Wie van de drie: compilator, kopiist of corrector? Over het Velthemprobleem en de Lancelotcompilatie

The first issue of Nederlandse letterkunde contains two articles in which the famous Middle Dutch manuscript, known as the Lancelot Compilation (The Hague, Royal Library, ms. 129 A 10) is discussed. The articles are very early examples of the research method that has been known as ‘Material Philology’ since the late nineties. Both authors, W.P. Gerritsen and Soetje Oppenhuis de Jong, touch upon the so-called ‘Velthemprobleem’, the central issue of the debate concerning this manuscript. The question is what roles can be ascribed to Lodewijk van Velthem, the well-known Brabantine priest-author, whose name appears on the last folium of the compilation. Was he the compiler, the corrector or the main scribe of this manuscript? Anno 2021 there is a communis opinio about Velthem having been both the owner and compiler of the codex. Moreover, much has been discovered about the compilation’s broader literary network and environment and the persons involved in its making. However, there are still a lot of questions, which will undoubtedly keep researchers busy for some time yet.