MS. Douce 131

Summary Catalogue no.: 21705

Psalter; England, East Anglia; c. 1340–1348 (?)

Fols. i–ii are a 17th-century laid paper bifolium, stored separately (see ‘Binding’), containing notes by Douce, describing the contents of the manuscript and decoration (see ‘Provenance’).

[item 1 occupies quire I]

1. (fols. iii–iv)

Notes, pen trials and verse in Latin by John Adams and William Bendlowes (see ‘Provenance’). Verses written by John Adams include: ‘Dum vixit Rex, et valuit sua magna potestas | ffraus latuit, Pax magna fuit, regnavit honestas | S(cilicet) Edouardus Primus.’

[items 2–4 occupy quires II–XVIII]

2. (fols. 1r–126r)

Psalms 1–150, written with each verse starting on a new line, without titles. Punctuated throughout with punctus elevatus used to mark metrum and punctus used to mark the ends of verses. The psalms are in the biblical order and there are textual divisions at psalms 26, 38, 51, 52, 68, 80, 97, 101, 109 and 119. Psalm 109 is preceded by a miniature and starts on a new leaf. Subdivisions within psalms are not marked with larger initials, though some are marked with ‘Gloria’ (fols. 23v, 30r, 88v, 132v). Psalm 118 is subdivided into twenty 8-verse units and two 16-verse units (the beginnings of sections starting with verses 137 (Justus es domine ...) and 153 (Vide humilitatem ...) are not marked with larger initials). Added marginal annotations occur next to most psalm initials, including ‘m[atins?]’, ‘l[auds?]’, ‘p[rime?]’, ‘iii’ and ‘t[erce?]’, ‘6’, ‘v[espers?]’, ‘c[ompline?]’, etc. Psalm numbers are added in the margins by William Bendlowes, who also added his initials, crosses, brackets and many notes (most erased) in the margins (see ‘Provenance’).

Antiphons, versicles and responses for the Office of the Dead and corrections (e.g. fols. 30r, 88r) are added in the margins in 15th-century hands.

On fol. 119r there is a prayer commending the souls of the dead, including ‘fundatoris nostri’: ‘ Tibi domine commendamus animam famuli tui fundatoris nostri et animas famulorum famularumque tuarum et animas omnium fidelium defunctorum ut defuncti seculo tibi viuant et que per fragilitatem mundane conuersacionis peccata admiserunt tu venia misericordissime pietatis absterge. Per christum dominum.’

Bookmarks made of green ribbon mark the liturgical divisions and the beginning of psalm 118.

3. (fols. 126r–134r)

Weekly canticles, without titles:

(1) Confitebor tibi domine (Isaiah 12);
(2) Ego dixi (Isaiah 38: 10–21);
(3) Exultauit cor meum (1 Samuel 2: 1–11);
(4) Cantemus domino (Exodus 15: 1–20);
(5) Domine audiui (Habakkuk 3);
(6) Audite celi (Deuteronomy 32: 1–44).

4. (fols. 134r–138v)

Daily canticles, prayers and creeds, without titles:

(1) Te deum laudamus (fol. 134r);
(2) Benedicite omnia opera (fol. 135r);
(3) Benedictus dominus deus (fol. 135v);
(4) Magnificat (fol. 136v);
(5) Nunc dimittis (fol. 136v);
(6) Athanasian Creed (Quicumque uult ...) (fol. 137r).

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: Postula a me (psalter, fol. 2r)

Form: codex

Support: Parchment; 16th-century (?) parchment fly-leaves (fols. iii–iv). Separately stored 17th-century laid paper fly-leaves (fols. i–ii) and the upper pastedown, and 19th-century paper fly-leaf (fol. 139) and the lower pastedown. Strips of parchment used to strengthen the quires during the 16th-century rebinding are also stored separately.

Extent: 148 leaves

Dimensions (leaf): c. 234 × 155 mm.

Leaves were trimmed in the 16th-century rebinding, frequently causing the loss of decoration.

Foliation: modern, in pencil; four unnumbered modern parchment leaves at the beginning + iii–iv + 1–138 + four unnumbered modern parchment leaves at the end.

Collation

(iii–iv) I (2) parchment bifolium | (fols. 1–8) II (8) | (fols. 9–18) III (10) | (fols. 19–138) IV–XVIII (8). Quires consisting of two unnumbered modern parchment bifolia each, at the beginning and end. Catchwords or their fragments occasionally survive; leaf signatures, probably contemporary with the 16th-century binding, also often survive

Layout

The ruling was almost certainly freshened up (by William Bendlowes?), obliterating the original ruling. The present ruling in brown ink seems in many cases to go over the decorated initials (e.g. fols. 8v, 10r, 11r, 11v, 12r, 118r, 124v, etc.). Ruled in brown ink usually with double vertical and horizontal bounding lines, extending the full height and width of page; written below the top line; 22 lines per page; written space: c. 170 × 105 mm.

Hand(s)

The work of more than one scribe (change of scribe at fol. 131), formal Gothic book hands, black and brown ink

Decoration

According to Sandler (1986) the decoration is by three artists, one responsible for the historiated initials at psalms 26, 38, 51, 52, 68 and 80, another responsible for marginal scenes at the above psalms and psalm 97, and the third responsible for the miniatures, initials and borders at psalms 1 and 109, initials at psalms 97 and 101, and initials and borders at psalm 119 and the beginning of the canticles. Dennison (1986) identifies two artists: Hand A of the Vienna Psalter (corresponds to Sandler’s third artist) and a second illuminator. The style of illumination is related to the style of a group of artists who worked for patrons mostly in the diocese of Ely. Close parallels include the Douai (Douai, Bibliothèque municipale MS. 171) and St-Omer (London, British Library, Yates-Thompson MS. 14 (Add. 39810)) psalters and sections of the Luttrell (London, British Library, Add. MS. 42130) and Ormesby (Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Douce 366) psalters (see Dennison, 1986, for further comparisons, the list of manuscripts she identifies as the work of Hand A and the chronology of his work).

The decoration includes two miniatures on patterned gold backgrounds (one fullpage, psalm 109, and one 9 lines high, psalm 1) and twelve usually 10-line-high historiated initials on patterned gold backgrounds with full or partial borders at liturgical divisions.

Most initials are illuminated with traditional iconography, while those that did not have established subjects (psalm 119, the first of the Gradual Psalms, and the beginning of weekly canticles) have perhaps the images of patrons.

The borders are made of pink and blue bars decorated with coiled tendrils and foliage, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs, and miniatures in the bas-de-page. All borders are cropped and rubbed.

(fol. 1r) Psalm 1 (miniature) David and Goliath in front of a walled city.
(initial B(eatus)) 7-line initial with King David playing harp.
(full border) Jesse Tree, with the Virgin and Child at the top, on patterned gold background.
fol. 20r Psalm 26 (initial D(ominus)) Anointing of David by two bearded figures.
(full border) Goat playing vielle, dog blowing horn, two men fighting, cat catching a rat.
fol. 32r Psalm 38 (initial D(ixi)) King David witnessing the execution of the Amalekite (?).
(full border) Ape astride goat jousts with a dog astride a stag.
fol. 42v Psalm 51 (initial Q(vid)) Suicide of Saul.
(border, left, right and lower margins) Hybrid musicians, two roosters scratching at a worm (?) watched by a crowned hen in a tower.
fol. 43r Psalm 52 (initial D(ixit)) Seated King David speaking to the Fool dressed as a jester.
(border, left, right and lower margins) Hybrid musicians, ladies travelling in a coach.
fol. 54r Psalm 68 (initial S(aluum)) Jonah emerging from the whale’s mouth by a shore with a walled city in the lower part of the initial; enthroned Christ with cruciform halo, holding a book and blessing, in the upper part.
(border, left, right and lower margins) A battle between two mounted knights, witnessed by a lady in a circular tower; a dragon.
fol. 68v Psalm 80 (initial E(xultate)) Two kings playing bells in the upper half of the initial; two kings, one playing psaltery, another harp in the lower part of the initial.
(full, left, right and lower margins) A giant armed with a club and attended by a dwarf, sets out from a circular tent to battle a mounted knight, accompanied by a mounted lady.
fol. 81v Psalm 97 (initial C(antate)) Elevation of the Host at Mass, watched by four clerics with an open book on a lectern.
(border, lower margin) A giant is speared by a mounted knight watched by a queen weaving in a tent and a man tied to a tree.
fol. 83v Psalm 101 (initial D(omine)) King David praying at an altar; half-figure of Christ above, with cruciform halo, blessing.
(border, left and lower margins) Blue, gold and pink bars, foliage. Space, left empty for a miniature (?) in the lower margin.
fols. 96v–97r Psalm 109 (miniature) The Judgement of Solomon in an elaborate architectural setting, with a queen and other male and female figures among the battlements, with an outer frame including small dragons and human figures.
(initial D(ixit)) Trinity (two nimbed seated figures with raised hands, nimbed dove descending from above).
(full border) Foliated border, incorporating grotesques.
fol. 110r Psalm 119 (initial A(d)) A young man wearing partially effaced arms of England and France (?) kneeling before the enthroned Virgin and Child in an elaborate architectural setting; background panel with quartered arms of England and France.
(full border) Foliate border incorporating grotesques.
fol. 126r Weekly canticles (initial C(onfitebor)) A Franciscan friar in a grey habit with a knotted cord, hooded, bare feet, hearing a confession of a Benedictine (?) nun, in black, kneeling. Background panel decorated with the arms of France.
(full border) Foliated border, incorporating grotesques.

2- to 3-line gold initials on blue and pink backgrounds in gold frames at the beginnings of psalms and canticles.

1-line gold initials on blue and pink backgrounds at the beginnings of verses and periods.

Line-endings with gold and white designs on blue and pink background.

Binding

Modern binding: Bodleian binding, 1986–87, bare boards of English oak, white alumtawed goat leather spine, sewn on five double cords, Japanese paper strips wrapped around the spine bolt of each quire, four modern parchment fly-leaves at the beginning and at the end.

Earlier binding (stored separately as MS. Douce 131*): London binding, c. 1500–1520, brown leather over oak boards, worn on both covers. A border of two sets of blind fillet lines round the outer edges of the upper and lower covers. Both covers are blind-stamped with two impressions of a panel (74 × 108 mm) with quartered arms of France and England ensigned with the royal crown, supported by a dragon and a greyhound. In the upper part of the panel are the sun and the moon and two escutcheons charged, one with the cross of St George, the other with the arms of the city of London. At the foot are the initials ‘H’ and ‘I’ (reproduced by Weale, 1894–98) of Henry Jacobi, a London printer. Between the panels is a row of four stamps with gryphons. 19th-century (?) spine with five raised bands, the panels between the bands decorated with gilt borders, gilt floral centre- and corner-pieces and a design made of circles and crosses. The second panel has gilt lettering ‘PSALTERIUM || MS. SÆC. 14’. Bodleian paper label on spine printed ‘66’. Holes left by the fittings of two clasps and ties. 16th-century parchment fly-leaves, fols. iii–iv.

Stored separately are: (1) 17th-century laid paper unfoliated former upper pastedown; (2) 19th-century laid paper bifolium and a small rectangular paper leaf, both with notes by Francis Douce, probably added when the manuscript was repaired for Douce (see ‘Provenance’); (3) 19th-century paper bifolium (a former pastedown and a fly-leaf, fol. 139), probably added when the manuscript was repaired in the Bodleian, with a fragmentary watermark ‘SHAR ... || 1816’; and (4) a parchment strengthener, a strip of a 13th-century glossed manuscript.

History

Origin: c. 1340–8 (?) ; English, East Anglia

Provenance and Acquisition

Made in East Anglia in the early 1340s (?). The surround of a historiated initial (fol. 110r) has the quartering of the arms of England and France, with France in the dexter, which was adopted by Edward III for his arms after 1340 (Pinches and Pinches, 1974, pp. 50–1 and Michael, 1994). A decorative use of the arms of England and France for border surrounds, however, is found already in the first half of the 14th century (Michael, 1994). Dennison (1986) suggests Cambridge as the most likely centre of activity of the artists who worked on the psalter and dates it on stylistic and other grounds to c. 1340–43. A male patron (?) kneeling before the Virgin and Child in the initial of psalm 119 (fol. 110r) bears damaged arms on his surcoat, which have been identified as the arms of Montreuil (Pächt and Alexander, 1966–73), of England and France (Alexander, 1983) and of England impaling Bohun (Michael, 1994). The psalter may have been commissioned for presentation to a nunnery (initial on fol. 126r).

In use in a religious community in the 15th century: corrections, addition of antiphons, versicles and responses for the Office of the Dead and a prayer for the founder.

Partially cropped 15th-century inscription giving the numbers of years, weeks and days of indulgences: ‘Item alius [...] dixit cotidie (?) [. . .] dixit iesus (?) habebit cotidie xxiiij annos et xxxiij septimanas et iij dies indulgencie Hoc est in septimana c. lxx duorum annorum et xxv septimanarum et duorum dierum’ (fol. 136v).

Initials of Henry Jacobi, London printer, d. 1514, on a stamped panel on the former binding. The panel occurs on four books, 1503–20 (Oldham, 1958).

John Adams: ex libris, early 16th century (‘Sum Johannis Adams liber’, fol. iv verso); Latin verse (fol. iv recto).

William Bendlowes (d. 1613): notes and verses on fly-leaves, pious notes on miniatures, notes in the margins of the psalter, the numbering of psalms, crosses and brackets against many psalm verses, an account of his father, William Bendlowes (1516–1584), sergeant-at-law and law reporter (see ODNB) (fol. 96r). Most notes in the margins have been erased, but are visible under ultra-violet light. Inscribed ‘No (6)’ (fol. iv recto), possibly by Bendlowes.

John Jackson (d. 1794), see ODNB (brief biography within the entry Jackson, John, d. 1807, traveller): sale by Leigh and Sotheby, London, 28 April 1794.

Francis Douce, 1757–1834, see ODNB: bookplate on the upper pastedown, notes on fols. i–ii. Bought at Jackson sale; probably lot 352, for £4. 5s. 0d. Described as ‘Psalterium Davidis with curious miniatures and initials, finely coloured, on vellum, 4to in old binding’ in Douce’s annotated catalogue of the sale, Douce CC 393(3), p. 12. Douce sent the manuscript to the binder, probably for repairs, costing 3s., in June 1826 (MS. Douce e. 72, fol. 25r).

Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1834

Record Sources

Adapted from Elizabeth Solopova, Latin Liturgical Psalters in the Bodleian Library: A Select Catalogue (Oxford, 2013), pp. 165–74. Previously described in the Summary Catalogue.

Summary Catalogue, vol. 4, p. 531

Availability

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Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (20 images from 35mm slides)

Microfilm

Microfilm available in the open shelf collections in the Weston Library (R. Films 101)

Bibliography

Selected bibliography to 2006:

Summary catalogue, vol. 4, no. 21705.

Weale, W. H. J., Bookbindings and rubbings of bindings in the National Art Library South Kensington Museum, 2 vols. (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1894–98), vol. 2, p. 119.

Frere, no. 446.

Vitzthum von Eckstaedt, B. G., Die Pariser Miniaturmalerei von der Zeit des hl. Ludwig bis zu Philipp von Valois und ihr Verhältnis zur Malerei in Nordwesteuropa (Leipzig: Verlag von Quelle and Meyer, 1907).

Bourdillon, A. F. C., The order of minoresses in England (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1926).

Millar, E. G., English illuminated manuscripts from the XIVth to the XVth centuries (Paris; Brussels: G. van Oest, 1928), pp. 23, 60 and pl. 54.

——, The Luttrell Psalter (London: Printed for the Trustees of the British Museum, 1932), p. 45.

Little, A. G., ‘Illuminated manuscripts’ in A. G. Little (ed.), Franciscan history and legend in English mediaeval art (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1937), pp. 35–77, at pp. 46, 61 and pl. 18.

Wormald, F., ‘The Fitzwarin Psalter and its allies’ in J. J. G. Alexander, T. J. Brown and J. Gibbs (eds.), Francis Wormald: collected writings (London: H. Miller; New York: OUP, 1984), vol. 2, Studies in English and Continental art of the later Middle Ages, pp. 88–102, at p. 89; originally printed in JWCI VI (1943), pp. 71–9.

Hildburgh, W. L., ‘English alabaster tables of about the third quarter of the 14th century’, Art Bulletin 23 (1950), pp. 1–23, at p. 20 n. 72.

Randall, L. M. C., Images in the margins of Gothic manuscripts (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966), p. 31, figs. 135, 136, 690, 691.

Rouse, A. C. and Baker, A., ‘The wall paintings of Longthorpe Tower’, Archaeologia 96 (1955), pp. 1–57, at pp. 24, 38.

Oldham, J. B., Blind panels of English binders (Cambridge: CUP, 1958), HE 25, pp. 25, 34.

S. J. P. van Dijk, Latin Liturgical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, vol. 2: Office Books (typescript, 1957), p. 52

Sandler, L. F.,‘A follower of Jean Pucelle in England’, Art Bulletin 52 (1970), pp. 363–72, at p. 371 n. 60.

Knowles, D. and Hadcock, R. N., Medieval religious houses: England and Wales (London: Longman, 1971).

Pächt and Alexander (1966–73), vol. 3, no. 590, pls. LXII–LXIII.

Pinches, J. H. and Pinches, R. V., The royal heraldry of England (London: Heraldry Today, 1974).

Sandler (1974), pp. 98–9.

The Douce legacy: an exhibition to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the bequest of Francis Douce (1757– 1834) (Oxford: Bodleian Library, 1984), no. 206.

McKinnon, J. W., ‘Canticum novum in the Isabella book’, Medievalia 2 (1976), pp. 207–22, at p. 214 and fig. 9.

Alexander, J. J. G., ‘Painting and manuscript illumination for royal patrons in the later Middle Ages’ in V. J. Scattergood and J. W. Sherborne (eds.), English court culture in the later Middle Ages (London: Duckworth, 1983), pp. 141–62, at pp. 142–4 and pl. 2.

Cavanaugh, S. H., A study of books privately owned in England, 1300–1450, Diss., University of Pennsylvania (Ann Arbor, MI, 1985), p. 280.

Michael, M. A., ‘A manuscript wedding gift from Philippa of Hainault to Edward III’, Burlington Magazine 127 (1985), pp. 582–601, at pp. 582, 590, 597.

Dennison, L., ‘The Fitzwarin Psalter and its allies: a reappraisal’ in W. M. Ormrod (ed.), England in the fourteenth century: proceedings of the 1985 Harlaxton Symposium (Woodbridge, Suffolk; Dover, NH: Boydell, 1986), pp. 42–66, at pp. 50–8, 60, 62, 64 and figs. 10, 24, 26.

Sandler (1986), vol. 1, pp. 20, 27, 29–30; vol. 2, no. 106 and pp. 120, 121, 122, 134, 146.

Alexander and Binski (1987), no. 683 and pp. 155, 436, 455.

Scott, K. L., ‘The illustrations of Piers Plowman in Bodleian Library MS. Douce 104’, Yearbook of Langland Studies 4 (1990), pp. 1–86, at p. 25 n. 46.

Camille, M., Image on the edge: the margins of medieval art (London: Reaktion Books, 1992), p. 110 and fig. 51.

Pearsall, D. and Scott, K. (eds.), Piers Plowman: a facsimile of Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Douce 104 (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1992), pp. xlii–xliii.

Smith, K. A., ‘History, typology and homily: the Joseph cycle in the Queen Mary Psalter’, Gesta 32/2 (1993), pp. 147–59, at pp. 150–1 and fig. 5.

Michael, M. A.,‘The little land of England is preferred before the great kingdom of France: the quartering of the royal arms by Edward III’ in D. Buckton and T. A. Heslop (eds.), Studies in medieval art and architecture: presented to Peter Lasko (Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1994), pp. 114–26, at pp. 121–2, 125–6 nn. 38–51, fig. 6, pl. 3.

Nichols, A. E., Seeable signs: the iconography of the seven sacraments, 1350–1544 (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1994), pp. 227, 228, 236, 240.

Hebgin-Barnes, P., The medieval stained glass of the county of Lincolnshire, Corpus Vitrearum Great Britain, Summary Catalogue 3 (Oxford: Published for the British Academy by OUP, 1996), p. liv n. 72.

Sandler, L. F., ‘The Wilton Diptych and images of devotion in illuminated manuscripts’ in D. Gordon, L. Monnas and C. Elam (eds.), The regal image of Richard II and the Wilton Diptych (London: H. Miller, 1997), pp. 137–320, at pp. 153, 320 n. 35; fig. 93.

Stanton, A. R., ‘From Eve to Bathsheba and beyond: motherhood in the Queen Mary Psalter’ in L. Smith and J. H. M. Taylor (eds.), Women and the book: assessing the visual evidence (London: British Library; Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), pp. 172–89, at pp. 188–9.

Sandler (1999), p. 70 nn. 184, 190.

de Hamel, C., ‘A new Bohun’ in A. S. G. Edwards, V. Gillespie and R. Hanna (eds.), The English medieval book: studies in memory of Jeremy Griffiths (London: British Library, 2000), pp. 19–25, at p. 21.

Joslin, M. C. and Joslin Watson, C. C., The Egerton Genesis (London: British Library; Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001), pp. 195, 201 n. 35.

Stanton, A. R., The Queen Mary Psalter: a study of affect and audience (Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society, 2001), pp. 106, 204–7, 205 fig. 79 (fol. 1r), 206 fig. 80 (fol. 96v), 236 n. 150.

Dennison, L., ‘The dating and localisation of the Hague Missal (Meermanno-Westreenianum ms. 10 A 14) and the connection between English and Flemish miniature painting in the mid fourteenth century’ in B. Cardon (ed.), ‘Als ich can’: Liber amicorum in memory of Professor Dr. Maurits Smeyers, Corpus of Illuminated Manuscripts 11–12, Low Countries Series 8–9, 2 vols. (Paris: Peeters, 2002), pp. 505–36, at p. 511.

Melis, T., ‘An Alexander manuscript for a powerful patron (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Bodl. 264)’ in ibid., pp. 961–81, at pp. 973–4.

Nichols, A. E., The early art of Norfolk: a subject list of extant and lost art including items relevant to early drama (Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications/Western Michigan University, 2002), p. 252.

Brown (2006), p. 25.

Orme, N., Medieval schools: from Roman Britain to Renaissance England (New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 259 fig. 69 (fol. 126r).

Stratford, J. and Webber, T., ‘Bishops and kings: private book collections in medieval England’ in E. Leedham-Green and T. Webber (eds.), The Cambridge history of libraries in Britain and Ireland, vol. 1, To 1640 (Cambridge: CUP, 2006), pp. 178–217, at p. 204.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2024-03: Adapt full description from Solopova .

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