Add MS 50000
c 1265-1270, Psalter in Latin, with a metrical paraphrase of the Psalms in Anglo-Norman French. A leaf excised from this Psalter is now Add. MS 54215 (see Turner, Rediscovered Miniatures (1969)).The manuscript includes:ff. 1r-6v: Calendar, including the following saints: Milburga (23 February), Oswald (28 February), the Apparition of Michael (8 May), Modwena (5 July), Agatha (12 July), Edith of Polesworth (15 July), Modwena (9 September).ff. 7r-17v: Prefatory cycle (see Decoration below).ff. 18r-215r: Psalter, imperfect at the beginning (1 folio missing), incipit: '...it in consilio'; with a metrical paraphrase in Anglo-Norman French, in the margin, incipit: 'Cil est benure / Ki nest pas ale / As conseils as feluns:/ Ne estut el sentier / Out Ceus Ki uunt pecher / Ne as seges a bricuns'. Another 13th-century version of this text is Harley MS 4070. ff. 216r-229r: Canticles with 'Te Deum' (ff. 226r-227r) and the 'Athanasian Creed' (ff. 227r-229r). ff. 229r-233r: Litany, including Thomas Becket (as fifth) and a John (as ninth of eleven martyrs); Pope Mark (as third); Edmund of Canterbury and William of York (as last two of fourteen confessors); and Radegunda, Tecla, Genevieve and Frideswide (among virgins). ff. 233r-241v: Office of the Dead, use of Sarum, with musical notation. ff. 242r-257r: Psalter of the Virgin Mary, attributed here to Anselm of Canterbury (see Chevalier 1892 and Dreves 1900), rubric: 'Incipit psalterium Beate Marie virginis sumptum de verbis et sensibus psalmorum david a beato Anselmo archiepiscopo cantuarie'; in rhyming quatrains, incipit: 'Ave porta paradisi: Lignum vite quod amisi, explicit: 'Salve fili. Salve mater salve deus summe pater quem sanctorum exercitus omnisque laudat spiritus.' The corresponding Psalm verses are written in the right hand margin. The text includes two prose prayers to the Virgin: 'O stella maris' (ff. 251v-252r) and 'Sancta et perpetua virgo' (ff. 256v-257r).Decoration: Calendar medallions of the Labours of the months and the Zodiac signs (ff. 1r-6v). Prefatory cycle of 22 full-page miniatures in colours and gold, preceding the Psalter (ff. 7r-17v). 10 historiated initials in colours and gold with marginal extension, some with additional figures, animals and grotesques in the margins, at the beginning of the liturgical divisions of the Psalter, the Office of the Dead and the beginning of the Psalter of the Virgin (ff. 48r, 66v, 83r, 84r, 101r, 125r, 146v, 168r, 233r, 242r), with the exception of Psalm 101 (f. 149r) which begins with an illuminated initials with foliate decoration. The initial for Psalm 1 is missing. Some independent bas-de-page figures or scenes, including: a centaur (f. 31v), a dragon (f. 54r), a peacock (f. 56v) and a man fighting a lion (f. 235r). Smaller historiated initials in colours and gold (ff. 189v, 216r, 218r, 219v, 224r, 225r, 225v, 226r, 227r, 229r, 233v, 234r, 234v, 238r, 244r, 256v), or illuminated initials with figures (such as kings, queens, friars, priests), animals or foliate decoration, at the beginning of other Psalms, canticles, litany and prayers. Initials in blue with red pen-flourishing, or in gold with blue pen-flourishing, at the beginning of verses. Pen-flourished line fillers. The calendar: f. 1r: January: Janus feasting at the table; Aquarius.f. 1v: February: A man cooking and warming his feet by the fire; Pisces.f. 2r: March: A man pruning trees; Aries.f. 2v: April: A man with flowers; Taurus.f. 3r: May: A hunter on horseback; Gemini. f. 3v: June: A man weeding: Cancer.f. 4r: July: A man scything; Leo. f. 4v: August: A man cutting corn; Virgo. f. 5r: September: A man threshing corn; Libra.f. 5v: October: A man sowing; Scorpio (depicted as a dragon).f. 6r: November: A man slaughtering pigs; Sagittarius. f. 6v: December: A woman pouring wine into a barrel; Capricorn.The prefatory cycle (the leaves are not in the original order and three folios appear to be missing). The detached folio, Add. MS 54215, which contains on one side the Tree of Jesse and on the other an enthroned ecclesiastic, presumably the patron of the manuscript, probably was at the beginning of the cycle in its original arrangement. The miniatures of the cycle seem to have been arranged in pairs with scenes of the life of Christ alternating with two miniatures of the Apostles (for the suggested reconstruction of the cycle, see Catalogue of Additions (2000)). Each page includes two roundels and two half-roundels accommodating subsidiary scenes, and four corner segments.The subjects of the miniatures are: f. 7r: The Annunciation (upper roundel), the Visitation (lower roundel), with the creation of heaven and earth and the creation of the sea, at the sides, and four heads in the corners. f. 7v: St Peter. f. 8r: The Journey of the Magi (upper roundel); the Magi before Herod (lower roundel), with the creations of the birds and beasts and the creation of Adam, at the sides and four heads in the corners. f. 8v: St Andrew. f. 9r: St Bartholomew. f. 9v: The Adoration of the Magi (upper roundel); the Dream of the Magi (lower roundel), with God carrying the sleeping Adam to Paradise and the creation of Eve, at the sides, and two angels with censers and the horses of the Magi in the corners. f. 10r: The Mocking of Christ (upper roundel); the Flagellation (lower roundel), with Noah building the Ark and Noah receiving back the dove, with a king with a sword, and three heads in the corners. f. 10v: Unidentified saint (Apostle). f. 11r: Unidentified saint (Apostle). f. 11v: The Carrying of the Cross (upper roundel); the Crucifixion (lower roundel), with the destruction of Sodom and Lot's wife being turned to a pillar of salt; and an angel leading away Lot and his daughters, with two heads mocking Christ; below, the Virgin (or St Mary Magdalene) and St Peter. f. 12r: Unidentified saint (Apostle). f. 12v: The Last Judgement (upper and lower roundel), with the Resurrection of the Dead at the sides. f. 13r: The Massacre of the Innocents (upper roundel); the Flight into Egypt (lower roundel), with God addressing Adam and Eve and the Fall, at the sides, and heads of a queen praying and a man. f. 13v: Unidentified saint (Apostle). f. 14r: Unidentified saint (Apostle). f. 14v: The Presentation in the Temple (upper roundel); the Baptism of Christ (lower roundel), with God rebuking Adam and Eve and the Expulsion from Paradise, at the sides, and two figures with candles and Saul and David in the corners.f. 15r: Christ in Majesty with the Evangelists and their symbols, in the corners. f. 15v: King David playing the harp. f. 16r: Unidentified saint. f. 16v: The Betrayal of Christ (upper roundel) and Christ before Pilate (lower roundel), with the sacrifices of Cain and Abel and the murder of Abel, at the sides, and heads of two angels and two Jews wearing pointed caps, in the corners. f. 17r: The Harrowing of Hell (upper roundel); the Resurrection (lower roundel), with Abraham and Isaac and the Sacrifice of Abraham, at the sides, with four heads in the corners.f. 17v: Unidentified saint (Apostle). The subjects of the historiated initials are:f. 48r: Initial 'D'(ominus) of the Coronation of David (Psalm 26).f. 66v: Initial 'D'(ixi) of David kneeling before Christ (Psalm 38).f. 83r: Initial 'Q(uid) of David playing the harp before Saul (Psalm 51). f. 84r: Initial 'D'(ixit) of David and a fool (Psalm 52). f. 101r: Initial 'S'(alvum) of Jonah in the boat and Jonah and the whale (Psalm 68).f. 125r: Initial 'E'(xultate) of David playing the bells (Psalm 80). f. 146v: Initial 'C'(cantate) of three clerks singing at a lectern (Psalm 97).f. 168r: Initial 'D'(ixit) of the Trinity and the Ascension (Psalm 109).f. 189v: Initial 'A' of Moses speaking to a man (Psalm 119).f. 233r: Initial 'P'(lacebo) of a funeral (Office of the Dead).f. 242r: Initial 'A'(ve) of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple (Psalter of the Virgin Mary). f. 216r: Initial 'C'(onfitebor) of Isaiah (Canticle 'Confitebor').f. 218r: Initial 'C'(antemus) of three clerics singing (Canticle 'Cantemus domino').f. 219v: Initial 'D'(omine) of a Jew praying (Canticle 'Domine audivi').f. 224r: Initial 'B'(enedicite) of Christ blessing (Canticle 'Benedicite').f. 225r: Initial 'M'(agnificat) of the Annunciation (Canticle 'Maginificat').f. 225v: Initial 'N'(unc) of a king (Canticle 'Nunc dimittis) and 'B'(enedictus) of a Franciscan praying (Canticle 'Benedictus').f. 226r: Initial 'T'(e) of clerics singing ('Te deum').f. 227r: Initial 'Q'(uicumque) of the Trinity.f. 229r: Initial 'K'(yrie) of a priest applying penance to a kneeling figure (Litany).f. 233v: Initial 'Inclina' of a deacon holding a book (in the Office of the Dead).f. 234r: Initial 'P'(atrem) of the Resurrection (in the Office of the Dead).f. 234v: Initial 'P'(arte) of a priest at a lectern (in the Office of the Dead).f. 238r: Initial 'Q'(uis) of two souls in Hell (in the Office of the Dead).f. 244r, Initial 'A'(ve) of the Virgin.f. 256v: Initial 'S'(ancta) of the Virgin.According to Morgan 1988, the manuscript is the work of two workshops responsible for the large prefatory miniatures and historiated initials respectively. For the discussion of earlier attributions, see Catalogue of Additions, 2000.
 
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