Feb­ruary 1740, when De Brosses and the brothers La Curne returned to Dijon.

After De Brosses’s departure, Abraham-Guy left Rome for a two-week tour of Naples, Pozzuoli, and Vesuvius. He returned to Rome on 6 March 1740 expecting to witness the election of the new Pope. The unusual length of the conclave (18 February to 17 August 1740) made him impatient, and on 5 May 1740 he set off with Legouz and Loppin de Montmort for Bologna. They travelled from there to Venice, and afterwards to Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Mantua, and Modena. Abraham-Guy left his com­panions in Modena and returned home, journeying through Bologna, Reggio Emilia, Parma, Piacenza, Milan, and Turin, and arriving in Dijon on 1 September 1740.

In De Brosses’s epistolary account of his tour of Italy,¹⁵ there are several perceptive and witty descrip­tions of Abraham-Guy.¹⁶ These references are perhaps the chief reason Abraham-Guy de Migieu has a claim on our attention. Although his observations on his companions are less penetrating, Abraham-Guy records their activities in Rome meticu­lously, and his journal therefore is of interest to the many students of De Brosses’ voyage. Until now, their only access to it has been the excerpts published in 1922;¹⁷ the rediscovery of the manuscript will allow it to be explored fully for the first time.

Abraham-Guy’s journal provides a good idea of what it was like for a wealthy young man of elevated social status to travel in Italy during the mid-eighteenth century. He left Dijon liberally supplied with introductions: in Turin, he was presented by the French ambassador to Carlo Emanuele iii di Savoia; in Rome, he obtained an audience with Pope Clement xii, and was prominently seated at ban­quets, Christmas, and Holy week celebrations (1740); and in Naples, he was received by Carlo iii di Borbone, King of Naples, Sicily and Spain.

Abraham-Guy spent lavishly, far more than his companions (according to De Brosses), and his only constraint seems to have been a strong conscience. Throughout the journal, he reproaches himself for extravagant losses at cards; recording meanwhile even the most trivial of his expenses,¹⁸ and com­plaining of being exploited, if not actually cheated, on accommodation, transport, and food.

Abraham-Guy displays more than the usual travel­ler’s interest in art and architecture. Wherever he visits, but especially in Florence and Rome, he mar­vels at paintings and works of art, always naming the artists involved. He visits private collections as well as galleries, including ‘un petit cabinet’ of marble and bronze sculptures in Florence,¹⁹ and the epi­graphic museum of the antiquary Scipione Maffei in Verona. No doubt at the insistence of Legouz, collections of natural history specimens also were inspected, including those assembled by Jean de Baillou in Florence, Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli in Bologna, and Lodovico Moscardo in Verona.

In De Brosses’s letters, Abraham-Guy emerges as a passionate collector of paintings and antiquities, possessing both knowledge and taste.²⁰ Among pur­chases mentioned in Abraham-Guy’s journal are velvets and other textiles, bought in Genoa; precious stones (or jewels) and a snuff box, in Livorno; a copy of Baldinucci’s ‘Lives of the Painters’ and ‘reliques de sainte Madeleine’, in Florence; prints and ‘une pierre gravée’, in Rome. He seems to be a careful buyer: an opportunity in Florence to buy ‘des ouvriers des marquete­ries’ from the grand-ducal workshops is dismissed with the explanation ‘elles sont bien cheres’ (f.7r). Near the end of his journey, in Milan, he writes ‘J’ay achete aussi beau­coup de tableaux – le prix n’est pas exorbitant’ (f.15r).

Since Abraham-Guy spent over eleven months – not including losses at the gambling table – some 35,000 livres,²¹ it very likely that many more works of art were acquired by him in Italy, and brought home to enrich the Château de Savigny.²² Abraham-Guy married on 8 January 1748 Marie Portail, widow of Joseph Joly de Bévy, président of the Chambre des Comptes of Dijon; he died without issue a year later, on 8 February 1749.²³ His estate passed to his brother Anthelme, an avid collector not only of manuscripts, but also paint­ings and works of art of all kinds.²⁴ Inventories of Anthelme’s collections are known and their analysis might lead to identification of the works of art acquired by Abraham-Guy during his voyage through Italy.²⁵

[Anonymous]

Mémoire des plus excellens tableaux et statues qui sont dans les églises de Rome

(8) ff., written on rectos and versos in a single hand (except f.1r and f.8v, both blank), f.2v headed: Mémoire des plus excellens tableaux et statues qui sont dans les églises de Rome; f.7r subscribed: Le tout copié sur le MSS. de Mr. de Fontete qui s’est trouvé brulé en plusieurs endroits 1754

paper manufactured by Antoine Palhion (1698–1747), at his mill Rochetaillée-en-Forez (Loire)

A Mémoire listing the ‘best’ paintings and statues in forty Roman churches, the palazzi of the Pamphili, Farnese, Colonna, Peretti-Montalto, Giustiniani, and Borghese fami­lies, and the collections of Paolo Francesco Falconieri, Cardinal Antonio Barberini, and Maffeo Barberini, Principe di Palestrina (see Fig. 4). Although undated, internal evidence suggests that it was written after 1679.²⁶

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According to the subscription, this copy was made in 1754 from a fire-damaged manuscript in the Févret de Fontette library (losses in the original are indicated by interstices). The copyist, Anthelme de Migieu, was related by marriage to the Févret de Fontette family: his aunt, Barbe-Charlotte de Migieu (1684–1764), married in 1709 Jacques-Charles Févret de Fontette (1683–1728). Their son, Charles-Marie Févret de Fontette (1710–1772), member of the Académie de Dijon in 1753, author of the sec­ond edition of Jacques Lelong’s Bibliothèque histo­rique de la France (five volumes, Paris 1768–1778), became custodian of the family library.

In 1772, the Févret de Fontette library was dis­persed;²⁷ shortly thereafter, a large number of manu­scripts entered the Département des Manuscrits²⁸ and Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal²⁹ of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, however no version of this Mémoire can be identified in the catalogues of those collections. It is likely the original manuscript in the Févret de Fontette library – already much damaged in 1754 – has not survived.

[Anonymous]

Remarques sur le voyage d’Italie – Voyage d’Italie fait en 1664

(27) ff., written on rectos and versos in a single hand (except f.1r, blank), f.1v: Remarques sur le voyage d’Italie, f.4v: Voyage d’Italie fait en 1664; f.27v: Icy le MSS. s’est trouvé manquer | Seulement par quelques arti­cles détachés il paroit que celuy qui a fait ce voyage a depensé pendant qui il a duré douze mille neuf cent vint quatre livres 12924| il se pourroit que l’autheur fut un Sgr. de Lantenay. | Le tout extrait du MSS. original apparte­nant à Monsieur l’abbé Richard chanoine de St Michel ainsy que les remarques sur le voyage d’Italie qui le pré­cèdent. 1754

paper manufactured by Antoine Palhion (1698–1747), at his mill Rochetaillée-en-Forez (Loire)

An account of a year-long tour of Italy, commencing in Paris on 1 May 1664, and proceeding via Lyon (20 May–7 June), Turin (4–10 July), Genoa (14–16 July), Milan (19–22 July), Parma, Modena, Mantua, Verona, Vicenza, Venice (2–14 August), Ferrara, Bologna (23–28 August), Rimini, Ancona, Loreto, Recanati, and Assisi, to Rome, entered on 21 September 1664.

The unnamed traveller remained in Rome for five months, punctuated by a two-week tour of Naples, Pozzuoli, Vesuvius, Capua, and Frascati. He departed Rome on 21 April 1665, travelling via Montefiascone, Viterbo, Siena, Florence (25–28 April), Lucca, Pisa, Livorno, and Genoa, to Turin (4–16 May). Here he observed the wedding festivi­ties on 10 May 1665 of Carlo Emanuele ii di Savoia and Maria Giovanna Battista di Savoia Nemours. He departed Savoy via Chambéry and arrived in Lyon on 23 May 1665 (here the account terminates).

It is a hybrid of aide-mémoire and guidebook: a meticulous accounting of expenditure on lodging and food (see Fig. 5) is blended with discourses – on the governance of the Republic of Venice, the shrines of Loreto, the treasures housed in the Vatican and in Grand-Ducal collections in Florence, among them – which read like extracts from written sources, or disquisitions by a tutor, or by a cicerone while con­ducting the traveller around these sights. The trav­eller seems to be a wealthy young man, albeit one determined to demonstrate to a parent or benefactor his prudence and economy. He is more often inter­ested in matters of archaeo­logical, antiquarian, and historic interest, than in works of art. He has a particular interest in recording epitaphs.³⁰

In a lengthy subscription to the manuscript, dated 1754, the copyist (Anthelme de Migieu) conjectures that the unnamed traveller was a ‘Seigneur de Lantenay’. This supposition may depend on external evidence – the copyist had additional papers (‘quelques articles détachés’), and from these cal­culated that the cost of the entire voyage was 12,924 livres – or else the traveller’s identity was deduced from the text: the stairs and balustrades of a palazzo seen in Florence are com­pared ‘avec la balustrade pareille a cette de Lantenay’ (f.23r).

Situated about 20 km north-west of Dijon, the ancient Château de Lantenay was being renovated³¹ at this time by Jean Bouhier (1607–1671), a wealthy conseiller of the Parlement of Bourgogne, the foun­der of the ‘Bibliothèque Bouhier’. He had two sons, Bénigne (1635–1703)³² and Benoit-Bernard (1642–1682);³³ the latter’s circumstances were more favour­able to undertaking a tour of Italy in 1664.

The copyist indicates that the Voyage d’Italie fait en 1664 and prefatory Remarques were found in an imperfect manuscript belonging to Jérôme Richard (c. 1720–1795), prêtre mépartiste of the church of Saint-Michel at Dijon. Otherwise unknown as an owner of manuscripts, the abbé Richard may have acquired it in anticipation of his own voyage to Italy, made in 1761–1762 as companion to Marc-Antoine Bernard Claude Chartraire, marquis de Bourbonne (1737–1781).³⁴ The marquis de Bourbonne had inherited the Bibliothèque Bouhier and in 1753 lent one of its manu­scripts to Anthelme de Migieu for copying;³⁵ did the marquis perhaps lend manuscripts to the abbé Richard? Was a Bouhier manuscript the original from which in 1754 the Remarques and Voyage d’Italie fait en 1664 were copied by Anthelme de Migieu?³⁶ And was this why Anthelme de Migieu wrote at the end of his copy ‘il se pourroit que l’autheur fut un Sgr. de Lantenay’?

A further clue to authorship lies in the text, where the writer announces: ‘Le 1er May 1664 parti de Paris avec Mr le Chev[alier] du Novion et Mr de Molinet’ (f.4v). The ‘Chevalier de Novion’ is per­haps Claude (c. 1638–1722)³⁷ or Jacques (1647–1709),³⁸ younger sons of Nicolas Potier de Novion (1618/1619–1693), president à mortier of the Parlement of Paris.³⁹ The ‘Mr de Molinet’ (du Molinet, or Moulinet?) is unidentifiable; he may have been a tutor.

[Anonymous]

Traité des anciennes familles de Rome

(12) ff., written on rectos and versos in a single hand (except f.1r, blank); on f.1v: Traité des anciennes familles de Rome

paper manufactured by Antoine Palhion (1698–1747), at his mill Rochetaillée-en-Forez (Loire)

An account of the most powerful families of Rome, discussed in the order of their perceived antiquity, commencing with the Orsini, Colonna, Conti, Savelli, Gaetani, Cesi, Cesarini, Sforza, Frangepani, Farnese, Altemps, Mattei, Caffarelli, Lanti, Muti, Aldobrandini, Salviati, and Strozzi, and then fami­lies of lesser seniority: a ‘Seconde Classe des familles qui ont plus de 300 ans de noblesse’, a ‘Troisième des classes des familles depuis 200 ans’, and ‘Familles enrichies depuis 50 ans’.

The Traité concludes with a list of popes, in reverse chronological order, from Innocent x (Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, 1644–1655) to Boniface viii (Benedetto Caetani, 1294–1303), with more detailed entries supplied for popes of Roman families.

[Anonymous]

Traité du gouvernement civil et ecclésiastique de Rome

(6) ff., written on rectos and versos in a single hand (except f.6v, blank), on f1r: Traité du gouvernement civil et ecclésiastique de Rome; f.6r: Copié sur le MSS appartenant à Monsieur Fevret de Fontete conseiller au parlement de bourgogne. Il parait avoir été composé vers l’an 1680, Ferdinand de Medicis étant grand duc de Toscane. 1754.

(17) ff., blank leaves

paper manufactured by Antoine Palhion (1698–1747), at his mill Rochetaillée-en-Forez (Loire)

A discourse on the ecclesiastical and temporal gov­ernment of Rome, explaining the operation of the courts, the powers invested in the governor of Rome, the auditors of the Rota, magistrates, and other officials.

According to Anthelme de Migieu’s subscription, he copied it from a manuscript in the library of Charles-Marie Févret de Fontette, dated about 1680: ‘Copié sur le MSS appartenant à Monsieur Févret de Fontete conseiller au parlement de bourgogne. Il paroit avoir été composé vers l’an 1680, Ferdinand [iii] de Medicis étant grand duc de Toscane [1663–1713]’ (see Fig. 6). The lack of a subscription to the immediately preceding Traité des anciennes familles de Rome may signify that it was copied from the same manuscript.

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Several ancestors of Charles-Marie Févret de Fontette (1710–1772) had journeyed in Italy and are possible authors of these works. The brothers Charles Févret, sieur de Saint Mesmin (1652–1733) and Jacques Févret (1655–1694), respectively Charles-Marie’s grandfather and great-uncle, trav­elled together in Italy in 1674–1675 (they were in Rome from 12 October–17 April 1675).⁴⁰ Another great-uncle, Pierre Févret (1660–1692), made a journey in 1684;⁴¹ and a great-great-uncle Pierre Févret (1625–1706), travelled in Italy twice, in 1661 and in 1692.⁴²

In 1772, the Févret de Fontette library was dis­persed: the manuscripts were acquired by Esmonin de Dampierre, président of the Parlement of Dijon,⁴³ who in 1779–1780 transferred a part to Antoine-René de Voyer, marquis de Paulmy, founder of the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal.⁴⁴ In 1781, the marquis de Paulmy divided his share with the historian Jacob-Nicolas Moreau. In this way a large number of manuscripts from the Févret de Fontette collection entered the Département des Manuscrits and Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal of the Bibliothèque natio­nale de France.

A Traicte des anciennes familles de Rome is reported within the ‘portefeuilles de Févret de Fontette’ in the Département des Manuscrits (Fonds Moreau); it could be related to the Traité des anciennes familles de Rome in our volume, either as the original from which our manuscript was copied, or as yet another copy, and requires investigation.⁴⁵

An alternative source is a volume formerly in the Jesuit Collège des Godrans in Dijon and now pre­served in the Bibliothèque municipale de Dijon. Bearing the early exlibris of the library (Ex Bibliotheca publica collegii Divio-Godranii), it contains a collection of treatises on Rome written during the papacy of Innocent xi (Benedetto Odescalchi, 1676–1689), among which are (f.41) ‘Familles de la noblesse de Rome’ and (f.51) ‘Tableau du gouvernement de Rome’.⁴⁶

The library of the Collège des Godrans had received in 1701 the substantial library collected by Pierre Févret (1625–1706);⁴⁷ in later years it was sup­ported by Charles-Marie Févret de Fontette.⁴⁸ Either member of the family might have presented this manuscript to the Collège des Godrans; it also demands investigation.

[Cudanson, Guillaume?]
c. 1575 – 1640

Mémoire de mon voiage d’Italye commencé le jour de feste de la nostre dame d’aoust de l’année 1623

(39) ff., of which the last five are blanks (apart from a few notations on f.38v), written on rectos and versos in a single hand, on f.1r: Mémoire de mon voiage d’Italye commencé le jour de feste de la nostre dame d’aoust de l’année 1623, and f.34v subscribed: Cudanson.

paper no watermark observed

A retrospective record of a year-long journey made through Italy (15 August 1623–5 July 1624), copied out after the traveller’s return home ‘en bonne santé’ from rough papers and notes for presentation to a friend or relation. The intended recipient of the memoir is not identified; frequent comparisons of churches and other Italian monuments with Parisian landmarks imply that he (like the writer) was familiar with Paris, and detailed descriptions of holy relics and shrines, and reports of rites and ceremonies, suggest particular interest in such matters, possibly as a member of the clergy. The expenses of the journey are not mentioned. It is notable also that none of the problems of travel – difficulties with transport, accommodation, and food – is communicated by the writer, nor does he relate untoward experiences.

Commencing his journey in Paris, the writer travelled via Lyon and Chambéry to Turin, where he arrived on 29 August and rested four days, visiting churches and marvelling at the Santa Sindone. Milan, Piacenza, Parma, Modena, Bologna, Florence, and Siena are among places visited before the traveller entered Rome on 12 October 1623. Apart from a trip to Naples (25 February–12 March 1624), he remained in Rome for six months. He declares all of the city’s churches to be worth visiting.

A detailed account is provided of the ‘Possessio dei’ Papi’, the ceremony by which the new Pope Urban viii took possession of the Church of S. Giovanni in Laterano, as the Cathedral of his bishopric in Rome (19 November 1623).⁴⁹ Other occasions described at length are a mass in St Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve; another mass (8 January) after which ‘Cudanson’ received a papal blessing, kissed the pope’s feet, and obtained an indulgence of three hundred days; the feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin (25 March), when he observed the papal cavalcade, and witnessed the custom of presenting a dowry to 400 virgines pauperes; and masses celebrated by the Pope on Maundy Thursday and on Easter 1624. A description of the Roman Rota (ecclesiastical court) and also the law court of Naples are given, with the latter compared to the Parisian court.

On 30 April 1624 the writer departed Rome, visiting Loreto, Ancona, Fano, Faenza, Ferrara, Rovigo, Padua, and Venice, where he arrived on 12 May. A full account is made of its Ascension Day celebrations. On 23 May he departed, travelling via Vicenza to Verona, where on Pentecost Sunday he witnessed a procession of 2000 citizens. He travelled thence to Brescia, and afterwards to Crema; there he was received in ‘ung petit palais a ung comte qui ce monstra très courtois envers la compagnye’ (f.31r, the only reference in the journal to companions on his voyage). Travelling via Milan and Genoa, he arrived in Lyon on 17 June, where he rested for ten days, before returning to Paris.

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The bold subscription of the writer has been variously read, as ‘Andanson’ and ‘Adanson’,⁵⁰ ‘Gudanson’ and ‘Oudanson’.⁵¹ Another reading is ‘Cudanson’, the surname of a large family residing about fifteen kilometres north of Paris in the villages of Aubervilliers, La Courneuve, and Stains (Seine-Saint-Denis, Île de France). At least one member of this family was of appropriate age and social status in 1623 to be our traveller: Guillaume Cudanson (c. 1575–24 April 1640), vigneron of Stains, sergent du bailli (1617) and marguillier de l’œuvre et fabrique of Stains (1618). Guillaume had married c. 1598 Barthelemie Delamare of Stains and had issue one child, a daughter, Jeanne (Gemme), born 1602 and married 1621. After the death of his wife (before 1618), Guillaume did not remarry.⁵²

The manuscript may have been acquired in Paris in the 1750s, when Anthelme de Migieu was an active buyer in the book trade and salerooms.⁵³