Jean de Courcy from BL Royal 14 E II, f. 1

Miniature of Nature appearing to the author, Jean de Courcy, in a dream and showing him the lady Vaillance, at the beginning of book 1, with a full border containing the royal arms of England on a banner held by a knight and on a shield encircled by the Garter with the motto 'Honny soit qui mal y pense', and surmounted by a crowned helm with mantling in Edward's colours of red and blue, with two shields with the same arms differenced, for the king's two sons; lozenges bearing a white rose of the York family with the Yorkist badge, 'Dieu et mon droit', a shield with the arms of Edmund (three crowns) and a shield with the arms of Edward the Confessor (a cross bottony between five martels). Image taken from f. 1 of Le chemin de Vaillance, and other texts (see Notes below for contents). Written in French.

The BL Royal Manuscript Collection, also known as the Royal Collection, consists of over 2,000 manuscripts that were once owned by the British monarchs, including English and later British kings and queens from the late 12th to the 19th centuries. These manuscripts are notable for their historical and artistic value.

The collection was initially stored in various royal libraries and palaces, such as the Tower of London and Westminster Palace. During the English Civil War in the 17th century and the subsequent Interregnum, many royal treasures, including manuscripts, were dispersed and sold. Some manuscripts were lost, destroyed, or ended up in private hands.

In 1757, King George II donated the Old Royal Library to the British Museum (which later became the British Library), where the manuscripts were integrated into the museum's collections. This marked the formal establishment of the Royal Manuscript Collection within the British Museum.