MS. Hatton 9

Summary Catalogue no.: 4123

Secular Choir, Partially Ferial, Psalter with Antiphons, Use of Sarum; England, Diocese of Norwich; 15th century, second quarter

Fols. 1 and 2 are blank paper fly-leaves.

[item 1 occupies quire I]

1. (fols. 3r–8v)

Sarum–Norwich calendar, written in black and red, laid out one month per page, approximately three-quarters full, graded up to 9 lessons and ‘festum principale’, with short instructions concerning the celebration of feasts. The feasts include Felix of Dunwich (8 March) and the dedication of Norwich Cathedral (24 September), both in red, David and Chad (1 and 2 March), Benedict in red (21 March) and his translation in black (11 July), John of Beverley (7 May), Anne in red (26 July), Augustine in red (28 August), Winifred (3 November) and Leonard in red (6 November). The feasts marked as synodal (non-Sarum), all in red, are Felix (8 March), the translation of Edward (29 April) and Francis (4 October). A verse on the ‘Egyptian’ days heads the page for January only (‘Iani prima dies et septima a fine terminetur’). There are twelve added obits from 1472 to 1480, several mentioning West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and Rickmansworth (about 15 miles east of West Wycombe), including ‘Obitus domini Thome Stheuenyssone vicarii iiijti de westwycomb’ (10 January 1472) and ‘Obitus domini Iohannis Wynton vicarii de Rykmynswurth’ (14 November 1480). Four obits are for women. The dedication of the parish church of West Wycombe is added on 27 July. There are also added feasts of Apollonia (8 February), Osyth (3 June), whose shrine was at St Mary’s Church in Aylesbury, about 20 miles north of West Wycombe, and Osmund (translation, 16 July, and deposition, 4 December). Osmund was canonized in 1457, and the feasts were probably added around this time, possibly by the hand which added the obits, writing more formally. The same hand also wrote the names of the months in the lower margins (many very faded), followed by the number of days in each month in Roman numerals. The feasts of Thomas Becket and the titles ‘pape’ are crossed out.

[items 2–6 occupy quires II–XV]

2. (fol. 9r–9v)

Hymns for Matins on the 1st Sunday in Advent and the 1st Sunday after the octave of Epiphany with rubrics and musical notation (square notation on four red staves):

Uerbum supernum prodiens ... (Chevalier, no. 21391);
Primo dierum omnium ... (Chevalier, no. 15450);
Nocte surgentes uigilemus omnes ... (Chevalier, no. 12035) (two settings).

3. (fols. 9v–101v)

Psalms 1–150, without titles or numbers, written as prose. Punctuated throughout, with punctus used to mark the ends of verses and minor pauses, and punctus elevatus used to mark metrum. Psalms are mostly in the biblical order, but with some deviations, reflecting the order in which they were recited in the secular use (see below). Subdivisions within psalms are not indicated, apart from 118, subdivided into eleven 16-verse units in accordance with secular use. The psalms are accompanied by chapters, antiphons and hymns with rubrics and musical notation. The weekly canticles and Athanasian Creed appear at major liturgical divisions:

(1) Confitebor tibi domine (Isaiah 12), fol. 28r, after psalm 37;
(2) Ego dixi (Isaiah 38: 10–21), fol. 34v, after psalm 51;
(3) Exultauit cor meum (1 Samuel 2: 1–11), fol. 41v, after psalm 67;
(4) Cantemus domino (Exodus 15: 1–20), fol. 50r, after psalm 79;
(5) Domine audiui (Habakkuk 3), fol. 58r, after psalm 96;
(6) Audite celi (Deuteronomy 32: 1–44), fol. 67r, after psalm 108;
(7) Athanasian Creed (Quicumque uult ...), fol. 77v, after psalm 118, verse 32.

Psalm 113, fols. 70v–72r, is accompanied by musical notation, and is followed by the opening lines of the hymn ‘Iam lucis orto sydere’ (Chevalier, no. 9272) with music for different days of the year. Psalms 114–116, read at Vespers on Monday in the secular use, follow psalm 118 on fols. 89r–v. This creates an unbroken sequence of all five psalms appointed for Monday Vespers in secular use (psalms 114–116, 119–120). Psalms 148–150, recited at Lauds on all days of the week in both monastic and secular use, are written as a single text without breaks on fols. 100v–101r. Psalm 66 follows psalm 62 (fol. 39r). These two psalms were also recited at all Lauds during the week in the secular use.

There are textual divisions at psalms 26, 38, 51, 52, 68, 80, 97 and 109 (see ‘Decoration’). Psalm 109 starts on a new page (the scribe left four lines blank on the preceding page) and has a more prominent border than other psalms at liturgical divisions. Some leaves have parchment bookmarks sewn to their edges, made from a medieval manuscript written in a formal Gothic style (the text is visible on bookmarks at fols. 55 and 97). The bookmarks indicate:

– the beginnings of the Penitential Psalms 31 (fol. 34r) and 101 (fol. 97v);
– some of the liturgical divisions (psalm 97, fol. 59v; psalm 109, fol. 69v; and psalm 118, fol. 76v);
– some psalms appointed for Lauds, i.e. psalm 62, recited at all Lauds (fol. 39r), and psalm 90, recited second at Thursday Lauds (fol. 55r);
– the sequence of psalms for Monday Vespers 114–116 (fol. 89r), which follow psalm 118, deviating from the biblical order;
– canticle Benedicite omnia opera (fol. 103r);
– a few other psalms, i.e. 44 (?), fol. 31r, and 74 (?), fol. 46r.

Some psalm initials are defaced by wet smudging, possibly in order to make them more noticeable.

4. (fols. 101v–104v)

Daily canticles, prayers and creeds, without titles: (1) Te deum laudamus with musical notation (fol. 101v); (2) Benedicite omnia opera (fol. 103r); (3) Benedictus dominus deus (fol. 103v); (4) Magnificat (fol. 103v); (5) Nunc dimittis (fol. 104r) followed by antiphons with musical notation. There is a parchment bookmark on fol. 103.

5. (fols. 104v–108v)

Sarum litanies for each day of the week. Thomas Becket is erased on fol. 105r. The litanies are followed by collects with rubrics (fols. 107v–108v):

(1) Deus cui proprium est misereri semper et parcere suscipe ...
(2) Omnipotens sempiterne deus qui facis mirabilia magna solus ...
(3) Deus qui caritatis dona per gratiam sancti spiritus tuorum cordibus fidelium infundis ...
(4) Deus a quo sancta desideria recta consilia et iusta sunt ...
(5) Ineffabilem misericordiam tuam nobis domine quesumus clementer ostende ut simul nos ...
(6) Fidelium deus omnium conditor et redemptor animabus omnium fidelium defunctorum ...
(7) Pietate tua quesumus domine nostrorum solue omnia uincula ...

6. (fols. 108v–117r)

Office of the Dead, use of Sarum, with musical notation.

Fol. 117v is ruled but blank.

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: quod fructum suum dabit (psalter, fol. 10r)

Form: codex

Support: parchment; paper fly-leaves; some leaves repaired with pieces of parchment, probably at the time when the present binding was made; fol. 21 is repaired with a parchment fragment of a document with a faded text in a cursive early modern (?) hand

Extent: 119 leaves

Dimensions (leaf): c. 327 × 225 mm.

Foliation: modern, in pencil; 1–119.

Collation

(fols. 1–2) paper fly-leaves, fol. 1 conjoint with the upper pastedown | (fols. 3–8) I (6) | (fols. 9–96) II–XII (8) | (fols. 97–103) XIII (8−1) missing 8 (?), no loss of text, catchword on fol. 103v | (fols. 104–111) XIV (8) | (fols. 112–117) XV (6) the quire is now perhaps composed of single leaves, the original composition is unclear | (fols. 118–119) paper fly-leaves, fol. 119 conjoint with the upper pastedown. Most catchwords and leaf signatures survive

Layout

Ruled in ink with single vertical bounding lines, single horizontal bounding lines at the top of the page and double horizontal bounding lines at the bottom of the page, all extending the full height and width of page; written below the top line; 30 lines per page; prickings often survive; written space: c. 210 × 135 mm.

Hand(s)

Large formal Gothic book hand

Musical Notation:

Notation on staves.

Decoration

Blue KL monograms with red penwork in the calendar.

7-line Beatus-initial (fol. 9v) on gold background, decorated with foliage and coiled tendrils, with a full border made of gold, green, blue and pink bars, decorated with foliage, flowers and gold discs.

4- to 6-line gold initials, decorated with coiled tendrils, leaves and flowers, and partial borders, formed of sprays of leaves, flowers and gold discs at liturgical divisions at psalms 26 (fol. 22r), 38 (fol. 28r), 51 (fol. 34r), 52 (fol. 35v), 68 (fol. 42v), 80 (fol. 51r), 97 (fol. 59v) and 109 (fol. 69v).

Psalm 109 has a full border made of gold, green, blue and pink bars, decorated with foliage, flowers and gold discs.

2-line blue initials with red penwork, some with human and animal figures and heads (fols. 14r, 20v, 63v, 96v, 99v and 109v) at the beginnings of psalms, hymns, canticles, prayers and litany.

1-line plain alternating red and blue initials at the beginnings of verses.

Black cadels, some with human and animal profiles and heads, at the beginnings of verses accompanied by musical notation.

Rubrics in red ink.

Binding

Brown speckled leather over pasteboard, 18th century (?). Double blind fillet border round the outer edge of both covers. Blind roll border with arabesque designs next to the spine on both covers. Sewn on five cords, five raised bands on spine. Gilt lettering on spine: ‘HATTON || 98’. ‘9’ painted white at the top of the spine. Bodleian paper label on spine with handwritten ‘M.S. || Hatton || 9.’. The covers are rubbed and worn, and fragments of leather are missing on the lower cover. Fly-leaves made of laid paper, no watermarks.

History

Origin: 15th century, second quarter ; English, Norwich diocese

Provenance and Acquisition

Made for a secular church in the diocese of Norwich: liturgical evidence.

In West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, in the third and fourth quarters of the 15th century: additions to the calendar.

‘By me Hew Darrell’, 16th century, fol. 107r.

‘Wyllyam Clarke’ (faded, upper margin), 16th century, fol. 101v. Faded inscription in English probably in the same hand on fol. 42r.

Christopher, first Baron Hatton (bap. 1605, d. 1670), see ODNB. On fol. 3r ‘Psalterium’.

Robert Scott, London bookseller (b. in or before 1632, d. 1709/10), see ODNB: bought as part of the library of Christopher, first Baron Hatton.

Bodleian Library: bought in 1671 from Scott; came to the Library in September 1671 (see Summary catalogue, vol. 2, part 2, pp. 801–2). Former shelfmark: ‘Hatton 98’ (fol. 3r and binding).

Record Sources

Elizabeth Solopova, Latin Liturgical Psalters in the Bodleian Library: A Select Catalogue (Oxford, 2013), pp. 237–41. Previously described in the Summary Catalogue.

Summary Catalogue, Vol. 2 Part 2, p. 852

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (2 images from 35mm slides)

Bibliography

Select bibliography to 2002:

Frere, no. 143.

Summary catalogue, vol. 2, part 2, no. 4123.

S. J. P. van Dijk, Latin Liturgical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, vol. 2: Office Books (typescript, 1957), p. 132

Pächt and Alexander (1966–73), vol. 3, no. 931.

Scott (1996), vol. 2, p. 107.

Scott (2000–02), vol. 2, no. 544.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2024-04-08: Encode full description from Solopova catalogue.

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