Add MS 44874

Entry in the Catalogue of Additions, 1936-1945 (1970):

'THE EVESHAM PSALTER. Psalter, etc., in Latin, written and illuminated in England in the middle of the 13th cent. (after 1246, the canonisation of S. Edmund) for an abbot of Evesham. See Margaret Rickert, Painting in Britain: The Middle Ages, 1954, rev. ed. 1965, pp. 106-1O7, pl. 107; P. Brieger, English Art 1216-1307, Oxford, 1957, pp. 173-174, pll. 62, 65a; 'The Evesham Psalter', Brit. Mus. Quart., xi, 1936-1937, pp. 22-23, pl. x; D.H. Turner, 'The Evesham Psalter', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, xxvii, 1964, pp. 23-41, pll. 5, 6. Contents:-

(1) Calendar, in gold, blue, red and black, lacking the months of May, June, July and August. For the Evesham calendars see F. Wormald, English Benedictine Kalendars after A.D. ll00, ii, Henry Bradshaw Society, vol. lxxxi, 1946, pp. 21-38. The following entries may be noted:-19 Jan. Wulstan (15th cent. addition); 6 Feb. Vedast and Amand; 10 Feb. Austroberta (entry in red); 23 Feb. Milburga (red); 28 Feb. Oswald Bp. (red); 1 Mar. David (15th cent. addition); 2 Mar. Ceadda (red); 18 Mar. Edward K. (blue); 20 Mar. Cuthbert (red); 21 Mar. Benedict (blue); 11 Apr. Guthlac; 19 Apr. Alphege (blue); 23 Apr. George (gold), Regulus C. (red); 4 Sept. Translation of Cuthbert (red); 5 Sept. Bertin Abb.; 10 Sept. Translation of Egwin (gold); 16 Sept. Edith (red); 17 Sept. Feast of Relics (gold), Lambert (red); 1 Oct. Germanus, Remigius and Vedast; 2 Oct. Leodegarius; 8 Oct. Translation of Oswald Abp. (15th cent. addition); 9 Oct. Denvs and his Companions (blue); 13 Oct. Translation of Edward K.C.(15th cent. addition); 16 Oct. Michael 'in mari' (red); 19 Oct. Frideswide (partially erased 15th cent. addition); 31 Oct. Quintin; 13 Nov. Brice, 'Dedicatio ecclesie evesamensis' (blue); 16 Nov. Deposition of Edmund Abp. C. (gold, canonised 12 Dec. 1246); 17 Nov. Hilda (red); 20 Nov. Edmund K.M. (blue); 29 Dec. Thomas Becket (red); 30 Dec. Deposition of Egwin (gold). The title of 'pope' has been erased in the calendar, also the feast of Egwin on 30 Dec. Brieger, op. cit., p. 172, n. 2, suggested that the latter erasure might have been occasioned by the removal of the MS. to the Abbey of Hayles (see further below), but it is not unlikely that it is a mistake for the erasure of the preceding entry (i.e. that of Becket) in the 16th cent. The entries in the calendar which are particularly connected with Evesham are the following (see further Wormald, op. cit., pp. 21-26): 'Dedicatio ecclesie evesamensis', the Feast of Relics on 17 Sept., and the Deposition and Translation of Egwin, the founder of Evesham. ff. 2-5b;-

(2) Psalter, preceded and followed by prayers. ff. 6b-202;-

(3) Canticles and Athanasian Creed. ff. 202b-219b;-

(4) Litany and prayers. The Litany includes the names of Alphege, Thomas Becket (erased), Alban, Edmund, Oswald, Kenelm, Kanute, Edward and Wistan (marked for double invocation) amongst the martyrs; Augustine of Canterbury and his Companions, Dunstan, Egwin (marked for double invocation), Cuthbert, Odolfus, Ceadda, Aldelm, Vigor, Swithun, Aethelwold, Oswald, Wulstan, Benedict (marked for double invocation), Credanus, Columban, Wandregisil, Judoc and Edmund amongst the confessors; and Milburga, Eadburga, Etheldritha, Hilda and Venera amongst the virgins. ff. 220-226;-

(5) Office of the dead, not Sarum use. ff. 227-235b;-

(6) Commendation of souls. ff. 235b-239;-

(7) Various private prayers, viz:-(a) Oratio de sancta trinitate. 'Te adoro deum et patrem et filium et spiritum sanctum.' ff. 239b-240;-(b) 'Iuste iudex iesu christe rex regum et domine.' See U. Chevalier, Repertorium Hymnologicum, i, Louvain, 1892, no. 9910. To the sources there given add Royal MSS. 2 A. ix, ff. 87b (where it is attributed to Gerbert) and 98b (where it is attributed to Berengarius); 2 A. xxii, f. 193b (attributed to Berengarius); and 19C. xi, f. 154. ff. 240-240b;-(c) De sancta cruce oratio. 'Salue crux benedicta que domini mei passionem.' ff. 240b-241b;-(d) Oratio de sancta maria. 'Sancta et perpetua uirgo maria domina et advocatrix mea.' Cf. Royal MS. 2 A. xxii, f. 200b. ff. 241 b-242;-(e) Oratio bona ad dominum. 'Deus inestimabilis misericordia.' Cf. Royal MS. 8 B. i, f. 50b; A. Wilmart, Precum Libelli quatuor Aevi Karolini (Bibliotheca Ephemerides Liturgicae, Rome, 1940), pp. 21, 56, 73; Migne, Patr. Lat., ci, cols. 524, 1404. ff. 242-244;-(f) 'Confitebor tibi domine in toto corde meo.' ff. 244- 246b;-(g)'Heu mihi infelici. heu mihi misero.' ff. 246b-248;-(h) 'Domine deus omnipotens qui es trinus et unus.' Cf. other versions in Royal MSS. 2 A. xxii, f. 192; 7 D. xvii, f. 268; 8 B. i, f. 81; Patr. Lat., ci, cols. 590, 1400; A. Hughes, The Portiforium of Saint Wulstan, ii, Henry Bradshaw Society, vol. xc, 1960, pp. 7, 15. ff. 248-250b;-(i) 'Vita vivens christe ab iniqua.' ff. 250b-251;-(j) 'Domine iesu christe piissime mundi redemptor.' ff. 251-252;-(k) 'Summe sacerdos et uere pontifex.' The so-called Oratio Sancti Ambrosii, here divided into two parts, the second beg. 'Rogamus te etiam domine sancte pater' on f. 254b, see further A. Wilmart, Auteurs spirituels et Textes Dévots du Moyen Age Latin, Paris, 1932, pp. 101-125. ff. 252-255 (1) 'Deus piissime deus clemens et misericors.' Cf. Royal MS. 8 D. viii, f. 18b; Patr. Lat., clviii, cols. 875, 876, where the prayer is amongst those attributed to St Anselm. ff. 255 b-256 b;-(m) 'Pater et rex creator omnium deus.' ff. 256b-257b;-(n) 'Ave et gaude sancta dei genitrix.' ff. 257b- 258b;-(o) 'Sancta maria dei mater alma.' f. 258b. ff. 239b-258b.-

(8) Hymns and canticles added in an early 14th-cent. hand and preceded by a prayer 'Domine Iesu Christe qui uoluisti pro redemptione mundi' added in a late 13th-cent. hand (f. 259). ff. 259-284. Paper and vellum; ff. iii + 284. Mid XIII cent. (after 1246), with late XIII and early xiv cent. additions. 315 mm x 200 mm. Sec. fol. (of Psalter): 'Sed in lege.' Gatherings of 12, except i⁸ (4 and 5 excised), xxii⁴, xxiii⁸, xxiv⁸, xxv⁸, (7 and 9 excised); xxii-xxv have catchwords.

The evidence of the calendar and litany and the two representations of a kneeling abbot on ff. 6 and 179 suggest that the MS. was executed for an abbot of Evesham, presumably either Thomas of Gloucester, 1243-1255, or Henry of Worcester, 1256-1263. In the margin of f. 162 is added v. 5 of Ps. cxiii, Originally omitted from the text, together with the arms of Richard, Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans (d. 1272), which were also borne by his foundation of Hayles Abbey, co. Glouc. and the MS. may possibly have been presented by the Abbey to Richard as a propitiatory gift after the battle of Evesham in 1265. The original parts of the MS. are written in square bookhand of the mid-13th cent.; ff. 8b-239: 19 lines to a page; ff. 239b-258b: 25 lines to a page. Double ruling in plummet with double guide-lines. Colophon (f. 258b): 'Finito libro sit laus et gloria christo.' The early '4th-cent. additions to the MS. (ff. 259 b-284) are 26 lines to a page, with single ruling in red. The decoration of the main part of the manuscript is as follows:-

(1) Calendar medallions. Two roundels, approx. 35 mm. in diameter, at the foot of each page of the calendar, the left roundel giving the occupation of the month, the right roundel the zodiacal sign. The roundels are within golden circles, those on the left have pink backgrounds, those on the right blue ones. The subjects, executed in tinted outline, are as follows:-(i) January. Left, a man seated holding a bowl. Right, Aquarius, a man pouring water from a vase. f. 2;-(ii) February. Left, a man warming himself before a fire. Right, Pisces, two fishes. f. 2b;-(iii) March. Left, a man pruning. Right, Aries, a ram. f. 3;-(iv) April. Left, a man seated. Right, Taurus, a bull. f. 3b;-(v) September. Left, a man gathering grapes (?). Right, Libra, a man seated holding a pair of scales. f. 4;-(vi) October. Left, a man seated holding a branch. Right, Scorpio, a two-headed dragon. f. 4b;-(vii) November. Left, a man seated holding up a cup. Right, Sagittarius, a centaur. f. 5;.(viii) December. Left, a man killing a pig. Right, Capricornus, a monster, half goat, half fish. f. 5b.

(2) Full-page miniature of the crucifixion, tinted drawing against fullcolour background, framed area 260 mm. x 130 mm. Background made up of four panels of patterned and burnished gold superimposed on and framed by a ground of flat red patterned with white. The frame is a shaded and patterned blue rectangle within four narrower frames, brown on the inner side, gold, black and red on the outer. The cross is of the lopped-tree-trunk type, shaded green and white, with three of its ends extending over the frame of the miniature. Christ hangs on it lifeless, his eyes closed and his head inclined on his right shoulder. His arms are stretched in an upward curve and his body strains away from the cross. He wears a knee-length loincloth turned over at the waist. On his right, Mary, her head bent towards the centre of the miniature, her hands clasped in grief. On his left, John, his head bent towards the centre of the miniature, his right hand beneath his chin, his left hand held in front of his body. Both figures are in three-quarter profile, twisted away from the cross, partially overlapping the frame of the miniature, and thus in a different plane from the cross. On either side of the top part of the cross are two half-length figures of angels, holding up discs with the faces of the sun and moon. At the foot of the page, and outside the frame of the miniature, except for his head, shoulders and uplifted hands, kneels an abbot. The draperies of all the figures are gathered into loose, rather exaggerated folds. Their colours, or rather tints, are: Christ, light-brown shaded loincloth with some slate colour in the folds; Mary, blue and white shaded tunic, brown and white shaded mantle lined with green; John, brown and white shaded tunic, green and white shaded mantle lined with red; angels, brown and white shaded tunics, blue and white shaded mantles lined with green; abbot, blue and white shaded dalmatic lined with red, brown and white shaded alb and cope with green lining, green and white shaded mitre with red orphreys. The faces and flesh of Christ, Mary and John are modelled in light brown with white overpainting and contours and touches of red on cheeks and mouth. Mary and John have wide-open staring eyes with large round pupils and noticeable white irises. The faces and flesh of the angels and abbot are not so carefully modelled and are left almost flat. The halos of Christ and the angels are shaded brown and white, those of Mary and John shaded blue and white. Reproduced Brit. Mus. Quart., xi, pl. x; Rickert, op. cit., pl. 103; Brieger, op. cit., pl. 62; and Turner, op. cit., pl. 5(a). Iconographically the miniature is closely related to that on f. 5 of the Amesbury Psalter (Oxford, All Souls College, MS. 6; see A. Hollaender, 'The Sarum Illuminator and his School', Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, li, 1943, pl. VIII), less closely to the crucifixion in another MS. of the same school, the Missal of Henry of Chichester (Manchester, John Rylands Library, MS. Lat. R 24, f. 152; ibid., pl. V). An earlier version of the type can be seen in the Psalter of Robert de Lindesey (London, Society of Antiquaries MS.59, f. 35b; see E. G. Millar, English Illuminated Manuscripts from the Xth to the XIIIth century, Paris & Brussels, 1926, pl. 69a). f. 6.

(3) Vernicle, occupying the bottom part of its page, the measurement of the framed area being 74 mm. x 116 mm. The head and neck of Christ are executed with more colour than is used in the painting of the figures in the crucifixion miniature, but the technique is still essentially tinted drawing against full colour background. Composite frame to miniature: a hexagon superimposed on a rectangle with circles linking the two. Colours of frame: gold, blue, flat red and green. Background colours: blue, dark pink and flat red. Features modelled in pink and red with white overpainting; flowing hair, short beard. Shaded blue halo with gold cross. f. 6b.

(4) Beatus page and facing ornamental page. Framed area of each: 220 mm. x 138 mm. The Beatus initial is on the verso of a folio whose recto is blank. Beatus page: blue rectangular frame, patterned with white and bordered with gold. A roundel at each corner with seated musicians on gold background playing harp (top left), bells (top right), and viols (bottom left and right). The background to the Beatus initial is a diapered gold panel superimposed on and framed by a diapered pink one; the initial itself is of blue outline filled with foliate patterns coloured half orange, half pink, and with a blue quatrefoil at the centre of the upright. The interior of the initial contains foliage and geometric designs centring on three lozenges with interlinking frames. In the top lozenge, Christ in Majesty, represented as a seated youth in a blue tunic and brown mantle, holding an open book on his knee with his left and right hands raised in blessing. In the bottom lozenge, David is seated, crowned and wearing a red tunic and blue mantle and playing the harp. In the centre lozenge is a grotesque in the shape of a dragon. At the top and bottom of the series of lozenges are quarter-figures of angels in halflozenges, and on each side of the top and bottom lozenges are busts, apparently of angels, in half-lozenges. The ornamental page opposite contains the first verse of Ps. i: '(B)eatus vir... non sedit' in ornamental capitals. Each line of writing is on an oblong blue panel patterned with white, with a pink background in a rectangular frame coloured half blue, half orange, with an outer gold border. Both background and frame are patterned with white. A similar ornamental page in a 13th-cent. English psalter is f. 11b of MS. 100 of the Biblioteca Comunale, Imola (see M. Rickert, La miniatura inglese dal XIII al XV secolo, Milan, 1961, Tav. II). ff. 7b, 8.

(5) Large historiated initials marking the divisions of the psalter. Each initial occupies the equivalent of seven lines of text and extends across twothirds of the written space of the page. The remaining third is occupied by the first verse of the psalm in white decorative capitals, each line being on an oblong panel of blue or pink. The initials, except those on ff. 37b and 57, are backed by a panel of burnished and patterned gold superimposed on and framed by a panel of patterned or diapered blue or pink. The initials on ff. 37b and 57 have no gold patterns, that on f. 37b being dark-violet diapered and that on f. 57 dark-blue patterned. The initials themselves are of slender construction, their stems splitting and having coloured filling with foliate or other patterning (the split stems of the 'Q' on f. 74 are, however, filled with gold). Further decoration of the initials is by means of coloured foliate, animal and human motifs and marginal figures, as follows:-grotesque with a crowned human head, f. 37b;-lioness, f. 57;-human-headed dragon, forming the tail of the letter 'Q' although running down the left-hand margin, f. 74; human-headed dragon, wearing a coif on its head, f. 139b;-man with a winged cap, looking back over his shoulder, f. 159. The scenes in the initials are on a background of patterned and burnished gold, forming part of the gold panel behind the initial, where this occurs. For the relationship of these scenes to those in other English 13th-cent. psalters see G. Haseloff, Die Psalterillustration im 13. Jahrhundert, Kiel, 1938, esp. pp. 60-76, 118, 119. The series of illustrations in this manuscript (which is not mentioned by Haseloff) does not correspond exactly with the pattern of English psalters of the period. In particular, the illustration to Ps. lxxx (f. 116) is unusual. The scenes, executed in full colour, are as follows:-(a) Ps. xxvi. Initial 'D'. Anointing and crowning of David, who is seated frontally, holding a harp in his left hand, a sceptre in his right. Samuel, who anoints him, stands on his right, while another figure, standing on his left, crowns him. f. 37b;-(b) Ps. xxxviii. Initial 'D'. David seated on the right, points to his closed mouth. On the left, three men with closed mouths seated before a lectern with an open book. f. 57;-(c) Ps. li. Initial 'Q'. The slaying of Ahimelech. The executioner, Doeg, who has a mottled green face and wears a coif on his head, stands on the right, drawing his sword and with his foot on the neck of his prostrate victim. On the left, Saul, crowned and seated with crossed legs, points towards the executioner. f. 74;-(d) Ps. lii. Initial 'D'. Christ and a fool. Above, half-figure of Christ, holding a book and a scourge. Below, a fool seated, holding up a cup in his left hand, and with a bauble in his right. f. 75;-(e) Ps. lxviii. Initial 'S'. Jonah and the fish. Below, Jonah escaping from the fish; above, a man shooting down upon it. f. 93;-(f) Ps. lxxx. Initial 'E'. Christ and David. Above, half-figure of Christ, blessing with his right hand and holding a book with his left; below, David seated sideways, crowned, holding a sceptre with his left hand and playing a harp with his right. f. 116;-(g) Ps. xcvii. Initial 'C'. On the left, four clerks in monastic habits are singing at a lectern in front of an altar on the right, with a chalice on it. f. 137;-(h) Ps. ci. Initial 'D'. In the centre, David, crowned, praying before an altar on the right, with a chalice on it. Above, horizontal threequarter figure of an angel, holding one end of a scroll inscribed: 'oracio dauit cu anziaieture.' f. 139b;-(i) Ps. cix. Initial 'D'. The Trinity. God the Father and Son seated side by side and looking towards each other, the Father blessing the Son. Above, the Spirit as a dove descending from a cloud. f. 159;-Initials to the other psalms (equivalent to two lines of text in depth except for Ps. cxix, which occupies four), including two historiated ones for Pss. xciv and cxix, viz.:-(i) Ps. xciv. Initial 'U'. Christ in Majesty. f. 134; (ii) Ps. cxix. Initial 'A'. Above, half-figure of Christ; below, an abbot kneeling. The composition and decoration of these two initials resembles that of the remaining psalm initials in that they are either in colour, mostly blue and pink, backed by gold panels; or gold, backed by blue and pink panels. Ornamentation is by coloured foliage.

(6) Calendar initials, verse initials and line endings. Each page of the calendar has the monogram 'KL' in burnished gold on a blue or pink panel. Verse initials in the psalter are alternately blue and gold, decorated with red and blue penwork. Line endings are decorative panels of red and blue penwork, incorporating diaper and herring-bone ornament, etc., and also some animal forms: masks, fish and lacertines. The decoration of ff. 227-258b is by initials to the various items, alternately in blue and red, ornamented with red and blue penwork. The additions on ff. 259b-284 have red and blue initials, decorated with violet and red penwork.

The major illumination in the manuscript can be divided into three groups, viz.:-(1) the calendar medallions (ff. 2-5b), the crucifixion miniature (f. 6), and the vernicle (f. 6b);-(2) the Beatus and facing page (ff. 7b, 8) and the historiated initials on ff. 37b, 57, 93, 116, 137, 139b, 159;-(3) the historiated initials on ff. 74, 75. The work in the first group differs from that of the other two by its technique of tinted or shaded drawing on a full-colour background, but the illumination in groups (1) and (3) is nevertheless probably by the same artist, whose style is characterised by rather acromegalic faces with surprised expressions resulting from their staring eyes and arched brows; modelling and overpainting of flesh with white; gathering of drapery into thick pleated folds, the deep parts of which, in group (1), are shaded, whilst the rest of the drapery is left white or more lightly coloured; and fluttering and zig-zag edges and lines to drapery. The illumination in group (2) is of lighter execution than that of groups (1) and (3), to which it is however related, and some of whose characteristics it shows, though to a less marked degree, its work being more naturalistic and less manneristic. It seems that the historiated initials on ff. 134 and 179 and the ordinary psalm initials in the MS. are also by the artist of group (2). Probably three hands therefore worked on the original part of the Evesham Psalter, two artists and a scribe, the last of whom was presumably also responsible for verse initials and line-endings. The style of the figure illumination, especially that of groups (1) and (3), seems to be a development of the style of the illumination found in the Apocalypse, Cambridge, Trinity College, MS. R. 16. 2 (see M.R. James, The Trinity College Apocalypse, Roxburghe Club, 1909; M. Rickert, Painting in Britain, pp. 120, 121, pl. iii; Brieger, op. cit., pp. 161-164, pls. 55b, 56, 57a; E. G. Millar, op. cit., pls. 85, 86), particularly that of the second artist of the Apocalypse, who painted the miniatures on ff. 17-24b and probably f. 27. The Trinity Apocalypse has been dated circ. 1230 and is sometimes assigned to St Albans (Brieger favours its ascription to artists employed by the royal circle). Despite the iconographic relationship of the crucifixion miniatures in the Evesham and Amesbury Psalters there is no stylistic relationship between the former and the work of the Sarum Illuminator and his school (see further Hollaender, op. cit.), nor does its illumination seem to be related to that in the contemporary Rutland Psalter (see E.G. Millar, The Rutland Psalter, Roxburghe Club, Oxford, 1937; Rickert, op. cit., p. 115; Brieger, op. cit., pp. 178, 179).

Where the Evesham Psalter was produced cannot be certainly determined. Evesham itself is a not very likely possibility, in view of the fact that no work of a comparable high quality definitely executed at Evesham has survived or is recorded to have existed. For the books acquired by Evesham through the initiative and activities of Thomas of Marlborough (prior 1218- 1229, abbot 1229-1236) see W. D. Macray, Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham, Rolls Series, vol. xxix, 1863, pp. 267-269. Bound in 18th-cent. brown calf, gilt-tooled (rebacked 1954). A mutilated 18th-cent. inscription on f. iii contains the signature 'Ebenr. Mussell', presumably that of the owner, Ebeneezer Mussell, of Bethnal Green, d. 1764, whose library was sold 30 May-2 June 1766 (the present MS. is not certainly identifiable in the sale-cat.). Belonged to George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, G.C.B., d. 1838 (armorial bookplate, f. ii). Pressmark (f. i): 'I g-5'. Remained in the possession of the Dalhousie family until 1936 (Sotheby's sale-cat., 19 May 1936, lot 1). Purchased with a grant from the National Art-Collections Fund.'