Throughout the ages the Grail has been conceived as a symbol of great, especially spiritual riches. Its outward shape has been a matter of debate: a cup, a chalice, a stone or a jewel, possessing medical or nourishing powers. Often it is very close but remains unseen, thus symbolizing the tragic blindness in spiritual affairs. In this prose version it was for the first time identified as the cup of the Last Supper and the Chalice used by Joseph of Arimathea to receive the blood of Christ.

The miniatures in the 3 volumes, 109 in all, are executed within multi-coloured frames on burnished gold backgrounds, and issue from the Artois-Picardie school. A remarkable feature of this manuscript is the numerous directions (many of them now illegible) to the miniaturist in the lower margins of a large number of leaves.

Provenance: Sir Thomas Phillipps, with his notes in the Merlin-Lancelot portions, drawing comparisons with the printed 1535 edition.