Completed circa 1474, Sébastien Mamerot’s lavishly illustrated manuscript is the only contemporary document to describe several centuries of French crusades, when successive kings tried to seize the Holy Land. Jean Colombe, the medieval illuminator best known for his work on the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, is the principal artist of its 66 exquisite miniatures.

Les Passages d’Outremer (The Expeditions to Overseas) comprises 277 parchment folios, illustrated by Colombe and the finest caligraphers of the medieval era, and now resides in the French national library. This new hardcover edition in our popular Klotz format comprises a complete translation of the manuscript text, illustrated with 66 colourful miniatures by Jean Colombe, and their explanations. The battles, burials, coronations and processions depicted in the illustrations come to life before our eyes and create a forceful image, as well as a compelling read, of this centuries-long campaign of religious fervour and epic journey.

The authors
Thierry Delcourt (1959–2011) earned a doctorate in literary studies and was the former head of the Bibliothèque municipale of Troyes (now the Médiathèque de l`Agglomération troyenne). He was director of the Department of Manuscripts at the Bibliothèque nationale de France from 2006 to 2011 and was the curator of the exhibition La légende du roi Arthur, BnF, October 2009. His books include Les croisades, la plus grande aventure du Moyen Âge, and La littérature arthurienne.

Fabrice Masanès is a historian, art critic and member of the Scientific Commission of the Gustave Courbet Institute, with a doctorate in art history from the Sorbonne. He teaches Modern and Contemporary art at the Université of Paris VIII and University of Illinois. He has written Courbet for TASCHEN and a book of short stories: Histoires peu ordinaires au Quartier latin.

Danielle Quéruel is Professor of Medieval Literature at the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne. She holds a doctorate in late medieval Burgundian romance literature, has studied prosification and crusade literature, and has published widely, including editions of Le roman de Tristan en prose, and Le Livre du devisement du monde de Marco Polo.