¶ Psalter (13th century) [MS]

Psalter.

Illuminated manuscript. Germany, 13th century. 152 leaves.

Provenance: Morris. — Richard Bennett. — Sotheby 1898, lot 867 (sold to Henry Wellcome for £45). — Henry Wellcome. — Wellcome Library [deaccessioned]. — Sotheby, 29 July 1946, lot 113. — Daniel Sickles. — Sickles sale, Parke-Bernet, 17 November 1947, lot 201. — Unlocated.

Reference: Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_2269).

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Sotheby 1898:

¶ Psalter (14th century) [MS]

Psalter.

Illuminated manuscript. England, 14th century. 141 leaves.

Provenance: Howell Wills. — Wills sale, Sotheby, 11 July 1894, lot 1536. — Quaritch catalogue, August 1894, no. 413 (£60). — Quaritch catalogue, 15 November 1895, no. 154 (£105). — Morris. — Richard Bennett. — Sotheby 1898, lot 972 (sold to Leighton for £85). — Charles Butler. — Butler sale, Sotheby, 18 March 1912, lot 2630 (£700). — Sotheby 18 July 1921, lot 499. — Sawyer catalogue 100, 1930, no. 111. — Sotheby, 18 December 1933, lot 363. — Unlocated.

References: Ellis valuation, fol. 5, no. 79 (£90). — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_3527).

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Sotheby 1898:

¶ Psalter (15th century) [MS]

Psalter.

Illuminated manuscript. France, 15th century. 196 leaves.

Inscribed by Morris to his daughter Jenny, 17 January 1892.

Provenance: Morris. — Jenny Morris (gift from William Morris, 17 January 1892). — Niels Christensen. — Alan Horace Kempner. — Margaret Loeb Kempner. — Columbia University Library (Western MS 38) [gift from Margaret Loeb Kempner, 1986] .

Reference: Digital Scriptorium.

Digital Scriptorium

¶ Psalter and book of hours (c. 1265) [MS]

Psalter [and] book of hours.

Illuminated manuscript. France, probably Thérouanne, c. 1265 and 15th century. 258 leaves.

Provenance: P. Vande Camée. — Morris. — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.97).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1384, no. 97. — Ellis valuation, fol. 5, no. 74 (£100). — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 28. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_14305).

Images: Morgan Library.

Morgan Library

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

¶ Psalter (c. 1255–1256) [MS]

Psalter.

Illuminated manuscript. Bruges, Belgium, c. 1255–1256. 165 leaves.

Provenance: Perhaps the Convent of the Poor Clares in Bruges (Abbaye des Clarisses). — Henry Gee Barnard. — Morris (purchased from Ellis & Elvey, 2 October 1895, for £325). — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.106).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1386, no. 106. — Ellis valuation, fol. 7, no. 106 (£400). — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 26. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_14293).

Images: Morgan Library.

Morgan Library

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

¶ Vescy psalter (c. 1290–300) [MS]

Vescy psalter.

Illuminated manuscript. England, possibly London, between 1290 and 1300. 206 leaves.

With note by Morris: “Though this book is without figure-work, the extraordinary beauty and invention of the ornament make it most interesting; and the said ornament is thoroughly characteristic of English work: the bold folded-over leaf in the great B on the first page of the text is an undeniable token of an English hand. The great thickness of the black boundary lines is worth noting, and no doubt is the main element in producing the effect of the colour, which is unusual. The beauty of the simple blue and gold Calendar will scarcely be missed by any one taking up the book.”

Note by Cockerell: “The book has been cut down by the brutality of an eighteenth-century binder, so that some of the ornament, especially on the first page, has been sheared off.”

Provenance: William Baron de Vescy. — Lady Sara Ufford (Vescy’s daughter). — John Giffarde. — Robert Hare. — Quaritch. — Morris (purchased from Quaritch, 1892). — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.100).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1385, no. 100. — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 18. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_14334)

Images: Morgan Library.

Morgan Library

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

¶ Psalter (c. 1270s) [MS]

Psalter (the Beauvais psalter).

Illuminated manuscript. France, probably Paris or Beauvais, c. 1270s. 280 leaves.

The following note by Morris is tipped in on a flyleaf : “The calendar is exceedingly handsome from its wealth of gold; the roundels are very good. These ten leaves of designs, clearly done by a different hand from the other figure-work, are of the best French work, at once elegant and serious. The historiated letters are clear and bright in colour, which tends towards the English in character, the figures large in scale for their spaces, and quite firmly drawn; there is a particular charm about these letters, which take up a good space on the page. The ordinary illuminated letters are by his hands at least; the best of which is very happy; another is a little shaky in his outlines, but his colour very beautiful: these letters have suffered from the tarnishing of the white lead, which is not used in the historiated ones. The writing throughout the book is big, and bold, and as good as can be.”

Provenance: Henry G. Barnard. — Ellis & Elvey (sold to Morris for £375 in December 1895). — Morris. — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.101).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1385, no. 100. — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 20. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_14288). — WMAB, p. 102.

Images: Morgan Library.

Morgan Library

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

Psalter (13th century) [MS]

Psalter.

Illuminated manuscript. Beauvais or Paris, 13th century. 164 leaves.

Tipped in note by Morris: “This book has a complete and satisfactory scheme of ornament, which is nowhere departed from, and the colour of which is thoroughly harmonious. Many of the dragon-scrolls end in daintily painted little heads, drawn with much expression and sense of fun; and the hair of them beautifully designed, and drawn very firmly. The figure-work in the eight historiated letters is everywhere up to the average of its date, but on the first page in the Beatus and symbols of the Evangelists goes a good deal beyond that. Altogether an admirable specimen of the work of the later thirteenth century.”

Provenance: William Bragge. — Bragge sale, Sotheby, 7 June 1876, lot 368 (sold to S. Addington for £100). — Samuel Addington. — Addington sale, Sotheby, 24 May 1886, lot 462 (sold to Ellis). — Charles Fairfax Murray (purchased from Ellis, 10 June 1888). — Charles Butler. — Morris (purchased from Butler, probably before 1894). — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.98).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1384, no. 98. — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 23. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_8188).

Images: Morgan Library.

Morgan Library

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

¶ Psalter (late 13th century) [MS]

Psalter.

Illuminated manuscript. France, possibly Saint-Omer, late 13th century. 190 leaves.

Provenance: Musée Napoléon. — Jean Paradis. — Morris. — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.79).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1380, no. 79. — Ellis valuation, fol. 5, no. 76 (£100). — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 24. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_14292).

Images: Morgan Library.

Morgan Library

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

¶ Windmill psalter (late 13th century) [MS]

Windmill psalter.

Illuminated manuscript. England, possibly London, late 13th century. 167 leaves.

With the following note by Sydney Cockerell: “This was the last book bought by William Morris. He already owned 4 leaves of it, and did not know of the existence of the rest until the two portions were exhibited side by side at the rooms of the Society of Antiquaries in June, 1896.” Morris gave the manuscript its name in honor of an image of a windmill that appears in the text. Cockerell recorded in his diary (29 August 1896) that Morris, by now terminally ill, “looked at the Windmill Psalter in the afn. & was pleased with it,” and as Morris approached death, Cockerell, in a letter to Philip Webb (13 September 1896), reported that it was “the one he loves best” (British Library Add. Ms. 52760, fol. 18).

Marginal notes by Cockerell in Morgan Catalogue 4: (1) “The price paid by Morris to Lord Aldenham for his portion of the book was £1000. He obtained the four other leaves from C. Fairfax Murray in exchange for an Italian historical MS (all pictures) of the 15th century. I bought the Italian pictures (8 leaves) at the Fairfax Murray sale at Sotheby’s July 24 1919 lot 50.” (2) “It originally also contained the Office of the Dead. I bought a leaf of this in a volume of fragments from the Phillipps collection.”

When Morgan acquired the manuscript from Bennett in 1902, it included two letters, one from F. S. Ellis to Lord Aldenham (?), 22 February 1878, and the other from John Ruskin, 30 April 1880.

Provenance: Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham (purchased about 1860). — Morris (purchased from Lord Aldenham, 6 July 1896, for £1,000). — Bennett. — Morgan Library (MS M.102).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1385, no. 102. — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 19. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_14335).

Images: Morgan Library.

Morgan Library

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

¶ Psalter (c. 1250) [MS]

Psalter

Illuminated manuscript. Reading, England, c. 1250. 169 leaves.

Occasionally referred to as the Nottingham psalter (where it was once thought to have been created). Sydney Cockerell, while cataloguing Morris’s library, commented in his diary, 14 February 1894, on “the beautiful ‘Nottingham’ Psalter.” The following day he noted, “Stayed at K.H. [Kelmscott House] till 7.30 absorbed in the wonderful 13th century Psalters.”

Provenance: Benedictine Abbey of Reading. — Mareschal family. — Various other early owners (see list in Morgan catalogue). — Thomas Bateman. — William Bateman. — Bateman sale, Sotheby, 25 May 1893, lot 1412 (sold to Quaritch). — Morris (purchased by early 1894). — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.103).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1385, no. 103. — Ellis valuation, fol. 5, no. 69 (£7). — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 17. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_10741).

Images: Morgan Library.

Morgan Library

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

¶ Huntingfield psalter (c. 1212–1220) [MS]

Huntingfield psalter.

Illuminated manuscript. Oxford, c. 1212–1220. 165 leaves.

Sydney Cockerell’s diary, 2 May 1895: “W.M. went up to Quaritch’s with Mr Ellis, to buy the Huntingfield Psalter.” It was exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries in June 1896. Cockerell’s annotation in Morgan Catalogue: “The verse-initials of this book are identical in style with some of those in the New College Oxford Psalter partly illuminated by W. de Brail[e]s.”

Provenance: Lucia and Rogerus de Huntingfeld. — Brudenell family. — Quaritch catalogue, 1890, no. 6. — Quaritch catalogue 103, 1890, no. 82 (£800). — Quaritch catalogue 118, 1 December 1891, no. 813 (£800). — Quaritch catalogue 138, December 1893, no. 11. — Morris (purchased from Quaritch, 2 May 1895). — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.43).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1373, no. 43. — Ellis valuation, fol. 5, no. 73 (£800 ). — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 16. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_7349).

Images: Morgan Library.

Morgan Library

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

¶ Psalter (c. 1290–1305) [MS]

Psalter.

Illuminated manuscript. Liège, Belgium, c. 1290–1305. 168 leaves.

Provenance: Margaret des Pres. — Manuel John Johnson. — Johnson sale, Sotheby, 27 May 1862, lot 52 (sold to Edwin H. Lawrence). — Edwin H. Lawrence. — Lawrence sale, London, 1892, lot 534 (sold to Quaritch). — Morris. — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.155).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1395, no. 155. — Ellis valuation, fol. 5, no. 75 (£180). — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 29. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_6708).

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

¶ Psalter (1490–1500) [MS]

Psalter (Psalterium maius Beatae Mariae Virginis)

Illuminated manuscript. France, 1490–1500. 89 leaves.

Provenance: Edwin Henry Lawrence. — Lawrence sale, Sotheby, 9 May 1892, lot 69 (sold to Quaritch). — Morris. — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.186).

References: Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1401, no. 186. — Ellis valuation, fol. 2, no. 30 (£36). — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 96. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_11361).

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Morgan Catalogue 4:

¶ Psalter/hours [MS]

Psalter [and] hours.

Illuminated manuscript. Paris, 1228–1234. 241 leaves.

Provenance: Restwold family of Berkshire. — Henry Farrington. — Morris. — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.153).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1395, no. 153. — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 21. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_14287).

Images: Morgan Library.

¶ Psalter/hours (c. 1280s) [MS]

Psalter [and] hours.

Illuminated manuscript. Liège, Belgium, c. 1280s. 298 leaves.

Provenance: Peter van den Hove of Brabant. — Morris. — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (MS M.183).

References: Additional bibliography (Morgan Library). — Curatorial description (Morgan Library). — de Ricci, 2:1400, no. 183. — Ellis valuation, fol. 5, no. 77 (£250). — Morgan Catalogue 4, no. 27. — Schoenberg (SDBM_MS_14306).

Images: Morgan Library.

¶ Psalterium aureum (12th century) [MS]

Psalterium aureum (the golden psalter).

Illuminated manuscript. St. Albans, mid-twelfth century. 193 leaves.

Bound into the beginning of the volume is a long note by Sydney Cockerell, of which the following is an excerpt: “After being undisturbed for sixty years it was lot 978 in the Phillipps sale at Sotheby’s June 1896. I urged William Morris to give Quaritch a commission, but the book was then in a very crumpled state, in a russia binding, and he preferred to concentrate on a Hagesippus in a fine Winchester binding of the 12th century, now no. 51 in Mr Yates Thompson’s collection, which he obtained for the absurdly low price of £13. 10. Quaritch bought this Psalter for £34 and I got him to send it to Morris at Folkestone with a Gratiani decretum, the prices for these mss. being £60 and £180 respectively. Morris received them on June 22 1896 and wrote to me on June 24 that he would keep them, but asked me to get a reduction from Q. I saw Q. the next day and he agreed to take £225 for the two MSS., which makes the price of this book, forthwith christened by ‘The Golden Psalter’, £56 5. –

“It was then flattened and rebound by my brother Douglas Cockerell, who was at that time apprentice to Mr T. J. Cobden-Sanderson at the Doves Bindery, 15 Upper Mall, Hammersmith. The oak-boards were from old ship’s timber. The stamps on the white pigskin back were designed by Morris for the special binding of the Kelmscott Press Chaucer. It was finished and brought back to its owner at Kelmscott House . . . on Sept. 11 to his great satisfaction. It was, I believe, the last manuscript that he handled and talked of a day or two before his death, which took place on Oct. 3, 1896. Mr Cobden-Sanderson’s charge was £10. 10. –, bringing the cost to £66. 15. –”

Cockerell adds that he had wanted to buy the Psalter at the 1898 Sotheby sale but could not afford it; hence he advised his friend Lawrence Hodson to purchase it. (Hodson, eleven years later, sold it Cockerell.)

While the book was in his custody, Cockerell arranged for Graily Hewitt to create a replacement for the missing first leaf.

Provenance: Benedictine abbey of St. Albans. — Richard Heber. — Heber sale, Evans, 10 February 1836 (sold to Thomas Thorpe for £5 18s.). — Thomas Thorpe catalogue (Catalogue of Upwards of Fourteen Hundred Manuscripts on Vellum and on Paper), 1836, no. 1084 (£8 8s.). — Sir Thomas Phillipps. — Phillips sale, Sotheby, 10 June 1896, lot 978 (sold to Quaritch for £34). — Quaritch. — Morris (purchased from Quaritch, 22 June 1896). — Bennett. — Sotheby 1898, lot 866 (sold to Quaritch for £97). — Laurence W. Hodson. — Sydney C. Cockerell (purchased privately from Hodson, 27 May 1909, for £150). — Brian S. Cron (gift from Cockerell, 20 December 1956). — British Library (Add MS 81084) [accepted by HM Treasury in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the British Library in 2005].

References: Cron, B. S. “The Recent Owners of the Golden Psalter” Private Library 5 (July 1964): 45–46. (Reprinted from Cron, The Recent Owners of the Golden Psalter (London: Merrythought Press, 1963).) — Ellis valuation, fol. 7, no. 112 (£100). — Schoenberg (SDBM_40020).

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Sotheby 1898:

¶ Quincuplex Psalterium (1513)

Quincuplex Psalterium. Paris: Henricus Stephanus, 1513.

Provenance: Morris. — Richard Bennett. — Sotheby 1898, lot 974 (sold to Henry Wellcome for £1 10s.). — Henry Wellcome. — Wellcome Library [deaccessioned]. — Wellcome auctions (1), lot 239 (sold to Cleverdon for £ 1 12s.). — Cleverdon. — Unlocated.

Reference: Ellis valuation, fol. 17b, no. 224 (£1).

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Sotheby 1898:

¶ Psalterium (1503)

Psalterium cum apparatu vulgari firmiter appresso. Basel: Michael Furter, 1503.

Provenance: Morris (purchased from Quaritch, 31 March 1890, for 4s.). — Richard Bennett. — Sotheby 1898, lot 870 (sold to Henry Wellcome for £10). — Henry Wellcome. — Wellcome Library [deaccessioned]. — Wellcome auctions (1), lot 228. — Unlocated.

References: Ellis valuation, fol. 5b, no. 50 (£2). — MS catalogue (2), no. 857 (with two X’s beside the title).

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Sotheby 1898:

¶ Psalterium (1516)

Psalterium Hebraeum, Graecum, Arabicum, & Chaldaecum. Genoa: Petrus Paulus Porrus, 1516.

Provenance: Morris. — Richard Bennett. — Sotheby 1898, lot 975 (sold to Henry Wellcome for £3 5s.). — Henry Wellcome. — Wellcome Library [deaccessioned]. — Wellcome auctions (1), lot 235 (sold to Eiseman for £ 7 5s.). — Unlocated.

Reference: Ellis valuation, fol. 41 (£2).

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Sotheby 1898:

¶ Psalterium (c. 1488–89)

Psalterium. Ed. Saint Bruno [Bruno, Episcopus Herbipolensis]. [Würzburg: Georg Reyser, c. 1488–89.]

ISTC attributes three undated editions of the Psalter to Reyser: c. 1474 (this one with a question mark after it), c. 1482–86, and c. 1488–89. The Sotheby cataloguer in 1898 dated Morris’s copy as c. 1475, but both Poynter and the Wellcome online catalogue identify it as c. 1490. We assume, therefore that this copy is the third one listed in ISTC (i.e. c. 1488–89).

Provenance: Robert Travers. — R. St. P. R. Philpott. — Morris. — Richard Bennett. — Sotheby 1898, lot 973 (sold to Henry Wellcome for £14 14s.). — Henry Wellcome. — Wellcome Library (Closed stores EPB Incunabula 2.d.2 (SR)).

References: ISTC (ip01046000). — Poynter, no. 158.

Digital version: VdI.

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Sotheby 1898:

¶ Psalterium cum canticis (c. 1490)

Psalterium cum canticis. [Bamberg: Johann Sensenschmidt and Heinrich Petzensteiner, c. 1490.]

Provenance: St. Trinitas, Dominicans, Frankfurt am Main (1545_. — Matthias Jacob Adam Steiner. — Steiner sale, 16 October 1797 and 25 November 1798, postponed until 27 March 1799. — George Wilhelm Zapf (purchased at Steiner sale). — Rottenbuch (Bavaria, Augustinians) [donated by Zapf, 1800]. — Monastery dissolved and library sent to Munich, 1803. — Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich. — Edward Hailstone. — Hailstone sale, Sotheby, 4 February and 23 April 1891. — Morris. — Richard Bennett. — J. Pierpont Morgan. — Morgan Library (ChL157).

References: ISTC ( ip01049417 ). — Morgan Catalogue 1, no. 73.

Digital version: BSB.