A catalogue of Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries and selected Oxford colleges

OR BROWSE BY

MANUSCRIPTS
WORKS
PEOPLE
PLACES

MS. Canon. Liturg. 395

Summary Catalogue no.: 19475

Secular Ferial Choir Psalter with Antiphons, Use of Rome; Dalmatia, Trogir (?), 15th century, early

Contents

Secular Ferial Choir Psalter with Antiphons, Use of Rome,

[item 1 occupies quire I]

1. (fols. ib recto–vi verso)

Calendar, written in black and red, laid out one month per page, approximately half full, largely ungraded apart from a few major feasts graded ‘duplex’ or ‘semiduplex’, with 16th- to 18-century additions. Includes Domnio (7 May; alleged first bishop of Salona in Dalmatia), Lawrence (10 August) as duplex, Giovanni Orsini of Trogir and his translation (14 November and 26 June), all in red. Also includes in the original hand Herculanus of Perugia (1 March), Ubaldus of Gubbio (16 May) and the assumption of Elijah (?) (‘Assumpcio Helye prophete’, 20 July). Comemoracio sancti Ioannis Traguriensis ob liberationem Clyssie’ (11 April) is added in a 16th-century hand. Other 16th- and 17th-century additions include Longinus as duplex (15 March), Francis of Paola as duplex (2 April), canonized in 1519, Vincent Ferrer as duplex (6 April), Januarius (19 September), Mercurius (21 November) and Maximus (martyr, 29 October). 18th-century additions in the hand which supplied an alphabetical table of contents on the lower pastedown (see below) include the dedication of the Cathedral of St Lawrence in Trau (Trogir), Dalmatia, on 12 August (‘dedicatio sancti Laurentij Trã . Ecclesie’), Clare of Assisi (12 August), Sancti Angeli Custodis (10 October) and an expanded record for the feast of Giovanni Orsini (‘Festum ... Tragum Prot. cum Octaua’). Months are headed by notes on the length of the solar and lunar month and on the number of hours in day and night.

[items 2–3 occupy quires II–XXI]

2. (fols. vii recto–viii verso)

Hymns for Matins on Sundays during the year with rubrics and music (square notation on staves of four red lines): Primo dierum omnium (Chevalier, no. 15450) and Nocte surgentes uigilemus (Chevalier, no. 12035). The hymns are preceded by a rubric: ‘Incipit psalterium secundum vsum curie Romane’ and followed by antiphons with music.

3. (fols. 1r–217v)

Psalms, appointed for reading at Matins and Lauds on Sundays, Prime, Terce, Sext and None, and Matins and Lauds during the week according to secular use. Originally there may have been another volume containing psalms for Vespers and Compline (similarly to MSS. Lat. liturg. a. 1 and Lat. liturg. a. 2, two parts of a complete ferial psalter with a somewhat different order of psalms). The psalms are laid out as prose, without numbers, most preceded by rubrics ‘psalmus dauid’ or ‘psalmus’. Punctuated throughout with punctus flexus used to mark minor pauses, punctus elevatus used to mark metrum, and punctus used to mark the ends of verses. There are textual divisions at psalms 26, 52, 68, 80 and 97 (see ‘Decoration’). The beginning of psalm 38 is missing (see below). The divisions within psalms are not indicated, apart from psalm 118, subdivided into twenty-two 8-verse sections. Psalms are accompanied by antiphons, versicles, responses, chapters, prayers and hymns with rubrics and music (square notation on staves of four red lines). The margins contain liturgical notes in early modern (up to the 18th century) hands. Added running titles in the upper margin mark the sections of psalter appointed for recitation on different days of the week (‘feria secunda’, fols. 75v–76r, ‘feria tertia’, fols. 102v–103r, etc.). They are in an 18th-century hand which made additions to the calendar and added a table of contents on the lower pastedown. Psalms, canticles, hymns, chapters and creeds are in the following order:

Sunday Matins (fol. 1r)

  • 1–20
  • Te deum laudamus (fol. 31r)

Sunday Lauds (fol. 32v)

  • 92, 99, 62, 66
  • Benedicite omnia opera (fol. 35v)
  • 148–150 (written without breaks as a single text)
  • Benedictio et claritas (‘Capitulum’) (Revelation, 7: 12)
  • Eterne rerum conditor (Chevalier, no. 647)
  • Ecce iam noctis tenuantur umbra (Chevalier, no. 5129)
  • Benedictus dominus deus (fol. 42r)
  • Iam lucis orto sidere (Chevalier, no. 9272)

Prime (fol. 43v)

  • 21–25, 53, 117, 118: 1, 118: 9, 118: 17, 118: 25
  • Athanasian Creed (Quicumque uult ... ) (‘Simbolum’) (fol. 56r)
  • Apostles’ Creed (Credo in deum ... ) (fol. 59v)
  • Prayers, short reading and hymn:
  • Confiteor deo omnipotenti beate marie semper uirgini beato petro beato paulo laurentio iohanni et omnibus sanctis ...
  • Misereatur uestri fratres omnipotens deus et dimissis ...
  • Domine deus omnipotens qui ad principium huius diei ...
  • Dirigere et sanctificare regere et gubernare dignare domine deus rex celi et terre hodie corda et corpora nostra ...
  • Dominus autem dirigat corda et corpora nostra ... (2 Thessalonians 3: 5)
  • Nunc sancte nobis spiritus (Chevalier, no. 12586)

Terce (fol. 62v)

  • 118: 33, 118: 41, 118: 49, 118: 57, 118: 65, 118: 73
  • Rector potens (Chevalier, no. 17061)

Sext (fol. 67r)

  • 118: 81, 118: 89, 118: 97, 118: 105, 118: 113, 118: 121
  • Alter alterius onera portate (‘capitulim’) (Galatians 6: 2)
  • Rerum deus tenax uigor (Chevalier, no. 17328)

None (fol. 71v)

  • 118: 129, 118: 137, 118: 145, 118: 153, 118: 161, 118: 169
  • Empti enim estis pretio magno (‘capitulim’) (1 Corinthians 6: 20)
  • Sompno refectis artubus spreto (Chevalier, no. 19210)

Monday Matins (fol. 76r)

  • 26–37

Monday Lauds (fol. 96r)

  • Confitebor tibi domine (Isaiah 12) (fol. 97v)
  • Nox precessit dies (‘Capitulum’) (Romans 13: 12–13)
  • Splendor paterne (Chevalier, no. 19349)
  • Christus resurgens ex mortuis (‘Capitulum’) (Romans 6: 9–10)
  • Christus resurexit amor (‘ad sextum capitulum’) (1 Corinthians 15: 20–22)
  • Christus semel pro peccatis (‘ad .ix.’) (1 Peter 1: 18)
  • Pacem et ueritatem diligite ait dominus omnipotens (‘capitulum’) (Zacharias 8: 19)

Tuesday Matins (fol. 103r)

  • 38 (verses 1–3 are missing owing to the loss of a folio after fol. 102 and are added in the lower margin of fol. 102v in an 18th-century hand which supplied the table of contents at the end of the manuscript)
  • 39–41, 43–49, 51

Tuesday Lauds (fol. 118v)

  • Ego dixi (Isaiah 38: 10–21) (fol. 119v)
  • Ales diei nuncius (Chevalier, no. 795)
  • Rerum creator optime (Chevalier, no. 17322)

Wednesday Matins (fol. 122v)

  • 52, 54–61, 63, 65, 67

Wednesday Lauds (fol. 137v)

  • Exultauit cor meum (‘Canticum’) (1 Samuel 2: 1–11) (fol. 139r)
  • Nox (et) tenebre et nubila (Chevalier, no. 12402)
  • Nox atra rerum (Chevalier, no. 12396)

Thursday Matins (fol. 142v)

  • 68–79

Thursday Lauds (fol. 164v)

  • Cantemus domino (‘Canticum’) (Exodus 15: 1–20) (fol. 166r)
  • Lux ecce surgit (Chevalier, no. 10811)
  • Tu trinitatis unitas (Chevalier, no. 20713)

Friday Matins (fol. 170r)

  • 80–88, 93, 95–96

Friday Lauds (fol. 185v)

  • Domine audiui (Habakkuk 3) (fol. 186v)
  • Eterna celi gloria (Chevalier, no. 609)
  • Summe deus clemencie (Chevalier, no. 19636)

Saturday Matins (fol. 190v)

  • 97–108

Saturday Lauds (fol. 211v)

  • Audite caeli (‘Canticum’) (Deuteronomy 32: 1–44) (fol. 212v)
  • Aurora iam spargit (Chevalier, no. 1633)
The manuscript was corrected throughout by the original scribe, e.g. fols. 85r, 123v, 124v, 126r, 131r, 167v, etc. New text was apparently written on top of lead white (?) which is now blackening through oxidization.

4. (lower pastedown)

Alphabetical list of psalms and canticles with page references, added in an 18th-century hand which made additions to the calendar and psalter.

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: nobis benigne (hymns, fol. viii recto)
Form: codex
Support: Parchment; 19th-century paper fly-leaves.
Extent: 227 leaves
Dimensions (leaf): c. 390 × 280 mm.
Leaves were trimmed in rebinding occasionally causing the loss of marginal text and decoration.
Foliation: 18th-century foliation in ink in a hand which added the table of contents; modern foliation in pencil and purple crayon; ia–ib + ii–viii + 1–218.

Collation

(fol. ia) paper fly-leaf | (fols. ib–vi) I (6) | (fols. vii–98) II–IX (10) | (fols. 99–107) X (10−1) missing 5; fol. 103 is a singleton attached to its quire with a strip of parchment from a medieval manuscript | (fols. 108–217) XI–XXI (10) | (fol. 218) paper fly-leaf. Catchwords survive

Condition

Extensive heat (?) damage on some leaves, causing severe pleating at intervals throughout the book (damage from a nearby light fitting (?)). Many leaves are mutilated and repaired with white 18th-century laid paper, possibly when the table of contents was added to the lower pastedown and other alterations were made in the 18th century. Some leaves are repaired with brown 19th-century paper, similar to that used for the fly-leaves, probably in the Bodleian. Fragments of the 18th-century paper (used as bookmarks attached to leaves (?)) also occasionally appear in the outer margins, often on leaves badly damaged by heat. Such fragments occur, for example, at the beginnings of the Penitential Psalms: 6 (fol. 4v), 31 (fol. 83r), 37 (fol. 93v), 50 (fol. 90r), 101 (fol. 193v) and 142 (fol. 185v). Some such fragments contain printed or handwritten text, e.g. fols. 32v, 48v, 80v, 83r, 183v, 193v, etc. Strips of parchment cut from a medieval manuscript with fragments of text were used to repair and reattach several leaves (e.g. fols. 103, 118 and 127)

Layout

Ruled in ink for 17 lines per page with single vertical and double horizontal bounding lines extending the full height and width of page; written below the top line; written space: c. 283 × 185 mm.

Hand(s)

Large formal Gothic book hand, black ink (flaking); antiphons, versicles, invitatoria, etc. and some rubrics are in a smaller script

Musical Notation:

Square notation on staves of four red lines.

Decoration

Red and blue or red and purple KL monograms, decorated with contrasting purple and red penwork, in the calendar.

Historiated initials and borders:

  • fol. vii recto Hymns (initial P(rimo)) 6-line pink initial on gold background (badly rubbed), with a vertical stroke extending the full height of page, decorated with foliage. The loop of the initial is infilled with a miniature, depicting God, seated, in mandorla (badly rubbed) in the upper part of the initial. The lower part is entirely rubbed off, but may have contained King David as in other miniatures in the psalter.
  • (full border) Half-figures of a nimbed bishop (St Giovanni Orsini (?)) and two male saints holding books (all badly rubbed) in diamond-shaped frames in the lower margin; acanthus- leaf designs and gold discs.
  • fol. 1r Psalm 1 (initial B(eatus)) 11-line red and gold initial on blue background, decorated with foliage, infilled with Christ (defaced), seated, in mandorla, holding a book and blessing, and King David (defaced), seated on the throne, playing psaltery, in a landscape.
  • (border, upper, left and lower margins) Acanthus-leaf designs, grotesque and gold discs.
  • fol. 76r Psalm 26 (initial D(ominus)) 7-line pink initial on gold background, decorated with foliage, infilled with King David, seated on the throne, speaking to his courtiers, in a landscape (badly rubbed), and Christ, seated, in mandorla, holding a book and blessing.
  • (border, left and lower margins) Acanthus-leaf designs and gold discs.
  • fol. 122v Psalm 52 (initial D(ixit)) 4-line red initial, decorated with foliage, on gold background, infilled with a standing figure (entirely rubbed off) under gold stars and rays of light; gold discs with penwork in the margins.
  • fol. 142v Psalm 68 (initial S(aluum)) 6-line red initial, on gold background, infilled with Christ, seated, in mandorla, holding a book and blessing in the upper part of the initial, and King David, nude, praying in waters in the lower part of the initial; gold discs with penwork in the left margin.
  • fol. 170r Psalm 80 (initial E(xultate)) 7-line pink initial, decorated with foliage, on gold background, infilled with an altar (?) in a landscape (badly rubbed) in the upper part of the initial, and musicians playing different instruments (defaced) in the lower part of the initial.
  • (border, left and upper margins) Acanthus-leaf designs and gold discs.
  • fol. 190v Psalm 97 3-line pink initial on gold background, with a miniature entirely rubbed off.
  • (border, left and lower margins) Acanthus-leaf designs and gold discs with penwork.

Borders: see above.

2-line red, blue and purple initials, decorated with contrasting purple and red penwork, and sometimes yellow wash, at the beginnings of psalms, canticles, hymns, chapters and creeds.

1-line red and blue initials, decorated with contrasting blue and red penwork, some with anthropomorphic designs, at the beginnings of verses and periods.

Minor capitals are highlighted with yellow wash.

Guide-letters for illuminators are often visible.

Rubrics in red ink

Binding

15th century, early, Dalmatian coast? (as MS., made for Trogir Cathedral): wood boards, rounded bevel and corners; rough dark-brown leather, undecorated; two damaged strap-and-pin fastenings with thick leather straps (probably replacements, the lower with remains of a metal tip), running from front cover fore-edge to double pins at back; traces of a label-holder with eight nails at lower right of front board; edges plain (distorted by fire/water, and discoloured); front paste-down is a Missal fragment, 14th century, Italian-style script.

Damaged through heavy and prolonged use, into the 18th century when the textblock was massively repaired; rebacked and edges restored with leather, later 19th century, Bodleian. c. 410 × 270 × c. 125–130 mm. (book closed).

History

Origin: 15th century, beginning ; Dalmatia, Trogir (?)

Provenance and Acquisition

Made for the Cathedral of St Lawrence at Trau (Trogir), Dalmatia: evidence of the calendar. Prayer ‘Confiteor’ on fol. 60v includes an invocation of St Lawrence.

The manuscript was still in use in Trau in the 16th to 18th centuries when various additions were made (see the description of the calendar). Additions in an 18th-century hand include foliation, the table of contents on the lower pastedown, the opening lines of psalm 38 on fol. 102v, running titles and several feasts to do with Trau in the calendar. In the 18th century the manuscript was probably repaired and bookmarks were added.

Matteo Luigi Canonici of Venice (1727–c. 1806), but not from the libraries of Soranzo or Trevisan (Mitchell, 1969).

Bodleian Library: bought in 1817 from Canonici’s nephew Giovanni Perissinotti. Former shelfmarks: ‘MS Misc. Liturg. 395’ (binding, fol. 1b recto); ‘b. 3’ (fol. 1b recto).

MS. Canon. Liturg. 395, front pastedown

Contents

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment

History

Origin: 14th century, late ; Italy (?)

Additional Information

Record Sources

Elizabeth Solopova, Latin Liturgical Psalters in the Bodleian Library: A Select Catalogue (Oxford, 2013), pp. 497–503. Binding: B. C. Barker-Benfield, Bookbindings of Canonici manuscripts : a survey of early and non-standard bindings, mostly Italian, in the Canonici collection of the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford (Oxford, privately printed, 2020). Previously described in the Summary Catalogue.
Summary Catalogue, vol. 4, p. 398

Bibliography

    Printed descriptions:

    Frere, no. 157.
    S. J. P. van Dijk, Latin Liturgical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, vol. 2: Office Books (typescript, 1957), p. 133
    S. J. P. van Dijk, Latin Liturgical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, vol. 5: Fragments - Mass Books (typescript, 1957), p. 243
    Pächt and Alexander (1966–73), vol. 2, no. 770, pl. LXXIII.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2024-08: Convert full description from Solopova catalogue.