Manuscript, Psalter, in Latin and Dutch, Southern Low Countries, c. 1250.

Foliation: parchment. i (17th-century paper) + 184 + ii (17th-century paper) ff.

Number of lines: 20 lines.

Language: Latin and Dutch.

Script: 5 scribes:
ff. 1r-6v (small Gothic bookhand with tall ascenders and descenders).
f. 7r (small 14th-century Gothic bookhand).
ff.8r-110v, 112r-181r (small 13th-century Gothic bookhand).
ff. 111v, 181v (small 14th-century Gothic bookhand).
ff. 182r-182v (crude 15th-century Gothic bookhand).

Textual content:
ff. 1r-6v: Calendar, with saints specific to the Southern Low Countries (Gertrude, Effrem, Bertin, Omer of Therouanne, Remigius, Germanus and Bavo, Donatian and Quentin).
ff. 7r: Prayers added in a 14th-century bookhand, on the blank recto of an inserted full-page miniature.
ff. 8r-110v, 112r-161v: Psalter.
ff. 11v: Prayers in Latin and Dutch, all with rubrics in Flemish, added, in a 14th-century bookhand, on the blank recto of an inserted full-page miniature.
ff. 161v-176v: Canticles.
ff. 176v-181v: Litany (with many erasures), followed by a devotional sequence (ff. 176v-179r).
f. 181v: Prayers for the Virgin, added in a 14th-century bookhand.
f. 182r-182v: Prayers and incipits of psalms added in a crude 15th-century bookhand.

Decoration: large miniatures on separate leaves (ff. 31r, 108r, 111r). Also on a separate leaf is a historiated initial ‘B’ above letters (f. 7v). 12 Calendar illustrations of occupations of the months (consisting of single figures on blue or pink grounds, inside a pointed gold frame on ff. 1r-6v). 9 10-line historiated initials on gold grounds (ff. 30v, 58v, 59v, 73r, 91r, 107v, 110v, 127r). Borders of solid blue and pink bars; monsters at the foot of each leaf; solid line fillers.

Binding:
(1) 19th century. England. spine with three raised bands, four compartments, cross-hatched in blind, label of light brown calf lettered in gold PSALTERIUM / CODEX . MS . / SAEC. XIV.
(2) 17th century. Dark brown morocco, with gold-tooled medallion of the crucifixion on each cover; spine repaired.

Bequeathed by George Reid in 1902.

(1) Inscription in a late medieval hand on f. 147r that may refer to an owner.
(2) Printed label of John Ruskin: EX LIBRIS/JOHN RUSKIN/BRANTWOOD (Brantwood was his home in Lake District (Cumbria), now a historic House and Museum).
(3) Bequeated by George Reid in 1902.

This small manuscript is a psalter, as its main component is the Book of Psalms, a section from the Old Testament traditionally attributed to King David. It also contains other devotional texts, such as the litany of the saints (ff. 176v-181v) and various prayers in Latin and Dutch, as well as canticles (ff. 161v-176v). Most psalters began with w calendar indicating the feasts to celebrate throughout the year. It was commonly illustrated with depictions of seasonal activities: here, for instance, for the month of November, a man is shown beating a tree to feed his pigs acorns (f. 6r). By the mid-13th century, when this manuscript was made, psalters were increasingly used by the laity in the context of their daily devotions.

The main psalms are introduced by a full-page miniature in which figures stand out against a gold leaf background. Psalm 101 is unusually marked by a representation of saint Francis, saint Clare and saint Dominic standing side by side, suggesting a monastic connection (f. 110v).

This psalter was most probably made in Bruges, as is suggested by the feasts mentioned in the calendar and litany, but also by the similarity of the calendar illuminations with those of the Touke Psalter made in Bruges around 1250-1260 (Baltimore, Walters Gallery, MS W.36).
This manuscript has recently been attributed to the Mainline Master and assistants, active in Bruges in the mid 13th century. Two other manuscripts have been attributed to the same illuminator: Oxford, Bodl. Library, Lat. Liturg. 396 and St Omer, Bibliothèque d'Agglomération de St Omer, Ms. 270, (see references, also see Carlvant 2012).

MSL/1902/1664 (Reid 24)