[MANUSCRIT]. [LANCELOT-GRAAL]. [ANONYMOUS]. Bifeuillet from the Estoire del Saint Graal. In French, ornate manuscript on parchment. Binding faults laid flat; text on three columns; gothic writing in black ink; initials decorated in burnished gold, on a blue and pink background with white and red highlights; text incomplete in places; one side heavily browned; ink or burn stains in the lower part; remains of parchment fasteners used in the binding. Northern France, circa 1300-1325. dimensions of the unfolded two-sheet : 490 x 355 mm " It was above all the Holy Grail .. . that captured people's imaginations in the Middle Ages, and has scarcely relaxed its hold" (D. Owen, "From Grail to Holy Grail", in Romania 89, 1968, p. 31). This leaf is taken from a dismembered manuscript, which was used here as a cover for a binding. It contains passages from a work of the Lancelot-Graal cycle (Lancelot in prose), the Estoire del Saint Graal, composed during the third decade of the thirteenth century. There are some 44 manuscripts that transmit the complete or almost complete text of the Estoire del Saint Graal (short and long version together). The Estoire del Saint Graal contains the ancient history of the Grail and its return to Britain. It is said to have been written as a copy of a book given to its author following a vision of Christ. Filled with mysticism and wonder, this text announces the sequel under the title Estoire de Merlin (Robert de Boron). The text corresponds to the following passages in ed. J.P. Ponceau, L'Estoire del Saint Graal, Paris, 1997, pp. 210-212: - Fol. A recto, incipit, "[...] cuers est esperitiex..."; explicit, "[...] but when he lives..." (Ponceau, 1997, tome I, 337-339). - Fol. A verso, incipit, "[...] all my house all set..."; explicit, "[...] orendroit si refais de..." (Ponceau, 1997, tome I, 339-341 ) - Fol. B recto, incipit, "[...] he saw him desfermé et ouviert..."; explicit, "[...] que il fust mors..." (Ponceau, 1997, tome I, 379-381). - Fol. B verso, incipit, "[...] for the horse that..."; explicit, "[...] manière et ke en tel mal..." (Ponceau, 1997, tome I, 381-383).