Saturday, 21 June 2014

A Dismembered Italian Ferial Psalter

Those of you who subscribe to the Manuscripts on My Mind (MoMM) Newsletter (and if you don't, I recommend that you do) will know about St Louis University, MSS 55a and 55b; Susan L'Engle brought attention to these two leaves in MoMM issue 8 (PDF here):

In MoMM issue 10 (PDF here) Scott Gwara identified another leaf, now at Otterbein University, Ohio (acquired in 1960), and two offered for sale by Duschnes in 1962, from the same volume:


Since then I have located several more. Because there is a danger that I will lose track of which ones have been identified, or may fail to realise immediately that a newly discovered leaf has already been identified elsewhere, I thought it would be useful to list and reproduce the known leaves here, updating this page as new leaves come to light. In due course I expect that the manuscript's earlier provenance, and circumstances of its dismemberment, will be revealed.

A leaf with added figures and heraldry in the lower margins -- just like the SLU leaves -- is is a private collection in New Jersey; these were reported in MoMM issue 11 (PDF here):


In the same issue of MoMM Susan L'Engle reported that SLU had acquired another leaf, given the call-number Ms 55c.

Two leaves are in Special Collections at the University of Santa Barbara:




Two were in Kenneth W. Rendell, Catalogue 146 1979, nos.148 and 149 (reported in MoMM issue 11):


And one is in a private collection in Japan (also reported in MoMM issue 11; formerly Quaritch, Bookhands of the Middle Ages, Part III, catalogue 1088 (1988), no.55):


One was offered by Maggs Bros. in Bulletin No. 2: European Miniatures and Illumination, 1962, no.18:

The texts identified thus far are:
  • Pss.6:8–7:3 
    • Duschnes, Catalogue 157, item 50
  • Pss.32:14–33:10 
    • Ottobein Univ.
  • Pss.33:10–34:3
    • SLU, MS 55a
  • Pss.35:3–36:4
    • Private Collection, NJ.
  • Pss.36:4–27
    • SLU, MS 55b
  • Pss.37:11–end; versicles, etc.
    • UCSB
  • Pss.42:1–end; Isaiah 38:10–15 (Canticle of Ezechias)
    • Philadelphia Museum of Art, 62-146-11
  • Pss.50:17–end; 5:1–[11]
    • The Rendells, Catalogue 146, 1979, no.148
  • Pss.74:5–75:3
    • The Rendells, Catalogue 146, 1979, no.149
  • Ps.91:1–16
    • Sotheby's, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, 7 July 2015, lot 24
  • Ps.104:27–35 [only one side visible]
    • The Allen Memorial Museum, Oberlin, RC1971.9
  • Pss.105:48–106:8 + catchword for 106:9 [with Ps.105:39–47 on the recto?]
    • Maggs, Bulletin 2, 1962, no.18; Sotheby's, Western Manuscripts and Miniatures, 5 December 2000, lot 31
  • Pss.108:4–19
    • UCSB
  • Ps.108:19–31
    • SLU, MS 55c
  • Ps.118:8–17
    • Giuseppe Solmi studio bibliografico, La Bibbia: Volumi frammenti e da un libro misterioso. XVI Mostra del libro antico (Milano, 10-13 Marzo 2005), cat. 13
  • Hymn "Rector potens verax deus"; Ps.118:81–94
    • on deposit at the Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (this link appears to work only in Firefox)
  • Ps.118:175–end; Versicles etc.; Ps.109:1–4
    • Private Collection, Japan [now donated to the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo]
Placement uncertain: a leaf at The University of Michigan Museum of Art.

Edits 
28 Feb 2016
Leaf at the Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, added.

31 July 2016
Leaf at The University of Michigan Museum of Art, added.
Leaf at The Allen Memorial Museum, Oberlin added.

3 March 2019
Leaves with Pss. 91:1-16, 105:48-106:8, and 118:8-17 added above, thanks to inforamtion from Pier Luigi Mulas.

1 comment:

  1. Dear Peter,

    Thank you so much for your discoveries and for documenting them all so precisely! Not only will SLU's leaves soon be cataloged and posted in Digital Scriptorium, but all the dispersed leaves have potential to include in our Broken Books project at SLU's Center for Digital Humanities.
    Debra Cashion
    dcashion@slu.edu

    ReplyDelete

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