Portable Psalter, Hieronymite (?) Use; Spain, South (?), 15th century, third quarter

Title

Portable Psalter, Hieronymite (?) Use; Spain, South (?), 15th century, third quarter

Shelfmark

MS. Canon. Liturg. 114

Associated place

Spanish

Italian

Place of origin

Spanish, south(?)

Date

15th century, third quarter

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment; paper fly-leaves

Physical extent

185 leaves Leaves were trimmed in rebinding, causing extensive loss of decoration.

Hands

Formal Gothic book hands, the work of several scribes (change of hand in part II on fol. 147r), black and brown ink.

Decoration

Red and blue penwork KL monograms in the calendar.

Full-page miniatures by two different artists: fol. 141v Saint, wearing a mitre and holding a crosier and a book, seated on a throne (defaced). Full border, decorated with green, pink and blue foliage, and gold vine leaves and discs. fol. 182v King David, seated, playing psaltery (grisaille). Full border, decorated with pink, blue, yellow and gold foliage, flowers and peacocks, gold vine leaves and discs.

Illuminated initials at liturgical divisions in two different styles. The first is found in quires 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11 and 15; the second in quires 2, 5 and 7; both together in quires 8, 10, 12 and 13. Half-page Beatus-initial and 10- to 11-line initials at the beginnings of psalms 26 (fol. 27r), 32 (fol. 32v), 45 (fol. 47r), 52 (fol. 52v), 68 (fol. 65r), 73 (fol. 71r), 79 (fol. 79r), 95 (fol. 93r), 105 (fol. 102v), 106 (fol. 105r) and 119 (fol. 123r), decorated with foliage, flowers and birds, and full or partial borders, decorated with gold filigree scrolls, flowers, peacocks, parrots and other birds. 9- to 11-line initials, decorated with foliage, flowers, birds and masks, on gold background, with sprays of foliage and gold discs extending into the margins, at the beginnings of psalms 20 (fol. 22r), 38 (fol. 40r), 59 (fol. 58r), 69 (fol. 67r), 85 (fol. 83v), 88 (fol. 85v), 101 (fol. 96r) and 109 (fol. 109v).

Borders: see above.

3-line alternating red and blue initials, decorated with contrasting purple or red penwork, at the beginnings of psalms. Similar 1-line initials at the beginnings of verses and periods.

2-line red and blue initials, some with penwork, at the beginnings of texts and sections of texts on fols. 142r–182v; 1-line plain red and blue initials at the beginnings of verses and periods.

Rubrics in red ink/

Binding

16th century or 17th century, Spanish or Italian?: thin wood boards, narrow inside bevel; polished dark red leather, tooled with blind and gilt lines, gilt tools and rolls, to form an overall gilt pattern enclosing the letters ‘S M | M’ at the centre of each cover (each final ‘M’ immediately corrected from ‘V’); spine similarly decorated with blind lines and gilt tools (re-laid after rebacking); fittings for two clasps with lost straps of similar leather; edges gilt, gauffered, after severe trimming of textblock. Rebacked, with added paste-downs of light-blue marbled paper, 18th century?, Italian?, and a box. 116 80 c. 30–33 (book closed).

18th century, Italian: telescopic box of thin card, covered with brown leather stippled in black; blind-tooled with double lines in a lozenge pattern on each side; rounded back and all edges outlined with blind double lines; box lined with carta bassanese, with a large floral pattern of white outlined on a stippled red ground. 134–135 c. 90–91 c. 37 (box closed). Cf. box of MS. Canon. Liturg. 178.

Acquisition

Bodleian Library: bought in 1817 from Canonici’s nephew Giovanni Perissinotti. Earlier Bodleian shelf-mark: ‘E Codd: Bodl: Miscell: Liturg. 114’ (fol. 1r; cf. spine).

Provenance

Calendar and psalter made in southern Spain (?) for a Hieronymite (?) patron: liturgical evidence. Part II has ruling identical to part I and is probably a contemporary addition.

Part III, including the Bridgettine Office of the Virgin, was added probably in the 15th or 16th century. A miniature of King David on fol. 182v suggests that this continuation was intended for a psalter.

Matteo Luigi Canonici of Venice (1727 – c. 1806), but not from the libraries of Soranzo or Trevisan.

Giuseppe Canonici , -1807

Title

A Psalter

Shelfmark

MS. Canon. Liturg. 114

Summary

A Psalter, with rubrics dividing it both 'secundum beatum Jeronimum' (Gregorian) and 'secundum ordinem Cartusie', in Latin: preceded by a Calendar, and followed by:

Canticles, etc. (fol. 142)

Hymns, Antiphons, etc., for the hour services (fol. 150)

Originally there were thirty-seven more leaves between fols. 140 and 141, and one after fol. 146. There are some elaborate borders and a few miniatures, etc.

Date

Written in the second half of the 15th century in Italy

Language

Latin

Physical facet

On parchment, with five illuminations, etc., binding, dark red leather on boards, with gold tooling and 'S. M. V.' altered to 'S. M. M.'

Physical extent

184 Leaves