French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages

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The Old French prose Version A is the presumed origin for most other Version A redactions in other languages. The text was composed in the first quarter of the 13th century (Foehr-Janssens 1994, p. 432), and exists in more than twenty manuscripts (see below).

Significant variation occurs across these manuscripts. For example, a sub-group of manuscripts, including BNF fr. 2137, show remnants of versification in the final four stories; these are critically designated Version A2. Other groupings, including the letter groups shown below, were developed by Runte for use in his online edition of the French Version A. These groups signal textual similarity, and all manuscripts within a given group are highly similar (/potentially copies of the same texts).

Version A is also closely related to Version L; the two traditions are essentially identical for the first 11 stories, before L differs dramatically, omitting several stories and instead including Filia and Noverca. However, a significant number of manuscripts that closely follow the text and pattern of Version A, and are designated as such by most contemporary scholarship, also contain one or both of the additional Version L stories, Filia and Noverca. This marked distinction demonstrates the cross-pollenation betweek A and L, and shows how closely and constantly interlinked the manuscript composition of these traditions must have been. Because these manuscripts are so distinct from the other A texts, and because recent pieces of scholarship (Runte, Coco, Foehr-Janssens, Speer, the Arlima database, etc.) soemtimes group them in different ways, they do not appear in the manuscript-list below, and instead have been grouped into the French A/L Overlap version, together with the anomalous L texts.

General Information
Language within Version	Old French
Narrative / Scholarly Group
Parent Versions	A (Seven Sages)
Child Versions	Group U, Group V, Group W, Group X, Group Y, Group Z
Author
Title	Roman des Sept Sages
Siglum of the version of the Seven Sages
Version Number
Branch of the tradition	West

Language & Composition
Original language of version	Old French
Translated into (languages)
Place of composition
Date of composition	1201 - 1225 (555AH) (999AM)
Source for date of composition	Speer (1989), Foehr-Janssens (1994)

Literature & Editions
Modern research literature	Coco (2016), Runte, Society of the Seven Sages Portal (2014), Runte, Wikeley, Farrell (1984), Berne-Aïache (1966), Foehr-Janssens (1994), Le Roux de Lincy (1838), Speer (1981), Speer (1987), Speer & Foehr-Janssens (2017), Speer (1989), Speer (1994), Kelly (1978), Niedzielski (1978)
Modern Editions	Runte, Les sept sages de Rome: An On-Line Edition of French Version A (2006), Plomp, De Middelnederlandsche bewerking van het gedicht van den VII Vroeden van binnen Rome (1899), Coco, Il Roman des sept sages (2016), Aïache-Berne, Les Versions françaises en prose du Roman des Sept Sages (1966)

Recorded branch of this secondary version

A (Seven Sages) French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages Group U Group V Group W Group X Group Y Group Z Gaelic Version A German Version A: Allegatio/Libellus Latin Version A Latin Version A: Allegatio / Libellus Middle English Version A Midland Version Y Group Northern English Southern English Old Swedish Version A: Sju vise mästare Old Swedish Redaction A Old Swedish Redaction B Older Scots Version A: Buke of the Sevyne Sagis Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein Early Modern and Modern Welsh Version A Middle Welsh Version A

Connected prints
No connected prints

Adaptations
Adapted from (version)	A (Seven Sages)
Adapted into (version)	French A/L Overlap
Source for composition and adaptation information

Languages in Use
Language of text	Old French
Regional or specific language of version

Notes
Note
Notes on motifs
Notes on the frame

Pattern of embedded stories in this version
Copy Embedded Stories Copy Embedded Stories × Select Target Page: Close Process

Connected manuscripts

Manuscript Language Location Date of Production Arras Médiathèque de l'Abbaye Saint-Vaast 657 Old French Arras, Médiathèque de l'Abbaye Saint-Vaast 1278 Bern Burgerbibliothek Cod. 388 Old French Bern, Burgerbibliothek 1285 - 1315 Brussel Koninklijke Bibliotheek 10171 Old French Brussel, Koninklijke Bibliotheek 1293 Brussel Koninklijke Bibliotheek 11190-11191 Old French Brussel, Koninklijke Bibliotheek 1390 - 1400 Brussel Koninklijke Bibliotheek 9433 Old French Brussel, Koninklijke Bibliotheek c. 1330 Cambridge Fitzwilliam Museum McClean 179 Old French Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum 1275 - 1300 Cambridge University Library MS Gg.1.1 English Latin Old French Cambridge University Library 1307 - 1400 Firenze Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Ashburnham 49 (Libri 122) Old French Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana 1300 - 1400 Fribourg Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire L 13 Old French Fribourg, Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire 1425 - 1475 London British Library Harley 3860 Old French London, British Library 1315 - 1350 Mons Université de Mons Bibliothèque Centrale cod. 330/215 Old French Mons, Université de Mons, Bibliothéque Centrale 1300 - 1325 Oxford St John's College Library 102 Old French Oxford, St John's College 1375 - 1400 Paris Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal 3152 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal 1200 - 1300 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, Moreau 1691 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 1700 - 1800 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 1421 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 1275 - 1300 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 20040 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 1200 - 1300 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 2137 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 1275 - 1300 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 22548-22550 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 1300 - 1350 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 25545 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France November 1316 - 1317/04/03 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 5586 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 1477 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 93 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 1466 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, nouvelles acquisitions françaises, 1263 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 1200 - 1300 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, nouvelles acquisitions françaises, 12791 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 1300 - 1400 Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, nouvelles acquisitions françaises, 13521 Old French Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 1275 - 1300 Saint-Étienne Médiathèque Municipale 109 Old French Saint-Étienne, Médiathèque Municipale 15th century? (See notes) Turin Biblioteca Nazionale MS L V 32 (lost) Old French 1275 - 1325