Psalter of French provenance, written for a community of Dominican nuns., 2nd half of 15th century.
Scope and Contents
The contents are as follows:
(i) Psalter (folio 1);
(ii) Canticles (folio 135 verso);
(iii) Litany and supplications (folio 138);
(iv) Vespers of the Dead, followed by the 'Commendatio Animae' and the 'Subvenite' (folio 142 verso) (folio 149 should precede folio 143);
(v) Gospel according to St John, XIII-XVIII (folio 159).
The margins of many leaves are defective; some of them have been supplied by means of fresh pieces of vellum. The extract from St John's Gospel is in a different hand. There are no miniatures, but there are initials with decorative penwork throughout. Antiphons for liturgical use (as well as a number of corrections) have been added in a contemporary hand in the margins of many of the leaves. The 'Subvenite' is accompanied by music on a four-line stave in red. In the Litany following the Psalter (but not in that forming part of the Vespers of the Dead) the entry Sancte Maure has been added in the margin in a contemporary hand and Sancta Katherina appears twice (folio 139).
Dates
- Creation: 2nd half of 15th century.
Conditions Governing Access
Normal access conditions apply.
Conditions Governing Use
Normal reproduction conditions apply, subject to any copyright restrictions.
Extent
168 Leaves ; 156 x 120 millimetres.
Language of Materials
Latin
Arrangement
168 folios.
Collation: 1-11⁸, 12¹⁰, 13⁸, 14¹⁰, 15⁸, 16¹⁰, 17⁸, 18⁶, 19², 20⁸, 21¹⁰.
With catchwords. Sections (i)-(iv), single columns of 17 lines; section (v), 2 columns of 28 lines. Ruled in red and brown ink. Signatures survive on some leaves of gatherings 7-12 and 16.
Custodial History
At folio 168 is an inscription in a sixteenth-century hand: 'Le present liure est a seur Jehane Layre & a seur denise castille la bōne fille'; at folio 168 verso are ownership inscriptions in late fifteenth- and sixteenth-century hands of Katherine Courtin and Robert(?) de Chevalier, nuns of the Dominican convent of St Louis at Poissy; and folio 165 verso is inscribed 'dono accepit R P M Videl Praedicator gratianop. 1680'.
Physical Description
Vellum. Early eighteenth-century sprinkled sheepskin binding.
Repository Details
Part of the National Library of Scotland Archives and Manuscripts Division Repository
Archives and Manuscript Division
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1EJ
0131 623 3700
manuscripts@nls.uk