MS. Rawl. G. 170

Summary Catalogue no.: 14893

Psalter; England, Diocese of York, 14th century, second quarter

Fol. 1 is mostly blank (see ‘Provenance’).

[item 1 occupies quire I]

1. (fols. 2r–7v)

Calendar, laid out one month per page, written in brown, red and blue, not graded, approximately two-thirds full. The calendar was originally for the use of York and includes John of Beverley (7 May), the martyrdom of John the Baptist (29 August), Edmund Rich (16 November), Edmund (20 November) and Leonard of Limousin (6 November), all in red. It was altered to the Sarum use in the first half of 15th century (?) with many entries erased and new ones added, including David and Chad (1 and 2 March), Francis (4 October) and Hugh, bishop of Lincoln (17 November). The feast of Winifred (4 November) is added in a later 15th-century hand and graded with 12 lessons. The feast and octave of Thomas Becket and titles ‘pape’ are crossed out. The months are headed by verses on the ‘Egyptian’ days which correspond to Hennig’s (1955) set III.

[items 2–6 occupy quires II–XXX]

2. (fols. 8r–193v)

Psalms 1–150 in the biblical order, without titles or numbers, laid out with each verse starting on a new line, punctuated throughout, with punctus marking the ends of verses and minor pauses, and punctus elevatus marking metrum. There are textual divisions at psalms 26, 38, 51, 52, 68, 80, 97, 101 and 109 (see ‘Decoration’). Subdivisions within psalms are not indicated, apart from 17: 26 (fol. 24v) marked with a 2-line initial. Psalm 118 is subdivided into a mixture of 8-verse and 16-verse units.

3. (fols. 194r–205r)

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. 205r–212r)

Daily canticles, prayers and creeds, without titles:

(1) Benedicite omnia opera (fol. 205r);
(2) Te deum laudamus (fol. 206r);
(3) Benedictus dominus deus (fol. 207v);
(4) Magnificat (fol. 208v);
(5) Nunc dimittis (fol. 209r);
(6) Athanasian Creed (Quicumque uult ...) (fol. 209v).

5. (fols. 212r–220r)

Litany for the use of York, including Martial among the apostles; Alban, Oswald and Edmund (last) among the martyrs; Augustine, Paulinus, John (of Beverley (?)), Wilfrid, William (of York (?)) and Cuthbert among the confessors, and Pelagia (third), Hilda and Everild among the virgins. Petitions include one for an archbishop (fol. 216v). A 14th-century note, probably in the hand of John Grandison, bishop of Exeter, pointing out that the litany is for the use of York: ‘Ista letania et que sequntur sunt de vsu Eboracensi’ (fol. 212v). Preces (fols. 217v–218r) followed by collects with rubrics ‘oratio’ (fols. 218v–220r):

(1) Deus cui proprium est misereri semper et parcere suscipe ...
(2) Deus in te sperantium deus fortitudo adesto propicius inuocationibus nostris ...
(3) Protector in te sperancium deus sine quo nihil est ualidum ...
(4) Deus cui omne cor patet et omnis uoluntas loquitur et quem nullum latet secretum ...
(5) Omnipotens sempiterne deus qui facis mirabilia magna solus ...
(6) Deus qui caritatis dona per graciam sancti spiritus tuorum cordibus fidelium infundis ...
(7) Adesto domine supplicationibus nostris et uiam et actibus famulorum tuorum in salutis tue ...
(8) Deus a quo sancta desideria recta consilia et iusta sunt ...
(9) Fidelium deus omnium conditor et redemptor animabus famulorum famularumque tuarum remissionem ...
(10) Omnium sanctorum intercessionibus quesumus domine gratia tua nos semper protegat ...

6. (fols. 220v–227v)

Office of the Dead, use of York (responsories correspond to nos. 14, 72, 24, 32, 57, 40, 68, 18, 38 in Ottosen (1993)). A 14th-century note, probably in the hand of John Grandison, pointing out that the Office is for the use of York and not Sarum: ‘De vsu Eboracensi Non Sarisburiensi’ (fol. 220v). Fols. 228r–229v are ruled but blank.

7. (fol. 230r)

Lauda Syon in prose added in the 15th century.

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: predicans preceptum eius (psalter, fol. 9r)

Form: codex

Support: parchment

Extent: 230 leaves

Dimensions (leaf): c. 294 × 194 mm.

Foliation: modern, in pencil; 1–230.

Collation

(fol. 1) upper pastedown and fly-leaf, originally the first two leaves of a quire of four | (fols. 2–7) I (6) | (fols. 8–47) II–VI (8) | (fols. 48–53) VII (6) no loss of text | (fols. 54–229) VIII–XXX (8) | (fol. 230) fly-leaf, conjoint with the lower pastedown. Catchwords and leaf signatures survive throughout

Layout

Ruled in pink ink with double lines for text, double vertical and horizontal bounding lines, extending the full height and width of the page, and another set of double vertical and horizontal lines in the lower and outer margins; written below the top line; 17 lines per page; written space: c. 210 × 123 mm. ; prickings occasionally survive

Hand(s)

Formal Gothic book script; brown ink.

Decoration

Gold KL monograms, decorated with purple penwork in the calendar.

4-line Beatus-initial on gold background and three-quarter border, decorated with foliage (fol. 8r). 4-line initials on gold backgrounds and borders, decorated with foliage and grotesques, at liturgical divisions at psalms 26 (fol. 35r; 3-line, owing to the lack of space at the bottom of the page), 38 (fol. 52v), 51 (fol. 69r), 52 (fol. 69v), 68 (fol. 87r), 80 (fol. 109v), 97 (fol. 129v) and 109 (fol. 151v).

Borders: see above.

3-line gold and blue ‘puzzle’ initials, decorated with purple and red penwork, at the beginnings of psalm 101 (fol. 132r) and the first canticle (fol. 194r).

3-line gold initial, decorated with purple penwork, at the beginning of Athanasian Creed (fol. 209v).

2-line gold initials, decorated with foliage in purple penwork, at the beginnings of psalms, canticles, litany, prayers and sections of the Office of the Dead.

1-line alternating red and blue initials, decorated with contrasting blue or purple penwork, at the beginnings of verses and periods.

Line-endings in gold and blue on fol. 8r, and red and green with gold discs elsewhere.

Pencil sketch in the left margin on fol. 39v.

Rubrics in red ink.

Binding

Contemporary English binding of white leather with chemise over wood boards. Fragments of two leather straps on the upper cover, and nails from two clasps, now lost, on the lower cover. Sewn on seven double thongs. Fragment of paper label at the base of the spine.

History

Origin: 14th century, second quarter ; English

Provenance and Acquisition

Made for the use of the diocese of York: liturgical evidence.

14th-century obits of ‘dominus Henr(icus) de Wynquike’ (24 April) and Agn(es) de Wynquike (2 June) in the calendar.

John Grandison (1292–1369), bishop of Exeter, see ODNB: erased inscription ‘Memoria (?) Johannis de Grandissone episcopi Exoniensis’ (fol. 8r) and notes at the beginnings of the litany and Office of the Dead.

‘Henricus . Dei gracia . Rex . Anglie . & . Dominus Hibernie’ on the lower pastedown, 15th century (?).

Richard Rawlinson (1690–1755), see ODNB: bookplate and ‘563’ (upper pastedown).

Bodleian Library: bequeathed by Rawlinson; accessioned in 1756. Former shelfmark: ‘Auctarium Rawl. G. 170’ (fol. 1r).

Record Sources

Elizabeth Solopova, Latin Liturgical Psalters in the Bodleian Library: A Select Catalogue (Oxford, 2013), pp. 157–60. Previously described in the Summary Catalogue.

Summary Catalogue, Vol. 3, p. 373

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (2 images from 35mm slides)

Bibliography

Select bibliography to 1999:

Summary catalogue, vol. 3, no. 14893 and vol. 5, p. xi.

Frere, W. H., ‘York Service Books’ in J .H. Arnold and E. G. P. Wyatt (eds.), Walter Howard Frere: a collection of his papers on liturgical and historical subjects (London: OUP; Humphrey Milford, 1940), pp. 159–69, at p. 169.

S. J. P. van Dijk, Latin Liturgical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, vol. 2: Office Books (typescript, 1957), p. 54

Pächt and Alexander (1966–73), vol. 3, no. 604.

Cavanaugh, S. H., A study of books privately owned in England, 1300–1450, Diss., University of Pennsylvania, 2 vols. (Ann Arbor, MI, 1985), vol. 1, p. 377.

Dennison, L., ‘Monastic or secular? The artist of the Ramsey Psalter, now at Holkham Hall, Norfolk’ in B. Thompson (ed.), Monasteries and society in medieval Britain: proceedings of the 1994 Harlaxton Symposium (Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1999), pp. 223–61, at p. 244 n. 77.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2024-06: Encode full description from Solopova catalogue.

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