ABSTRACT
In the Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP) is a small book measuring 210 cm × 145 cm, containing a single poem: Le levre du Chastel de Labour de povrete et de richesse [The Book of the Castle of Work of Poverty and of Wealth] Widener 1. 1 It is magnificently illuminated (see Frontispiece, Plate 1), with 46 of the 73 folios containing miniatures, eight of which can be viewed in full colour online via the Digital Scriptorium 2 and the Rare Books department of the FLP. 3 For those unable to visit the holding library, the rest can be viewed in the black and white facsimile containing the illuminations, a commentary and synopsis produced privately in 1909, 4 or, more lavishly, in the full colour facsimile of König and Bartz published in 2005. 5 The manuscript itself was presented to the Free Library of Philadelphia by the Widener family in 1944.
