Portable Monastic Psalter; England, North, late 12th or early 13th century

Title

Portable Monastic Psalter; England, North, late 12th or early 13th century

Shelfmark

MS. Gough Liturg. 2

Date

late 12th or early 13th century

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment; laid paper fly-leaves

Physical extent

154 leaves Leaves were trimmed in rebinding, occasionally causing the loss of decoration.

Hands

Formal proto-Gothic book hand; black ink

Decoration

Prefatory miniatures illustrating the life of Christ on gold backgrounds, in rectangular frames with rubrics written in red ink in the upper margins. The miniature cycle is iconographically related to that of the Copenhagen Psalter (Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek MS. Thott 143 2o), but is longer; the style is close to the Vita Christi, now Los Angeles, CA, J. Paul Getty Museum MS. 101. fol. 11r Annunciation: the Virgin Mary, holding a book, and Angel, holding a scroll, stand under architectural arches; buildings in the background. fol. 12r Visitation: the Virgin Mary and Elizabeth embrace, standing under an architectural arch; buildings in the background. fol. 13r Nativity: the Virgin Mary lying on a bed, Joseph seated next to the Child in a manger; ox and ass; star and arches with curtains in the background. fol. 14r Annunciation to the Shepherds: angel, holding a scroll, speaks to the three shepherds, standing next to their animals (dog, goats, sheep and pig). fol. 15r Adoration of the Magi: the Virgin Mary, seated under an architectural arch, and the Child, with cruciform halo, seated on her knee, blessing; three crowned Magi offer gifts, one kneeling; buildings in the background. fol. 16r Presentation in the Temple: the Virgin Mary hands the Child over to Simeon; Joseph stands behind, holding a basket with three doves; arches and buildings in the background. fol. 17r Flight into Egypt: the Virgin Mary, holding the Child, seated on a donkey; Joseph leads the way; a young man with an axe over his shoulder walks behind, and urges the donkey with a whip. fol. 18r Herod and the Magi: three crowned Magi speak to seated crowned Herod; arches and buildings in the background. fol. 19r The Massacre of the Innocents: Herod, seated, holding a sword, watches three soldiers killing the Innocents. One of the soldiers pierces with his sword a baby, held by a woman in the foreground. Arches and buildings in the background. fol. 20r Wedding Feast at Cana: Christ, with cruciform halo, blessing; the Virgin Mary, two men and a woman standing behind a table set up with food. In the foreground, jugs of wine and two servants, one carrying a jug, another pouring wine from a jug into a cup; arches and buildings in the background. fol. 21r Baptism of Christ: Christ, standing in water with fish and other swimming animals; John the Baptist, holding a vessel and touching Christ’s blessing hand, stands to the left; an angel, holding a white gown, stands to the right. fol. 22r The First Temptation: Christ, seated on top of a mountain, holding a book, speaks to the Devil, with horns and wings, holding stones (rubbed). fol. 23r The Second Temptation: Christ, seated on the pinnacle of the Temple, holding a book, speaks to the Devil with horns and long ears (badly rubbed). fol. 24r The Third Temptation: Christ, seated, holding a book, watches the Devil falling head first down the mountain (rubbed). fol. 25br The Last Supper: Christ and apostles seated at the table; Christ embraces St John and puts bread into the mouth of Judas. fol. 26r Betrayal: Judas hands Christ over to the soldiers; St Peter cuts off a soldier’s ear with a sword (rubbed). fol. 27r Flagellation: Christ, standing with hands bound to a pole; two servants beat him with a whip and a cane. fol. 28r Crucifixion: Christ on the Cross; the Virgin Mary and St John, holding books, stand on either side; the sun and the moon with faces are above the beams of the Cross. fol. 29r Marys at the Sepulchre: three Marys, holding vessels, speak to an angel, seated on an empty tomb; soldiers asleep in the foreground (badly rubbed). fol. 30r Ascension: apostles and the Virgin Mary look at the feet and robe of Christ, disappearing in the clouds above. fol. 31r Pentecost: Christ, seated, holding a book, surrounded by apostles; the Holy Spirit descending from the clouds as a nimbed white dove. fol. 32r King David (face rubbed off), seated on the throne, playing harp; on either side are smaller figures in rectangular frames, playing various musical instruments and juggling.

fol. 33v Psalm 1 (initial B(eatus)) An almost full-page initial, on gold and blue background, decorated with interlace, coiled stems, flowers and leaves; animal mask joins together the two loops of B. Rectangular frame with four medallions in the corners, with busts of two young and two bearded prophets, holding scrolls.

4- to 9-line historiated initials, gold or on gold backgrounds, in rectangular frames at the beginnings of the following psalms: fol. 50r Psalm 26 (initial D(ominus)) King David seated, holding a sceptre and a book. fol. 71v Psalm 51 (initial Q(vid)) Devil enticing Saul to suicide; profile faces of four men in the background; winged grotesque forming the tail of Q. fol. 72r Psalm 52 (initial D(ixit)) Armoured knight with a spear and a shield on horseback; half-figure of a man clutching a stem forms the outline of the initial. fol. 76v Psalm 59 (initial D(evs)) Seated bearded man pointing to the text. fol. 82r Psalm 68 (initial S(alvvm)) Boat with two sailors. fol. 87r Psalm 73 (initial U(t)) Winged grotesque. fol. 98r Psalm 85 (initial I(nclina)) Woman in a long dress, arranging her hair. fol. 120r Psalm 109 (initial D(ixit)) King David seated, holding a sword.

5- to 9-line initials on gold backgrounds, in rectangular frames, decorated with coiled tendrils, foliage and flowers, at liturgical divisions at the beginning of psalms 20 (fol. 46r), 32 (fol. 54v), 38 (fol. 61v), 45 (fol. 67r), 80 (fol. 95r), 97 (fol. 107r), 101 (fol. 109r) and at the beginning of the first canticle (fol. 146r).

Borders: see above.

2- to 3-line initials, gold or on gold backgrounds, at the beginnings of psalms, canticles, litany and some prayers. The initials are in rectangular frames, decorated with coiled tendrils, foliage and flowers, birds, beasts, grotesques, heads, busts and figures of men. Many historiated initials are defaced.

2-line initials, most gold or on gold backgrounds, decorated with floral designs, and 2-line penwork initials at subdivisions within the psalms.

2-line red, green and blue initials, decorated with penwork, at the beginnings of prefatory prayers (fols. ‘1–10’v–32v), a prayer on fol. 108v and some of the collects following the litany.

1-line plain red, blue and green initials at the beginnings of verses and periods.

Rubrics in red ink.

Binding

Speckled brown leather over pasteboard, 18th century. Rebacked in 1973 at the Bodleian with the original spine relaid: binder’s note ‘C. P. 9/8/73’ on the lower pastedown. Double blind fillet lines round the outer edge of both covers. Five raised bands and gilt floral designs on spine. Gilt lettering on a red leather title-piece on spine: ‘LAT || ROM || MISSAL’. Former shelfmark ‘194’ painted white on spine. Edges of textblock speckled red. 18th-century laid paper end-leaves with one visible watermark (posthorn in a shield). Strips of parchment from a 16th-century legal document in English used to strengthen leaves (e.g. between fols. 40 and 41; 48 and 49, mentioning Robert Fetherstone and the City of London).

Acquisition

Bodleian Library: bequeathed by Gough; received in 1809. Former shelfmarks: ‘no 23’ (upper pastedown); ‘Gough Missal 194’ (fol. ‘1–10’), see Bliss and Bandinel (1814).

Provenance

Produced in the north of England: saints in the litany, and stylistic and iconographic detail (see Kauffmann, 1975). Prayers have masculine grammatical forms; one of them (fol. 24v) is recommended for reading after Matins and Vespers.

The psalter may have belonged to a woman: ‘peccatore’ is corrected to ‘peccatrice’ in a prayer to St Catherine on fol. 25bv in a late 12th- or 13th-century hand.

The name ‘John Blythe’ is written in an early 16th-century hand at the top of the Beatus-initial on fol. 33v. A partially erased word ‘Diabolus’ above the figure of the Devil on fol. 22r, and possibly an erased text above the figure of Christ appear to be in the same hand. The same hand, writing more informally, seems to have been responsible for the addition of the Sarum antiphons throughout the psalter, as well as for the word ‘Christus’, written on the figure of Christ on fol. 22r, for pen trials and erased text on fol. 160v. The antiphons are likely to have been added before the Reformation, perhaps in the first third of the 16th century.

Half-torn armorial bookplate of the Harrison family (18th century) on the upper pastedown.

Richard Gough (1735–1809), see ODNB. A note by Gough concerning ‘John Belith’, over an erased bookplate on the upper pastedown (an attempt to identify John Blythe (?)).

Title

A Psalter

Shelfmark

MS. Gough Liturg. 2

Summary

A Psalter, in Latin, preceded by prayers and followed by:

The usual canticles (fol. 146)

The Athanasian creed (fol. 154v)

A litany (fol. 156v)

On fol. 32 is a painting of David

On fol. 33v a large illuminated B

The nine first leaves are wanting; on fols. '11-31' are twenty-one full-page miniatures illustrating the life of Christ, beginning with the Annunciation and ending with the descent of the Holy Ghost. The saints in the litany point to the north of England (Wilfrid, Cuthbert, Hilda, etc., not Swithun or Erkenwald).

Date

Written in the 12th century in England

Language

Latin

Physical facet

On parchment, with fine miniatures, illuminated capitals, etc.

Physical extent

153 Leaves

Custodial history

Owned by 'John Blythe' in the 15th century (fol. 33v): the half-erased armorial bookplate of -- Harrison (18th century) is in the volume.