Beschreibung:

PSALTER, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Liège, 13th century; miniatures early 20th century]127 x 90mm. 149 leaves: 1 7(of 8, lacking i), 2 7(of 8, lacking vii), 3 8, 4 7(of 8, lacking vi), 5 8, 6 4(of 8, lacking iii-vi), 7 8, 8 7(of 8, lacking ii), 9 8, 10 4, 11 7(of 8, lacking i), 12 7(of 8, lacking viii), 13 6(of 8, lacking i and iii), 14 8, 15 6(of 8, lacking ii and vii), 16-17 8, 18 7(of 8, lacking iv), 19 5(uncertain, lacking leaves), 20 8, 21 1 0(x former pastedown), 19 lines written in brown ink in a gothic bookhand between two verticals, left vertical double ruled, and 20 horizontals ruled in grey, justification: 87 x 60mm, lower pricking for verticals, some prickings for horizontals, rubrics in red, versal initials alternately in red and blue, NUMEROUS ORIGINAL TWO-LINE INITIALS EXTENDING INTO BAR BORDERS IN BURNISHED GOLD on divided grounds of pink and blue patterned with white, some with decoration, fully painted or drawn, EIGHT MINIATURES OF C.1900, painted over the text (margins worn and discoloured, water-damage to many initials, corrections and missing text added in margins, repairs to corner of one leaf and in text of another, some wear to miniatures). Modern brown sheep, stamped in blind over wooden boards, slipcase (edges scuffed). PROVENANCE: Script and decoration show that the manuscript was made in Flanders in the thirteenth century. The saints in the litany indicate an origin in the bishopric of Liège: the second Martin is probably the Bishop of Tongeren; the Brabanter Anfrid founded the monastery of Heiligenberg before becoming Bishop of Utrecht; Pontian and Willibrord were especially revered in Utrecht, while other saints like Ludger, the founder of Werden, and Daria, whose relics were at Münstereifel, had cults centred across the German border. The presence of Benedict, Maur and Scholastica might indicate a connection with the Benedictine Order. The book continued in use, being corrected and annotated to bring it into line with subsequent usage, particularly in the Canticles with the addition of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis , ff.138v-142. The manuscript had already suffered the losses when the miniatures and additional border decoration were added in the early 20th century; most additional borders were left unpainted. CONTENT: Psalter, lacking beginning, opening Psalm XII 4, lacking at least 14 other leaves, eight pages of text lost under miniatures, and breaking at Psalm CXLVIII 9, ff.1-129v; Canticles, lacking opening, beginning in verse 5 of Exultavit cor meum , ff.130-142; Litany ff.142-144; Office of the Dead, unidentified Use ff.144v-148v; added prayer f.149. ILLUMINATION: Before the development of the book of hours, the Psalter was the favoured focus for private devotion, acquiring additions like the Office of the Dead. This volume was designed for ease of use: portable, with a clear script and bold initials and bars in gold, pink and blue to signal the start of each Psalm and Canticle, the opening of the Litany and of the Lessons and Prayers for the Dead. Small red and blue initials begin each verse or petition. This functional decoration was then elaborated, probably in the early 20th century, with additions in various styles, probably the work of an amateur caught up in the renewed enthusiasm for 'missal painting'. The border on f.1 follows a French model of c.1420; the incomplete decoration on f.85 might derive from a Spanish model; the acanthus drawn on several pages, with putti on f.129v, are Italianate in inspiration. The miniatures are all taken from the Sforza Hours, given to the British Museum in 1893 and now British Library, Add. MS 34294 (see M. Evans, The Sforza Hours , 1992). The Hours were painted for Bona of Savoy, duchess of Milan, by Giovan Pietro Birago in the 1490s; in 1521 Margaret of Austria, the widow of her nephew, paid the Ghent painter, Gerard Horenbout for replacing the parts of the manuscript that had been stolen from Birago. In this Psalter a