Psalter in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [France (Paris), 13th century]

Psalter in Latin

Illuminated manuscript on vellum. [France (Paris), 13th century (2nd quarter of middle)]

211 leaves, c.122×85mm, lacking a bifolium from the calendar, otherwise apparently complete, collation: 1^6-2 (outer bifolium missing; ff.1-4), 2¹², 3¹⁶, 4–7¹⁸, 8¹⁶, 9¹⁸, 10⁶ (ff.5–146); 11–15¹², 16^6-1 (last blank cancelled) (ff.147–211), the last leaf of quire 10 is ruled, otherwise blank, and (as is common in 13th-century Psalters) a second scribe wrote the other quires, starting at Psalm 109; ruled in plummet for 18 lines per page (c. 78mm by 49mm), written below top line in good gothic bookhand, illuminated with SIXTEEN CALENDAR ROUNDELS depicting zodiac signs and occupations of the months and EIGHT LARGE HISTORIATED INITIALS at the usual divisions of the psalter, other psalms with two-line champie initials (or sometimes inhabited by animals), verses with one-line initials alternately gold with blue penwork or blue with red penwork, the last initial on each page typically with a diagonal penwork extension crossing the lower margin, often enlivened with a dog, bird, fish, dragon, or hybrid creature; line-fillers sometimes in the form of a fish; the historiated initials each with some pigment loss, and sporadic stains and minor wear throughout but in generally good condition, with sparkling gold; bound in old red velvet, the flat spine with no title, green silk doublures, the edges of the leaves speckled blue; worn along the joints and edges

TEXT

Calendar, March–October (f.1r); Psalms 1–150 (f.5r), followed by canticles (f.189v), litany (f.207r), and five collects (f.210v); the last page, originally blank, with an added prayer (f.211v).

PROVENANCE

(1) Overall, the volume is a typical Parisian production; it appears that the calendar, as originally written in gold, blue, and red, was sparse, and that it has been tailored by the addition of feasts in brown ink to tailor it for a patron who presumably came from northwestern France: the calendar includes Thuriaf (13 July) and Magloire (24 October), both of Dol in eastern Brittany, and Leufred (21 June) and Aqulinus (19 Oct.), both of Evreux; the litany includes the very rare Floscellus (venerated at Coutances and Bayeux in western Normandy), as well as Vigor (Bayeux), and Samson (Dol); ‘Sancte Lande’ is perhaps St Leu (Landulf) of Evreux.

(2) Private collection; sold at Bonhams, London, 9 November 2016, lot 151; bought by a private collector.

ILLUMINATION

The style of illumination is close to that of New York, Morgan Library, MS M.283, a Paris Psalter datable to between 1228 and 1247, attributed by Robert Branner to his "Soissons Atelier" (Manuscript Painting in Paris During the Reign of Saint Louis: A Study of Styles (1977), p. 78). The present manuscript is probably rather later, to judge by the presence of the decoration that occupies the lower margins of each page.

Each page of the calendar with two roundels depicting the Occupation and Zodiac Sign of the Month:

March: A man pruning saplings; Aries, the ram

April: A man holding a bird’s nest of chicks and a flower; Taurus, the bull

May: A man on horseback hunting with a falcon; Gemini, the twins

June: A man mowing grass with a scythe; Cancer, the crab

July: A man reaping wheat with a sickle; Leo, the lion

August: A man, naked to the waist, threshing; Libra, a woman holding scales

September: A man sowing seed; Virgo, a young woman holding flowers

October: One man carrying and another man treading grapes; Scorpio, the scorpion

The usual eight divisions of the Psalter marked with historiated initials, each seven to ten lines high:

(f.5r) Psalm 1. King David harping

(f.33r) Psalm 26. Samuel anointing King David

(f.50v) Psalm 38. King David pointing to his mouth, before God

(f.67v) Psalm 52. The Fool, with bauble and loaf

(f.84v) Psalm 68. King David in the waters, appealing to God

(f.105v) Psalm 80. King David playing a carillon of bells

(f.125r) Psalm 97. Two priests singing from a choirbook on a lectern

(f.147r) Psalm 109. The Trinity enthroned