MS. Douce 50

Summary Catalogue no.: 21624

Portable Psalter; France, Paris (?), 13th century, 1240s (?)

Pp. i–viii are paper fly-leaves with modern and early modern notes (see ‘Provenance’).

[item 1 occupies quire I]

1. (pp. ix–xvi)

Calendar, laid out one month per page, written in red, blue and black, not graded, leaves for January–February and November–December missing. The calendar includes English, Scottish and Irish saints. The following feasts are in red: four feasts of John the Baptist (see ‘Provenance’), the translation of Edmund (29 April), Augustine of Canterbury (26 May), Benedict (11 July), Christina of Bolsena (24 July) and Mundus (21 October, the feast day of the Irish Fintan Munnu). Brendan (16 May) was originally written in black, but was overwritten in red, presumably in the original workshop; Columba, originally in red, is erased on 9 June. The feasts in blue include Edward (18 March) and Elphege (19 April). The calendar also contains Patrick (17 March), Cuthbert (20 March) and his translation (4 September), Melrune (‘Maelrubha’, 21 April), Mellitus (24 April), Alban (22 June), Kentigern (7 July), Oswald (5 August), Wilfrid (12 October) and Frideswide (21 October). Errors in the calendar, such as ‘Edmund’ instead of ‘Edward’ (18 March), suggest the lack of familiarity with English saints (Branner, 1977, p. 107).

The absence of Margaret of Scotland, canonized and translated in 1250 (feasts 10 June and 16 November, translation 19 June), supports an earlier date for the manuscript (dated by Pächt and Alexander (1966–73) to the third quarter of the 13th century, but by Branner (1969) to 1240s; see also Glenn (1998)). Thomas Becket’s translation on 7 July 1220 is also absent, although he appears very highly placed in the litany.

[item 2 occupies quire II]

2. (pp. xvii–xxii)

Three full-page miniatures, painted on one side of each leaf with the other side blank (see ‘Decoration’).

[items 3–6 occupy quires III–XXVII]

3. (pp. 1–472)

Psalms 1–150, written with each verse starting on a new line, without titles or numbers. The psalms are in the biblical order; subdivisions within psalms are not indicated, apart from 17: 26 (Cum sancto ...) (p. 51) and psalm 118 subdivided into twenty-two 8-verse units. Punctuated throughout, with punctus elevatus used to mark metrum, punctus or punctus elevatus used to mark minor pauses, and punctus used to mark the ends of verses. Initials ‘I’ at the beginnings of psalms 10 (p. 30) and 30 (p. 91) were never executed, presumably because of an oversight. Psalm 85, also beginning with ‘I’ (‘Inclina ...’), starts with a 1-line, rather than 2-line, initial (p. 277). There are textual divisions at psalms 26, 38, 51, 52, 68, 80, 97, 101, 109 and 119 (see ‘Decoration’). The initials mark psalms appointed first for Matins during the week, psalm 109 appointed first for Sunday Vespers, the division into ‘three fifties’, and psalm 119, the first of the Gradual Psalms. Psalm 109 starts on a new page and is singled out with a larger historiated initial. The Latin alphabet is written in the original hand on p. 367, left partially blank before the start of psalm 109 on the next page.

4. (pp. 472–499)

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).

5. (pp. 500–516)

Daily canticles, prayers and creeds, without titles:

(1) Te deum laudamus (p. 500);
(2) Benedicite omnia opera (p. 503);
(3) Benedictus dominus deus (p. 506);
(4) Magnificat (p. 508);
(5) Nunc dimittis (p. 509);
(6) Athanasian Creed (Quicumque uult ...) (p. 510).

(pp. 516–535)

Litany, including English as well as Scottish and Irish saints: Thomas Becket (second), Alban, Edmund and Oswald among the martyrs; Maglorius, Cuthbert, Fintan Munnu (Mundus), Patrick, Malachy (?), Blane, Bean, Berchan, Columba and Fechian among the confessors; Columba and Brigid (of Kildare (?)) among the virgins. Followed by collects (pp. 533–535):

(1) Deus qui corda fidelium sancti spiritus illustratione docuisti ...
(2) Deus cui proprium est misereri semper et parcere suscipe ...
(3) Omnipotens sempiterne deus qui facis mirabilia magna solus ...
(4) Pretende domine famulis et famulabus tuis omnibus benefactoribus nostris dexteram celestis auxilii ut de toto corde ...
(5) Deus a quo sancta desideria recta consilia et iusta sunt ...
(6) Adesto domine supplicationibus nostris et uiam famulorum tuorum in salutis tue ...

Pp. 536–41 are blank apart from modern notes.

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: lio iustorum (psalter, fol. 3r)

Form: codex

Support: parchment; paper fly-leaves

Extent: 564 pages

Dimensions (leaf): c. 140 × 100 mm.

Leaves were trimmed in rebinding, frequently causing the loss of decoration.

Foliation: modern pagination in pencil and ink; i–xxii + 1–100 + 101a + 101b + 102–541.

Collation

(pp. i–viii) pp. i–ii are a paper fly-leaf, conjoint with the upper pastedown, with a small modern paper bifolium pasted to the recto; pp. iii–iv and vii–viii are a paper bifolium; pp. v–vi are a small paper leaf pasted to p. vii | (pp. ix–xvi) I (6−2) missing 1 and 6 | (pp. xvii–xxii) II (3) pp. xvii–xviii are a singleton; pp. xix–xxii are a bifolium | (pp. 1–20) III (10) | (pp. 21–100) IV–VIII (8) | (pp. 101–363) IX–XIX (12) | (pp. 364–367) XX (2) | (pp. 368–535) XXI–XXVII (12) | (pp. 536–541) pp. 536–539 are a paper bifolium; p. 541 is a paper fly-leaf conjoint with the lower pastedown. Leaf signatures survive in quires III and XXV–XXVI

Layout

Ruled in plummet for tops and bottoms of minims, with double vertical and triple horizontal bounding lines, extending the full height and width of page (e.g. p. 51); 13 lines per page up to p. 68 (quires III–VI) and 14 lines per page afterwards; written below the top line; written space: c. 82 × 55 mm. up to p. 68 and c. 89 × 60 mm. afterwards.

Hand(s)

Formal Gothic book hand, black ink.

Decoration

Illumination is by an artist responsible for psalter illustrations in MS. Douce 381, fols. 122–124, and is closely related in style to the Wenceslas Psalter (Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum MS. Ludwig VIII. 4); Le roman de la poire (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale MS. fr. 2186); the Old Testament scenes in New York, Morgan Library MS. M.638 and the ‘Missal of St Louis’ in the treasury of San Francesco, Assisi (Pächt and Alexander, 1966–73; Branner, 1977).

Blue and pink KL monograms on pink, blue and gold backgrounds, decorated with coiled tendrils, foliage and animal heads, in the calendar (fragmentary, more than a half cropped off during rebinding).

Full-page prefatory miniatures (pp. xvii–xxii), each with scenes set in two medallions, a layout characteristic of Parisian psalters of the first half and middle of the thirteenth century (Oliver, 1988; Maekawa, 2000, p. 66).

p. xvii The Last Judgement (?), or Heaven and Hell (?): (above) Christ enthroned, holding souls in a cloth, the heads of ten kings seen through windows on either side; (below) two demons forcing souls into a cauldron in a hell-mouth (cf. a similar composition in MS. Douce 381, fol. 124v).
p. xix Adoration of the Magi; Presentation in the Temple.
p. xxii Ascension, with the Virgin Mary and Peter (?); Pentecost with Peter and Paul (?), but not the Virgin Mary.

6- to 8-line initials at liturgical divisions in the psalter, decorated with coiled tendrils, foliage, grotesques and animal heads, and infilled with miniatures on gold backgrounds. The initials for psalms 1 and 109 occupy over half a page each.

p. 1 Psalm 1 (initial B(eatus)) David with a sling and armed Goliath in the upper part of the initial; David beheading Goliath in the lower part.
p. 81 Psalm 26 (initial D(ominus)) The Anointing of David: Saul sits next to David holding and blessing a phial.
p. 126r Psalm 38 (initial D(ixi)) King David standing, pointing to his mouth, facing standing Christ, who is holding a book and raising his hand in a gesture of teaching or blessing (defaced).
p. 169 Psalm 52 (initial D(ixit)) King David speaks to the Fool, naked apart from a cloak, eating bread and holding a club.
p. 212 Psalm 68 (initial S(aluum)) Half-figure of nude King David praying in waters; half-figure of Christ above, holding an orb and blessing (defaced).
p. 265 Psalm 80 (initial E(xultate)) Two seated kings, one playing bells, the other harp.
p. 314 Psalm 97 (initial C(antate)) Three tonsured clerics, singing from an open book before a lectern.
p. 368 Psalm 109 (initial D(ixit)) Trinity: God-the-Father and Son, holding books and blessing; white dove with halo descending from above.

3-line initials, decorated with animal heads, coiled tendrils and foliage, on gold backgrounds, at the beginnings of psalms 51 (p. 167), 101 (p. 320), 119 (p. 415) and the beginning of weekly canticles (p. 472).

2-line initials, decorated with grotesques, beasts, human and animal heads and masks, coiled tendrils and foliage, on gold backgrounds, at the beginnings of psalms, canticles and prayers.

1-line alternating blue and gold initials, decorated with contrasting red and blue penwork, extending into the margins, at the beginnings of verses and periods.

Gold, and red and blue penwork line-endings with floral and geometric designs.

Diagonal marginal extensions in red, blue and gold, on the versos throughout, except the outer bifolium of quire III, where they are on the rectos.

Binding

Late 18th-century or early 19th-century French (?) binding, olive morocco over pasteboard. Gilt roll border round the outer edge of both covers. Five panels on spine separated by borders with gilt Greek key design. Gilt lettering on the second panel from the top: ‘HEURES MSS : SUR || VELIN AVEC MIN :’. Flat lozenge-shape design made of flowers, crosses and circles with a floral centre-piece on other panels. Fragment of a (Bodleian (?)) paper label on spine. Gilt edges of textblock. Endbands of gold-coloured thread. Gilt stripe design on turn-ins. Pastedowns and fly-leaves of marbled paper; further fly-leaves of laid paper.

History

Origin: 1240s (?) ; French, Paris (?)

Provenance and Acquisition

Made probably in Paris for a Scottish patron, perhaps associated with Ardchattan Priory in Argyllshire, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The calendar contains four feasts of John the Baptist (24 June with octave, 29 August and 24 September), all in red. The Irish saint Fintan Munnu, prominent in the calendar and litany, was venerated in Scotland and may have founded Kilmun in Argyll. Ardchattan was founded in 1230 or 1231 and was one of three Valliscaulian priories in Scotland, directly dependent on Val des Choux, diocese of Langres in France (see Cowan and Easson, 1976, pp. 83–4). The absence of grading in the calendar, an alphabet (p. 376) and the simplicity of the textual contents of the psalter suggest that it was made for a lay patron, or for private use.

Corrections to the text in a 15th-century (?) hand (pp. 127, 512, etc.).

An erased two-line inscription on p. 535, probably late medieval and apparently over an earlier erasure, partly readable as ‘... Liber ... lis/prioris ... cha ...’ (The Douce legacy, 1984).

Letter ‘S’ on a foliage and floral background of overall square shape, in light brown ink, apparently stamped from a printer’s block, 16th century (?) (p. xviii).

Francis Douce, 1757–1834, see ODNB: bookplate on the upper pastedown; notes (pp. v, vii, viii).

Bodleian Library: received in 1834 with bequest of Douce.

Record Sources

Adapted (April 2024) from Elizabeth Solopova, Latin Liturgical Psalters in the Bodleian Library: A Select Catalogue (Oxford, 2013), pp. 280–6. Previously described in the Summary Catalogue.

Summary Catalogue, vol. 4, p. 504

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (15 images from 35mm slides)

Bibliography

Select bibliography to 2006:

Summary catalogue, vol. 4, no. 21624.

Frere, no. 443.

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 & Meyer, 1907), p. 89.

Haseloff (1938), pp. 28, 84.

Boase, T. S. R., English illumination of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Bodleian Library Picture Books 10 (Oxford: Bodleian Library, 1954), no. 5a

S. J. P. van Dijk, Latin Liturgical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, vol. 2: Office Books (typescript, 1957), p. 72

Metzger, M., ‘Les illustrations bibliques d’un manuscrit hébreu du Nord de la France (1278– 1340 environ)’ in P. Gallais and Y.-J. Riou (eds.), Mélanges offerts à René Crozet à l’occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire par ses amis, ses collègues, ses élèves et les membres du C.É.S.C.M, 2 vols. (Poitiers: Société d’Études Médiévales, 1966), vol. 2, pp. 1237–53, at p. 1242 n. 47.

Pächt and Alexander (1966–73), vol. 1, no. 535, pl. XLI.

Branner, R., ‘The Copenhagen “Corpus”’, Konsthistorisk tidskrift 38 (1969), pp. 97–119, at pp. 110–11 (figs. 22–4), 115–16.

Pächt, O. and Thoss, D., Französische Schule I, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. Illuminierten Handschriften und Inkunabeln der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Band 1, 2 vols. (Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1974), p. 126 and fig. 28.

Cowan, I. B. and Easson, D. E., Medieval religious houses, Scotland, with an appendix on the houses in the Isle of Man, 2nd edn. (London: Longman, 1976).

McKinnon, J. W., ‘Canticum novum in the Isabella book’, Medievalia 2 (1976), pp. 207–22, at p. 211 and fig. 3.

Branner, R., Manuscript painting in Paris during the reign of Saint Louis: a study of styles (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977), pp. 107–8, 110–20, 139, 228, figs. 301–5.

The Douce legacy: an exhibition to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the bequest of Francis Douce (1757– 1834) (Oxford: Bodleian Library, 1984), no. 70.

French connections: Scotland and the arts of France [exhibition catalogue] (Edinburgh: HMSO; Royal Scottish Museum, 1985), p. 15 (fig. 3) and no. 4 on p. 141.

Assirelli, M. et al., I libri miniati di età romanica e gotica: saggi e catalogo, Miracolo di Assisi 7.1 (Assisi: Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia; Sacro convento di Assisi; Casa editrice francescana, 1988), p. 154.

Krieger, M. (commentary), Gotische Bilderbibel: Faksimile der Handschrift Cod. Ser. n. 2611, fol. 1– 22 der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, 2 vols. (Stuttgart: Verlag Müller & Schindler, 1988), vol. 2, pp. 31, 33, fig. 6.

Oliver (1988), vol. 1, p. 151 n. 23.

Randall, L. M. C., Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery, vol. 1, France 875–1420 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989), pp. 74, 78.

Bossier, F., ‘Le problème des lemmes du De caelo dans la traduction latine du Commentaire In De caelo de Simplicius’ in J. Hamesse (ed.), Les problèmes posés par l’édition critique des textes anciens et médiévaux, vol. 13 (Louvain-la-Neuve: Institut d’études médiévales, 1992), pp. 361–97, at p. 365 n. 5.

Sauer, C. (with U. Kuder) (ed.), Die gotischen Handschriften der Württembergischen Landesbibliothek Stuttgart (Katalog der illuminierten Handschriften der Württembergischen Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, Band 3), Teil 1, Vom späten 12. bis zum frühen 14. Jahrhundert (Stuttgart: A. Hiersemann, 1996), p. 140.

Glenn, V., ‘Court patronage in Scotland 1240–1340’ in R. Fawcett (ed.), Medieval art and architecture in the diocese of Glasgow, British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions 23, Historic Scotland (England: British Archaeological Association, 1998), pp. 111–21, at pp. 111–14, pls. XXVIIA–B, XXVIIIA.

Higgitt, J., ‘Manuscripts and libraries in the diocese of Glasgow before the Reformation’ in ibid., pp. 102–10, at pp. 105, 109 n. 24.

Maekawa, K., Narrative and experience: innovations in thirteenth-century picture books (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2000).

Bennett, A., ‘The transformation of the Gothic psalter in thirteenth-century France’ in Büttner (2004), pp. 211–21, at p. 215 n. 23.

Büttner, F. O., ‘Der illuminierte Psalter im Westen’ in Büttner (2004), pp. 1–106, at p. 15 n.

25.

Boardman, S. I., ‘The Gaelic world and the early Stewart court’ in D. Broun and M. MacGregor (eds.), Miorun Mor nan Gall, the great ill-will of the Lowlander: Lowland perceptions of the Scottish Highlands (Chippenham, Wilts.: Antony Rowe, 2006), pp. 83–109, at pp. 89 n. 16, 90 n. 17, 91 n. 22, 97 n. 40.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2024-04-17: Adapt full description from Solopova catalogue.

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