© Courtesy of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica
This initial 'C' is a champie initial, so-called because the gold letter C is set against a background of two colours, pink and blue (French champ pie = pied field). In this manuascript champies often accompany miniatures and serve to mark the first letter of the first word following a picture. Often in this manuscript and in Royal 14.E.III a larger champie serves to mark an important place in the text and to stand instead of a miniature. In those cases the champie is often preceded by a rubric. Here the rubric is above the miniature.