Description de la ville de Paris 1434

In 1434 Guillebert from Geraardsbergen completed his description of Paris. It is a remarkable record of what was considered noteworthy at the time both historically and topographically. There are picturesque details which are often cited in annotations to the poetry of Francois Villon, notably concerning the Cemetery of the Innocents, the depiction of the Virgin and of heaven and hell in the Celestines and the reference to the famous beauties of the city. The author was an innkeeper and town councillor in his native Geraardsbergen, but also a profssional scribe involved in the book trade who was a 'libraire' for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. The unique manuscript that contains this text also features an important illlustration by an otherwise unknown artist. A whole group of fifteenth-century Flemish manuscript illuminators is now associated with this master, who was given in 1915 the title 'Master of Guillebert De Mets'.