Portable Secular Psalter; France, area of Reims; 9th century, middle

Title

Portable Secular Psalter; France, area of Reims; 9th century, middle

Shelfmark

MS. Douce 59

Place of origin

French, area of Rheims

Date

9th century, middle

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

purple parchment; paper fly-leaves

Physical extent

175 leaves

Hands

Caroline minuscule, gold ink; the titles of psalms and canticles are written in square capitals as scriptura continua, without breaks between words; the opening words of psalms at liturgical divisions are in square and rustic capitals; frequently there is an offset from the text, psalm numbers and decoration on the opposite page (e.g. psalm numbers on fols. 140v–141r, text on fols. 163v–164r)

Decoration

Full-page miniatures and initials mark the division of the psalter into ‘three fifties’. fol. 4r Psalm 1 (initial B(eatus)) Full-page gold initial and the opening words of psalm 1 in gold rustic capitals, placed in a gold rectangular frame with scallop designs and fleur-de-lis corner-pieces. The initial is decorated with gold, red and white interlace, floral designs, animal heads and dots. fol. 51v (miniature) Miniature, illustrating the text of psalm 51: psalmist holding a lunette-shaped razor and pointing to the hand of God appearing from the sky; King Saul seated on a throne, holding a sword; lances of his retinue behind this throne; Doeg prostrate at the foot of Saul’s throne; two of the ‘righteous’ seated with outstretched hands, one holding a scroll (defaced); ‘green olive tree’ behind the ‘righteous’; uprooted tree at the bottom of the composition. fol. 52r (initial Q(vid)) Psalm 51 Full-page incipit with a half-page gold initial and the opening words of psalm 51 written in gold square capitals, placed in a gold rectangular frame with acanthusleaf designs and fleur-de-lis corner-pieces. The initial is decorated with gold, red and white floral designs and dots. fol. 100v (miniature) Miniature, illustrating the text of psalm 101: half-naked psalmist with a chalice in his hand, standing on a rock surrounded by fire, next to a table with bread and drink; two kings with outstretched hands (defaced); ‘withered’ grass at the bottom of the miniature; a building with a single bird on its roof; half-figure of Christ in clouds above, with cruciform halo, one hand outstretched, the other holding a book. fol. 101r Psalm 101 (initial D(omine)) Full-page incipit with a half-page gold initial and the opening words of psalm 101 in square and rustic capitals, placed in a gold rectangular frame with acanthus-leaf designs and fleur-de-lis corner-pieces. The initial is decorated with gold, red and white floral designs, animal heads, interlace and dots.

Gold initials, usually four lines high (except fol. 134v, two lines; fols. 66r and 131r, three lines; fol. 25v, six lines) and indented into the text area, most outlined in red and white, and decorated with red, white, green and blue floral designs and dots at the beginnings of psalms 26 (fol. 25v), 38 (fol. 39v), 68 (fol. 66r), 80 (fol. 82v), 97 (fol. 98r), 109 (fol. 115v), 114 (fol. 119r), 121 (fol. 131r), 126 (fol. 133r), 131 (fol. 134v), 137 (fol. 138v), 143 (fol. 143v) and the beginning of weekly canticles (fol. 149v).

The opening words of psalms are written in gold square or rustic capitals.

2-line gold initials, written outside the ruled area, most outlined in red and white, decorated with red, white, blue and green floral and geometric designs, and red and white dots at the beginnings of psalms, canticles and prefaces.

1-line gold initials, decorated with red and white dots, at the beginnings of verses and periods.

Line-endings made of white and red dots.

Binding

Pasteboard covered with worn green velvet, late 18th–early 19th century. Fragment of a paper label on spine with blue border and fragmentary handwritten text including ‘[Ar]ch F[.] || [e]. 8’ (see ‘Provenance’ (3)). Gilt edges of textblock. Pastedowns of marbled paper.

Acquisition

Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1834

Provenance

Made for the secular use (larger initials mark psalms appointed first for Matins and Vespers in the secular use); closely related in the style of script and decoration, and in textual features, to the Troyes Psalter (Troyes, Trésor de la Cathédrale MS. 12) and the Utrecht Psalter (Utrecht, University Library MS. 320), made in the area of Reims in the 9th century. The decoration in MS. Douce 59 is also similar to that of a Gospel book (Reims, Bibliothèque municipale MS. 11), written in gold ink on purple parchment, which was, according to a tradition, a gift to Reims Cathedral from Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims (806–882) (van der Horst, Noel and Wüstefeld, 1996, p. 112; Koehler and Mütherich, 1999; and Mütherich, 2004).

Francis Douce, 1757–1834, see ODNB: bookplate on the upper pastedown; notes on fols. i, ii–vii. The psalter was part of Douce’s collection by December 1827, as it figures as no. 2 in a list of ten ‘books on coloured papers’ in his library (‘MS. psalter 10th century letters of gold on purple vellum’, Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Douce e. 81, fol. 28v).

Title

A Psalter

Shelfmark

MS. Douce 59

Summary

Preceded by 'Origo prophetiae David regis Psalmorum numero CL' (a prologue beg. 'Dauid filius Iesse cum esset') and the preface of Jerome.

At the end of the Psalter is added the canticle 'Pusillus eram', as if a 151st psalm. At fol. 149v follow the usual canticles, etc.:

Confitebor tibi

Ego dixi

Exultavit cor

Cantemus Domino

Domine audivi

Audite caeli

Te Deum

Benedicite omnia opera

Benedictus

Magnificat

Nunc dimittis

Gloria in excelsis

Pater noster

Credo in Deum

Quicunque vult.

The rubrics of the Psalms are noteworthy. The whole volume is written in gold letters on dark purple parchment, with illuminations chiefly in gold, red, white, or blue. At fol. 4 is a large B: at fol. 51v a full-page miniature of a tyrant overawed by prophets ('Quid gloriaris', ps. 51 [Engl. 52]), and a large letter on the next page: on fol. 100v is a miniature of an offering to God, illustrating ps. 101 (102), followed by a large letter. The volume as a whole is in good preservation. A facsimile of fols. 4r, 4V, is in the 1840 Catalogue as plate iv. A line in Rustic capitals is on fol. 66. The volume has been called 'Charlemagne's Psalter', and stated to be from the Old Royal Library of France: but there is no proof or even presumption that these descriptions are founded on fact. Waagen's idea (Art Treasures, iii. 87) that the MS. was written in England is probably incorrect.

Date

written in the 9th cent. in France (?)

Language

Latin

Physical facet

On parchment, illuminated, binding: green velvet, modern

Physical extent

166 Leaves