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SignatureandVoiceintheQueen’sMS
31
materialaspectsofherproductionoftheQueen’sMS,specifcallywhere
andhowsheinscribeshersignatureonitsvellumpages,inordertohelp
guaranteetheauthorityofherownpublicpersonaorvoiceaswellasthe
Queen’s
7
.
Myaimisnottogiveanexhaustivetreatmentofthesubject,whichisex-
tensive,buttointroducesomekeyconceptsthatcan,Ibelieve,advanceour
understandingofthemoregeneralquestionofwhyChristinewouldhave
decidedtoassumesuchanextensiveroleintheproductionofthemanu-
scriptsofhertexts.TheAlbumChristinedePizancounts54manuscriptsthat
issuedfromthescriptoriumsheheaded.Noneoftheseincludedtextsby
otherauthors.EachcanbecalledatrueIauthorcorpus’becauseChristine
devotedeachandeveryoneofthemexclusivelytoherowntexts.Eachwas
amaterialobjectthatrepresentedthetransformationoftheauthor’sphysi-
calself,aselfsubjecttohumanmortality,intoamoreintellectualorspiritual
Ibody’.Thebook,atleastpotentially,barringitsdestructionbyfre,water,
orothercalamities,enabledtheauthortoliveoninthedialogueitenter-
tainedwithfuturereaders.
ThethreeformstakenbyChristine’ssignatureinherpresentationcopies
arethefollowing:
xpine
xpinedepizan
cristine(thatis,sheactuallyspellsoutthelettersofhername).
IntheRoseDebateEpistleshernameappears18times:11timesasxpine,
6timesasxpinedepizan,1timeascristine8.
Howdoweknowthesearehersignatures?Thewayxpineiswrittencorre-
spondsineachandeverycasetothedescriptionofthecharacteristicsofhand
Xfoundonp.26oftheAlbumChristine:"thetermxpineisIsurmontéd’unlong
tildeabréviatif’".Theauthorsspeakof"letracéhabileetgracieuxdesX,dont
lesecondélémentdescendendécrivantunarctrèsfn"and"leductusdue
Icornu’enpositionfnale".TheyalsonotethatthehandXlovestoexpress
itselfinexuberantpenflourishes:
LaconstantelaplusremarkabledeX,c’estunetendanceal’exubérance,ungoutpour
lesgrandesenvoléesdelaplumesedéployantenunfoisonnementdebouclesetde
volutesetjouantdel’alternancedespleinsetdesdéliés(p.25).
7MaureenQuilliganexploresthewaythatChristine’snamingofherselfallowshertocon-
structheridentityasaprofessionalfemaleauthorin"TheNameoftheAuthor:Self-Representa-
tioninChristinedePizan’sLivredelaCitédesDames",Exemplaria,4,1992,p.201-228.
8Otherwisesaid,sheactuallyspellsoutthelettersofhernameonlyonce,onfol.241v,inher
secondlettertoGontierCol,tobediscussedbelow.
