Psalter; England, Diocese of York, 12th century, end

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Title

Psalter; England, Diocese of York, 12th century, end

Shelfmark

MS. e Mus. 127

Place of origin

English, north, diocese of York

Date

12th century, end

Language

Latin

Psalter

1. (pp. v–xi) John of Garland Commentarius

2. (p. xi) Extracts in verse and prose, added after the end of the Commentarius in a 13th-century hand, probably the same as the hand responsible for the ecclesiastical records on p. xii:

Incipit: psallat clericorum contio devota | cordi consonorum canticum cum nota

Incipit: vincula coniugii casus bis quinq(ue) resoluunt | condicio dispar cultus uis error honestas | frigiditas abitus ordo cognatio votum

Incipit: Consensus autem consequens suplet quod precedens

Incipit: Extrema pasche terra decet passio Marci

3. (p. xii) Texts in two columns in two 13th-century cursive hands. The first column contains a medical excerpt (or excerpts (?)) beginning ‘Duobus namque modis inueteratur homo ...’. The second column has copies of two 13th-century York ecclesiastical records: the first is a letter of prior frater Johannes to the archbishop of York; the other concerns the church of ‘Boneye’ in the diocese of York.

4. (pp. 1–288) Psalms [1]–150, without titles or numbers, written with each verse starting on a new line. Punctuated throughout, with punctus used to mark the ends of verses, punctus elevatus used to mark metrum, and punctus or punctus elevatus used to mark minor pauses. Imperfect at the beginning because of a missing leaf, starting at 2: 3. The following text is also missing, because leaves, mainly those which used to contain initials at the ten-fold textual divisions, were cut out: – pp. 42b–42c are a fragment (missing text 24: 21–26: 2); – four leaves missing after p. 82 (missing text 42: 5–46: 8); – one leaf missing after p. 92 (missing text 51–52: 2); – a quire missing after p. 146 (missing text 77: 9–81: 8); – one leaf missing after p. 176 (missing text 96: 5–97: 5). Initials were also cut out, with the loss of the surrounding text, at the beginning of psalms 38 (pp. 73–74), 68 (pp. 121–122), 101 (pp. 181–182) and 109 (pp. 213–214). The opening lines of psalm 109, partially preserved, are written in large capitals in alternating red, green and blue ink. Originally there may have been decorated initials at psalms 26, 38, 51, 52, 68, 80, 97, 101 and 109. Subdivisions within psalms are not marked, apart from 17: 26 (fol. 26v); psalm 118 is subdivided into a mixture of 8-verse and 16-verse units (118: 41, 118: 73, 118: 89, 118: 121, 118: 137, 118: 153 and 118: 169 are not marked by larger initials). Psalms 148–150 are written as a single text. Two 14th-century hands added in margins, at the beginning of many psalms, the opening words of antiphons for the use of York, many with musical notation. Pp. 231–232 and 247–248 are repaired with parchment and missing words are supplied in a 14th-century (?) hand.

5. (pp. 288–308) Weekly canticles, without titles: (1) Confitebor tibi domine (Isaiah 12); (2) Ego dixi (Isaiah 38: 10–21); (3) Exultauit cor meum (1 Samuel 2: 1–11); (4) Cantemus domino (Exodus 15: 1–20); (5) Domine audiui (Habakkuk 3); (6) Audite celi (Deuteronomy 32: 1–44). The initial at the beginning of the first canticle (pp. 287–288) is torn out with the loss of some surrounding text.

6. (pp. 308–320) Daily canticles, prayers and creeds, without titles: (1) Benedicite omnia opera (p. 308); (2) Benedictus dominus deus (p. 310); (3) Magnificat (p. 312); (4) Nunc dimittis (p. 313); (5) Te deum laudamus (p. 313); (6) Gloria in excelsis (p. 316); (7) Athanasian Creed (Quicumque uult ...) (p. 316), imperfect at the end owing to the loss of at least one quire, ending ‘non duo tamen, sed unus est christus’.

7. (pp. 321–328) Last part of the litany, containing the virgins and invocations; the beginning is missing owing to the loss of leaves. Includes Ethelburga, Osyth and Austroberta. Petition for ‘archipresulem nostrum’ on p. 323. The litany is followed by collects (pp. 325–328), including a prayer for ‘archipresul’ on p. 326: (1) Deus cui proprium est misereri semper et parcere suscipe ... (2) Omnipotens sempiterne deus qui facis mirabilia magna solus ... (3) Pretende domine famulis et famulabus tuis dexteram celestis auxilii ut de toto corde ... (4) Deus a quo sancta desideria recta consilia et iusta sunt ... (5) A domo tua quesumus domine spirituales nequitie repellantur et aeriarum discedat malignitas potestatum ... (6) Animabus quesumus domine famulorum famularumque tuarum oracio proficiat supplicantium ut eas ... (7) Deus qui es sanctorum tuorum splendor mirabilis atque lapsorum subleuator ...

Form

codex

Support

parchment; paper fly-leaves; many leaves damaged and repaired with parchment

Physical extent

346 pages

Hands

Large formal proto-Gothic book script; black ink

Decoration

Larger illuminated initials at liturgical divisions in the psalter and at the beginning of the canticles are cut out (see ‘Text’). 4-line gold initial with floral designs at psalm 119 (p. 247).

2-line gold initials at the beginning of psalms, decorated with human heads (pp. 5, 127), profiles (pp. 31, 251, 254, 265, 271), animals (pp. 6, 54, 90, 238), fish (pp. 264, 278), animal mask (p. 85), birds (pp. 9, 243, 257, 262), grotesques (pp. 149, 209, 221, 236, 264), a nude man riding a grotesque (p. 197), half-figure of a man holding a shield and a club (p. 269), and floral designs.

Plain 1-line alternating red, blue, green and brown initials at the beginning of verses.

Musical notation

Music (see van Dijk 1957).

Binding

19th-century Bodleian Library binding; brown leather over pasteboard. Gilt and blind roll border round the outer edge of both covers. Five raised bands on spine, edged with gilt and blind fillet lines. Gilt lettering on spine: ‘MISSALE .’ and ‘E MUSEO || 127 .’. Blind tooling on turn-ins. Paper fly-leaves.

Acquisition

Bodleian Library: donated by Whalley in 1655.

Provenance

Made for the use of the diocese of York: evidence of litany and prayers; notes of York ecclesiastical records added in the 13th century; antiphons for the use of York added in the 14th century.

‘Rycardus farltune’: inscription in a 15th-century hand on p. vii. Also ‘Ric ardus’ (?) on p. 188. Notes in the margins in the same hand (?), containing the opening lines of hymns used in daily offices and instructions concerning offices (?), including: – four opening lines of Nunc sancte nobis spiritus (Chevalier, no. 12586), written as prose in the upper margin on p. 230; – ‘Rerum deus tenax vigor immotus in te permanens’, opening words of Chevalier, no. 17328 in the upper margin on p. 242; – short notes in Latin and English in the margins on pp. 19, 29 (‘Media nocte ...’), 34 (‘domine in uertute tua’, a transcript of an antiphon added in the left margin), 154 (‘the last’ against psalm 86), 274 and 278 (‘dominus’).

Peter Whalley of Northampton (d. 1656).

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Connections

People associated with this object

Peter Whalley of Northampton (d. 1656)
Rycardus farltune’
John, of Garland, approximately 1195-approximately 1272

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