Christine de Pizan et Guillebert de Mets

A recent reappraisal of the biography of the Flemish copyist and ‘libraire’ Guillebert de Mets († 1438) has led to the discovery of a previously unpublished document that sheds light on several aspects of his life and activity. It is a record of inheritance (staat van goed) drawn up in Ghent in 1441, which mentions the estate belonging to Guillebert’s children. In addition to new data on his socio-economic background, this document also contains one of the few surviving inventories of books belonging to a medieval bookseller: a list of more than eighty manuscripts, mostly in French, including several ‘bestsellers’ of early-fifteenth-century French literature. Remarkably, the most cited author in the list is Christine de Pizan, of whom at least eight texts are mentioned, sometimes twice. The links between the Flemish scribe and Christine had been identified long ago and never failed to intrigue scholars, as several texts by Christine copied by Guillebert have come down to us. They are nearly all mentioned in the list of 1441. This unique document therefore invites us to return to the question of a possible connection between Guillebert and Christine, if not personal at least professional and intellectual

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