Harley MS 1770

This manuscript contains two parts that were produced at Kirkham Priory in North Yorkshire. The first part (ff. 3r-157v), written in the first half of the 14th century, contains the Psalms, canticles and hymns in Latin prose with parallel Anglo-Norman translations. The second part (ff. 158r-241r), written in the 14th century, contains the Book of Psalms in Middle English verse, followed by a hitherto unnoticed account of an Englishman’s pilgrimages through the Holy Land.

Contents:

f. 1r: A title inscription on a parchment pastedown: ‘Psalterium triplicatum in verbis latinis. gallicis.et anglicanis’.

ff. 3r-143r: Psalter, with the psalms in Latin prose (Gallican version) with a parallel Anglo-Norman translation, imperfect at the beginning and opening with Psalm 2:9.

ff. 143r-157v: Canticles and hymns in Latin and French: Confitebor tibi (Isaiah), Ego dixi (Ezekiel), Exultavit cor meum (Anne), Cantemus domino gloriose (Moses), Domine audivi (Habakkuk), Audite celi (Moses), Benedicite (Three Holy Children), Benedictus (Zechariah), Magnificat (Virgin Mary), Nunc dimittis (Simeon), Te deum, Quicumque Vult (Athanasian Creed), Pater noster (Lord’s Prayer), imperfect at the end.

ff. 158r-241r: The Psalms in Middle English verse [Metrical Psalter] (the Surtees Society version), with parallel Latin lines in the outer margins, and Latin prayers in the lower margins.

The manuscript contains a later addition:

f. 241v: A brief but detailed account of the pilgrimage sites in the Holy Land (including St Catherine of Alexandria's tomb on Mount Sinai) that a certain ‘Robert[us] Varr[e]’ (his name erased, but legible with UV light) visited during a period of fourteen years and forty days; written in the 15th century.

Decoration:

Part 1 (ff. 3r-157v):

Large (6-7 line) puzzle initials in red and blue with red penwork decoration and red and blue pen-flourishing at some of the major Psalm divisions (ff. 22v [x2], 60r [x2, but one has been excised], 77v [x2], 92v [x2], 110r [x2]), and Psalm 101, which has 4-line puzzle initials (f. 94v [2x]). Large (2-line) initials in red with blue pen-flourishing, and in blue with red pen-flourishing, some in the form of leaves. Small (1-line) initials in red or blue. Line-fillers in red and blue. Cadels in brown ink.

Part 2 (ff. 158r-241r):

1 large (5-line) puzzle initial in red and blue with penwork decoration in yellow and red, and red and blue pen-flourishing at the beginning of Psalm 1 (f. 158r). Large (4-7-line) puzzle initials in red and blue with penwork decoration in red, and red and blue pen-flourishing at the other major Psalm divisions, including Psalm 51 (ff. 170v, 178v, 186, 186v, 194v, 204r, 212v, 222r). Large (2-line) initials in red with blue pen-flourishing, and in blue with red pen-flourishing, some in the form of leaves. Small (1-line) initials in red or blue. Highlighting of capitals in red.