tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477084043514799190.post7546153831419784238..comments2024-03-29T10:42:27.288+00:00Comments on Medieval Manuscripts Provenance: Yet More Alphabet SoupPeter Kiddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08798182942786604505noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477084043514799190.post-71488899165106793072020-07-19T12:12:39.921+00:002020-07-19T12:12:39.921+00:00Judith Oliver writes:
Hypothetically the S initia...Judith Oliver writes:<br /><br />Hypothetically the S initial could be one of two texts:<br /><br />a) <i>Suscipe regina</i>, the prefatory prayer before the <i>Ave porta paradisi</i> poem (Dublin 90) but it can be ruled out as it is treated as a minor text while this S is as large as other major historiated initials, and <i>Suscipe regina</i> does not explain the dove. <br /><br />So b) the antiphon <i>Subvenite</i> for the <i>Commendatio Animarum</i>. It is not characteristic of Liege psalters but there are French examples and some later Brabantine ones (ex-Donaueschingen 316 before the office of the dead). <i>Subvenite sancti dei</i> asks God to accept the soul of the departed as the Christ Child is doing in this initial. The collects on the reverse side might be from the end of the office of the dead but I have found the second one at least IN the <i>Commendatio animarum</i>, so that puts the S on a recto. The Lilly got two historiated initials from sequential texts here. So we need a few more pieces to turn up!Peter Kiddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08798182942786604505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477084043514799190.post-70169372550950606682020-06-02T09:45:01.750+00:002020-06-02T09:45:01.750+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Peter Kiddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08798182942786604505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477084043514799190.post-78617245061562692782020-06-02T07:19:25.876+00:002020-06-02T07:19:25.876+00:00This is so interesting, thank you so much for shar...This is so interesting, thank you so much for sharing. <br />I have been studying MS. Douce d.19 for my undergraduate History of Art course - as part of the course in the first year we choose an object in Oxford to write an essay on, and that was mine. <br /><br />My focus was more on MS. Douce d.19 as a whole - 19th century collecting and cutting up of manuscripts, how the fragments came to be in the volume, and Douce as a collector. Also the conservation issues - how we treat the fragments e.g. reconstruct them/ refoliate them if possible, or honour their later history? I think I'm more inclined towards the latter, despite my initial horror when I saw them!<br /><br />Although the essay was about the afterlives of medieval manuscripts, and how their uses have change over time, the first section looks at their orignal 'life' and I used cuttings from this psalter-hours as a case study, particularly the fragments from psalms 2 and 68. <br /><br />I knew about the cuttings in Oxford, Philadelphia and the Christies and Sotheby's sales, however it is so interesting that even more have been found. My essay is due in a week, so I will have to try and include this in the word count!<br /><br />Douce certainly cut up his own manuscripts, and other fragments in MS. Douce d.19 attest to this. However it seems most likely he bought these psalter-hours fragments in a sale, given they have turned up elsewhere - his purchases begin from the 1790s. It is near impossible to track down which sale they came from because his records are so vague. MS. Douce d.19 is not one of Douce's scrapbooks, it was mostly like created by the library between around 1915-22. The records are very scarce however. From what records there are, I think the cuttings arrived in the Bodleian as separate fragments dispersed amongst his print collection. Douce also cut out letters from his woodcut printed books, now in the Ashmolean, and it seems likely he kept these fragments with them. They are all methodically arranged in alphabets. <br /><br />Thank you again for sharing, I wonder if any more will turn up?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Although Douce certainly Lauren Winchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13148859328046257642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477084043514799190.post-79573473733864147012020-05-23T16:52:53.589+00:002020-05-23T16:52:53.589+00:00Great post, Peter! Do we know who cut it up and wh...Great post, Peter! Do we know who cut it up and when? Has a record of the parent manuscript been found? Lisa Fagin Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14075423216362343724noreply@blogger.com