Psalter : with canticles and Litany : in Latin with some rubrics in French

Item Information

Title:
Psalter : with canticles and Litany : in Latin with some rubrics in French
Creator:
Catholic Church
Auctioneer:
Sotheby's (Firm)
Former owner:
Bernard Quaritch (Firm)
Date:
[1250–1299]
Format:
Manuscripts
Books
Genre:
Illuminations
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)--France
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)--Belgium
Manuscripts, Medieval--France
Manuscripts, Medieval--Belgium
Psalters
Inscriptions
Gothic scripts
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts (Collection of Distinction)
Places:
France > Hauts-de-France (region) > Cambrai
Belgium > Wallonia (region) > Hainaut, Province de (province) > Tournai
Extent:
201 leaves : parchment, ill. ; 160 x 117 (100 x 65) mm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/vd672g286
Terms of Use:
No Copyright - United States icon No Copyright - United States
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
[France?]
Language:
Latin
Table of Contents:
1. fol. 1-177v: psalter (10-partite division, although there is no major initial at Psalm 101). Lacking 1:1-6 viam (one leaf before fol. 1); 25:11 ingressus-26:6 ini[micos] (one leaf before fol. 30); and 108:15 terra-110:1 (one leaf before fol. 137).
2. fol. 177v-192v: canticles.
3. fol. 192v-201: Litany.
4. fol. 201-201v: Orisons contre les paiens/ Omnipotens sempiterne deum.../... mentibus serviant [?] nostrum amen.
Notes:
Ms. codex.
Bibliographic record created by BPL staff based on description by Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis.
Origin: Written in Northern France in the second half of the 13th century. The litany includes numerous saints of import in Cambrai and Tournai, such as: Firminus of Amiens, Mauritius of Amiens, Nicasius of Reims, Gaugericus of Cambrai, Aubertus, Amatus, Gislenus, Aycardus (of singular import in Cambrai), Bertinus, Iudocus, Aldegundis, Rictrudis and Eusebia.
Notes (ownership):
Provenance: Effaced inscription on fol. 201v not legible under ultra-violet light. French pencil notes on the contents, second flyleaf. Collation in English inside back cover, probably contemporary with price of £550 on front flyleaf. Sold Sotheby's London 16 May 1955, lot 86.
Notes (acquisition):
Immediate source of acquisition: Purchased by the BPL from Quaritch in 1957.
Notes (date):
This date is inferred.
Notes (citation):
Bond, W.H. Supplement to the Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada, 213
Notes (object):
Secundo folio: sunt qui tribulant me.
Collation: Parchment, fol. ii (later paper) + 201 + ii (later paper) ; 1⁸⁻¹ 2-3⁸ 4⁸⁻¹ 5-17⁸ 18⁸⁻¹ 19-22⁸ 23⁶ 24⁸ 25⁶ 26⁸ (lacking singles leaves before fol. 1, 30, and 137 (the initials of Psalms 1, 26 and 109)) ; ca. 18th-century signatures in black ink in far lower right corner, final verso of each quire, probably contemporary with binding. Modern pencil foliation, upper outer corner of each page.
Layout: Single column, 16 lines. Bounding and writing lines in blind or light plummet.
Script: Written in textualis formata in black ink (with red rubrics on fol. 201 only).
Decoration (primary): Eight-line historiated initials in gold and colors at major divisions (lacking leaves with the initials for Psalms 1, 26 and 109), all but that on fol. 57v with early silk guards sewn on (Ps. 101, which should begin with a historiated initial, does not), six extant: fol. 40 (Ps. 38): Christ and David conversing -- fol. 56v (Ps. 51): Doeg the Edomite, wearing a tunic over mail, holding a spear in one hand and a shield in the other emblazoned with a double-headed eagle -- fol. 57v (Ps. 52): David enthroned holding a scepter, conversing with a fool who holds a ball and a large stick -- fol. 75 (Ps. 68): initial [S] with two registers: Christ holding a T-orb in the upper register, David naked in waist-deep water in the lower -- fol. 97 (Ps. 80): David seated, ringing hanging bells -- fol. 116v (Ps. 97): two tonsured choristers singing from an open book held by one.
Decoration (secondary): Versal initials alternate one-line blue with red filigree or gold with blue. Psalms begin with two-line initials in gold filled with salmon on blue (or blue on salmon) with white filigree highlighting, some with pale green. Marginal animals and grotesques throughout, above, under or next to most Psalm incipits. Line fillers comprised of blue and red or gold and blue, or penwork animals/grotesques.
Binding: Ca. 18th-century calf over pasteboard, gilt-fillet border, edges and spine, blind-stamped central panel on upper and lower covers, modern vellum pastedowns and conjugate flyleaves followed by paper flyleaf contemporary with binding.
Notes (bibliography):
Bibliography: Nancy Netzer, ed., Secular/Sacred 11th-16th Century Works from the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston College, 2006), no. 12.
Notes (language):
In Latin.
Identifier:
06_01_018706
Call #:
RARE BKS MS q Med.161
MS 1586 (no longer used)
Barcode:
39999085498499