Psalter, glossed, in Latin, manuscript on vellum

240 leaves, plus 2 medieval flyleaves, 270 mm. by 178 mm., lacking one leaf at the beginning and single leaves after fols. 151 and 176, else complete, collation: i^{7 [of 8, lacking i], ii-xix8, xx7 [of 8, lacking i], xxi-xxii8, xxiii7 [of 8, lacking iii], xxiv-xxx8, xxxi3 [of 8, blank iv-viii cancelled], 14 lines of biblical text in a central column, c. 192 mm. by 65 mm., ruled in plummet, with up to about 43 lines of marginal glosses (and interlinear) on lines ruled as required, increasing the written-area to c. 217 mm. by 164 mm., written in dark brown ink in two sizes of a regular romanesque bookhand, the glosses sometimes in paler brown ink, versal capitals in red}, approximately 160 large decorated initials (for each psalm, canticle, and sub-division of Psalm 118) in a wide variety of styles, mostly in at least two colours, red, blue and sometimes yellow and brown, mostly with decorative infilling and flourishing, sometimes elaborate, five very large initials in elaborate scrolling leafy and dragon designs in red and brown penwork infilled with red, blue, brown and sometimes bright yellow, creatures and people (see below), dampstained (mainly along upper outer edges), all pages cockled and surfaces uneven, no binding, original stitching on 3 double thongs, tawed leather half-moon tabs at top and bottom of spine (as in the previous lot), vellum endleaves, in a wooden case

provenance

From a private collection, and by descent to the present owner.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

text

The Psalms were very probably the earliest text to be glossed by Anselm of Laon (d. 1117), for use by students in the cathedral schools of Laon in north-eastern France.  This was the moment when scholarship began to break away from the old monastic monopoly of learning.  The early Psalter Gloss was later expanded by Gilbert de la Porrée and in the mid-twelfth century by Peter Lombard (see the later lot in the sale).  The present manuscript shows the text in its earliest format.  For the text, cf. A. Wilmart, 'Un commentaire des psaumes restitué à Anselm de Laon', Recherches de théologie ancienne et moderne, VIII, 1936, pp. 325-44; C. de Hamel, Glossed Books of the Bible, 1984; Stegmüller, Repertorium Biblicum, IX, 1977, pp. 487-90, no. 11801; and L. Smith, 'Medieval Glossed Psalters: Layout and Use', The Bodleian Library Record, XXI, 2008, pp.48-61.  Another very early glossed Psalter was lot 34 in the sale in these rooms, 7 December 2004, and is now in the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.  A single leaf from a glossed Psalter of date comparable to the present manuscripts was sold in these rooms, 6 July 2000, lot 9, afterwards J. Günther, cat. 6 (2002), no. 3.

The text here begins in Psalm 1, "sic sed tamquam pulvis ..." (Psalm 1:4).  The first gloss begins, "A facie, id est, stabilitatis eterne ...".

illumination

Although now rather damaged, this was a luxury manuscript.  The style of the foliage with leafy interlace and cross-hatched shading has some parallel in the early twelfth-century Bible of the Grande-Chartreuse (W. Cahn, Romanesque Manuscripts, The Twelfth Century, 1996, no. 47, pls. 107-9).  The figure style is perhaps closer to Vat. Pal. Lat. 497, from Lorraine in the mid-twelfth century (ibid, no. 148, pls. 363-4).  The principal initials are:

1, Folio 36v, Initial 'D', ("Dominus inluminatio [sic] mea ...", Psalm 26), 62 mm. plus extensions by 67 mm., enclosing a standing figure of a crowned woman with a flowing dress and long sleeves, holding a book in her right hand and a flowering plant in her left hand, against a brown ground dotted with coloured orbs, perhaps Ecclesia bringing light into darkness, as the first gloss suggests.

2, Folio 58v, Initial 'D' ("Dixi custodiam vias meas ...", Psalm 38), 80 mm. by 76 mm., initial terminating with a dragon and including a dog in the foliage biting a branch and watching a bird at the far side, perhaps restraining its mouth in silence (as the text says) rather than chasing the prey.

3, Folio 79r, Initial 'D' ("Dixit insipiens ...", Psalm 52), 87 mm. by 68 mm., initial formed of two dragon heads biting foliage, and enclosing plants.

4, Folio 101r, Initial 'S' ("Salvum me fac ...", Psalm 68), 73 mm. by 55 mm., initial formed of a spotted dragon, enclosing a creature with the head of a goat, the wings of a bird and the tail of a fish, reaching towards what appears to be a bundle of arrows.

5, Folio 127v, Initial 'E' ("Exultate deo ...",Psalm 80), 72 mm. by 68 mm., initial terminating in two dragon heads and including a lion mask and the head of a bearded man.