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Yates Thompson MS 14
- Record Id:
- 040-002354424
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002354332
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000772.0x0001d6
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100165175117.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Yates Thompson MS 14
- Title:
- Psalter (The 'St Omer Psalter')
- Scope & Content:
-
Psalter, known as the 'St Omer Psalter', begun in c. 1330-c. 1340 for a member of St Omer family of Mulbarton, Norfolk, but left unfinished. The calendar and large portions of the text are 15th-century additions (ff. 1r-6v, 95r-103v, 128r-153v, 168r-173r). This later work was probably completed for the 15th-century owner of the manuscript Humphrey, duke of Gloucester (1414-1447) (see Provenance), but some work was possibly begun as early as c. 1400 (see Panayotova in McKendrick and others, Royal Manuscripts, 2011).
Contents:
ff. 1r-6v: Calendar;
ff. 7r-156r: Psalter;
ff. 156r-167r: Canticles;
ff. 167r-173r: Litany and Collects.
Decoration:
1 large and 7 smaller historiated initials in colours and gold accompanied by full historiated or foliate borders, at the main divisions of the Psalter (ff. 7r, 29v, 44r, 57v, 70v, 87v, 103r, 120r). Large illuminated initials in gold and colours with partial bar borders, some with animals, birds and hybrids. Small initials in gold on red and blue grounds. Decorated line-fillers, in colours and gold.
The decoration of the Psalter was executed in three campaigns (see Panayotova in McKendrick and others, Royal Manuscripts, 2011): 1. c. 1330-c. 1340 (Norfolk): 4 historiated initials with full borders (ff. 7r, 57v, 70v, 120r) and the underdrawing for 2 initials and borders (ff. 29v, 44r); the majority of initials and partial borders (ff. 7v-68v). The decoration provided during this campaign is connected to later developments in East Anglian illumination, incorporating Italianate figural style; especially related to the Gorleston Psalter Crucifixion (Add MS 49622, f. 7r) and the Douai Psalter (Douai, Bibliothèque municipale, MS. 313); 2. c. 1400 (Essex): 2 miniatures (ff. 29v, 70v). According to Panayotova, the style of these added miniatures is reminiscent of manuscripts made for the Bohun family in the 1380s; 3. c. 1430-c. 1440 (London): 4. historiated initials (ff. 44r, 87r, 103r), borders and some initials and line-fillers throughout the text (ff. 24r-24v, 29r-29v, 44r, 57r, 60r-60v, 63r-63v, 70r-119v, 120v-173r).
The subjects of the miniatures and initials are:
f. 7r: Initial 'B'(eatus) of the Tree of Jesse, with nine medallions in the border with scenes from Genesis: 1. The Creation of the World; 2. The Creation of Adam and Eve; 3. The Original Sin; 4. The Expulsion from Paradise; 5. Adam and Eve at work, and Cain and Abel; 6. Lamech killing Cain, and the death of Jabal; 7. The Building of the Ark; 8. Noah's Ark; 9. The Drunkenness of Noah; and praying figures of the owners of the manuscript: a knight (wearing St Omer arms) and his wife (Psalm 1).
f. 29v: Miniature of the anointing and crowning of David (Psalm 26).
f. 44r: Initial 'D'(ixi custodiam) of David pointing to his tongue with God above (Psalm 38).
f. 57v: Initial 'D'(ixit insipiens) of David and a fool, with eight medallions in the border with scenes from the lives of Moses and Samson: 1. Moses and the Burning Bush; and Moses before Pharaoh; 2. The Crossing of the Red Sea; 3. Moses receiving the tables of the law; Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf; Moses breaking the tables of the law; 5. Moses and the Brazen Serpent; 5. The Building of the Tabernacle; 6. Samson carrying off the gate of Gaza; and Samson with his hands bound; 7. Samson and the lion; Samson and Delilah; 8. Samson pulling down the Philistines' house (Psalm 52).
f. 70v: Miniature in two registers: 1. Jonah being thrown into the sea; 2. Jonah being saved from the whale's mouth; with eight medallions in the border: 1. A battle with the Philistines and the lost of the Ark; 2. David and Goliath (in margin); David cutting off Goliath's head; David presenting Goliath's head to Michal; 3.The battle on Mount Gilboa; 4. David being anointed King at Hebron, and David receiving sceptre; 5. David and Uriah (?); 6. David and Solomon; and Solomon on horseback; 7. The Judgment of Solomon; 8. The Building of the Temple by Solomon (Psalm 68).
f. 87r: Initial 'E'(xultate deo) of David playing bells (Psalm 80).
f. 103r: Initial 'C'(antate domino) of clerics singing (Psalm 97).
f. 120r: Initial 'D'(ominus) of the Last Judgement, with nine medallions with scenes of the Passion of Christ: 1. The Betrayal of Christ; 2. The Scourging of Christ; 3. Christ carrying the Cross; 4. The Crucifixion; 5. The Entombment; 6. The Resurrection; 7. The Holy Women at the Sepulchre; 8. The Ascension of Christ; 9. Pentecost (Psalm 109).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Yates Thompson Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002354332
040-002354424 - Is part of:
- Yates Thompson MS 1-59 : Yates Thompson Manuscripts
Yates Thompson MS 14 : Psalter (The 'St Omer Psalter') - Hierarchy:
- 032-002354332[0015]/040-002354424
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Yates Thompson MS 1-59
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100165175117.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Latin
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1325
- End Date:
- 1445
- Date Range:
- c 1330-c 1440
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
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- User Conditions:
-
Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment.
Dimensions: 335 x 225 mm (text space: 215 x 130 mm).
Foliation: ff. ix + 175 (+ 1 unfoliated modern paper flyleaf at the end: ff. i-ii are bookplates pasted on f. iii recto; f. iii is a modern paper flyleaf at the beginning; f. iv is a modern mounted paper slip; ff. v, vi, viii and ix are modern parchment flyleaves at the beginning; f. vii is a 19th-century mounted paper slip at the beginning; ff. 174-175 are medieval parchment blank leaves).
Collation: i6 (ff. 1-6), ii-xiii8 (ff. 7-102), xiv8+1 (1st leaf inserted; ff. 103-111), xv-xix8 (ff. 112-151), xx2 (ff. 152-153), xxi8 (ff. 154-161), xxii6 (ff. 162-167), xxiii8 (ff. 168-175); catchwords.
Script: Gothic.
Binding: Post-1600. Bound in Paris by Nicolas Denis Derome 'le Jeune', c. 1780; gilt edges.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: England (Norfolk); additions: England (Essex and London).
Provenance:
Commissioned by a knight of the St Omer family of Mulbarton, Norfolk, perhaps to be identified with Sir William de St Omer (d. after 1347); but left incomplete: a knight wearing the St Omer arms (azure a fess between six cross-crosslets fitchés or), accompanied by his wife, depicted in the border of the opening page of the Psalter (f. 7r); the St Omer arms erased (f. 54v) and unfinished (f. 78v).
Humphrey [or Humfrey] of Lancaster (b. 1390, d. 1447), Duke of Gloucester, prince, soldier, and literary patron: erased inscription, legible in UV light 'Cest livre est a moy Homfrey fiz frere et uncle de roys duc de gloucestre comte de penbroc grant chambellan dangleterre ...' (f. 173r); made duke of Gloucester in 1414, and protector of England on 5 December 1422: probably acquired by him before he was granted a higher title.
Aegidius (or Gilles) Dancel, sous-préfet of Coutances, perhaps to be identified with the professor of rhetorics at the College of Harcourt in the late 17th century (see H. L. Bouquet, L'Ancien collège d'Harcourt et Lycée Saint-Louis (Paris: 1891), p. 322): inscribed 'Egidio Dancel, subprefecto Maiori apud Coustantinatis Carmen in illius Annagramma quod est Diu galliae decus ius', followed by six verses in Latin, incipit: 'Diu Galliae ius decus' (f. v recto), and an alphabetic index of initial words of the Psalms in the same French hand, 17th century (1st 3 parchment flyleaves [ff. v recto-vii verso]).
Thomas Thorpe (b. 1791, d. 1857), bookseller: listed in his 1828 catalogue, lot 2902, priced at £25.
John Wilks II (b. c. 1793, d. 1846), M.P. for Sudbury (in 1826): inscribed 'This volume was lot 442 in the sale of John Wilks M.P. for Sudbury, 12 March 1847, and was bought by Rodd for £210' (f. iii verso).
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th Earl of Ashburnham; his Appendix Ms. 32 ; bought from Rodd for £210, according to the handwritten annotations in the British Library's copy of Catalogue of the Manuscripts at Ashburnham Place: Appendix (London: Hodgson, 1853).
Bertram Ashburnham, 5th Earl of Ashburnham: his sale, May 1897, bought by Yates Thompson together with the entire Ashburnham Appendix: book-plate with an inscribed number 'From the Library of the Earl of Ashburnham Appendix no. 32 May 1897' (f. i recto pasted on f. iii recto).
Henry Yates Thompson (b. 1838, d. 1928), collector of illuminated manuscripts and newspaper proprietor: his book-plate 'Ex museo Henrici Yates Thompson' with an inscription: '[MS] 58 / [£]lee.e.e [i.e. £900.0.0] / [bought from] The Earl of / Ashburnham / May 1897' (f. ii recto pasted on f. iii recto); given to the British Museum on his 80th birthday, December 1918, in honour of M. R. James, S. C. Cockerell, and G. F. Warner, who had assisted Thompson in the cataloguing of his collection: gold-tooled dedication on red leather (inside upper cover); it became Add. MS 39810 and was re-numbered after the creation of the 'Yates Thompson' shelfmark, following Mrs Yates Thompson's bequest of other manuscripts in 1941.
- Former Internal References:
- Add MS 39810
- Information About Copies:
-
Full digital coverage available for this manuscript, see Digitised Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/.
- Publications:
-
Henry Yates Thompson, Facsimiles in Photogravure of Six Pages from a Psalter Written & Illuminated about 1325 A.D. for a Member of the St Omer Family in Norfolk (London: Chiswick Press, 1900).
Henry Yates Thompson, A Lecture on Some English Illuminated Manuscripts (London: Chiswick Press, 1902), pls XXXI-XXXVI.
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Second Series of Fifty Manuscripts (Nos. 51 to 100) in the Collection of Henry Yates Thompson (Cambridge: University Press, 1902), no. 58 pp. 74-82.
Sidney C. Cockerell, The Gorleston Psalter (London: Chiswick Press, 1907), pp. 2-4, pl. XV.
[Sydney Carlyle Cockerell], Exhibition of Illuminated Manuscripts (London: Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1908), no. 68, pp. 32-33, pl. 68.
J. A. Herbert, Illuminated Manuscripts (London: Methuen, 1911), p. 229.
Schools of Illumination: Reproductions of Manuscripts in the British Museum, 6 vols (London: British Museum, 1914-30), IV: English: A. D. 1350 to 1500 (1922), p. 8, pl. 13.
[J. A. Herbert], Illuminated Manuscripts and Bindings of Manuscripts Exhibited in The Grenville Library, Guide to the Exhibited Manuscripts, 3 (Oxford: British Museum, 1923), no. 29.
Eric G. Millar, English Illuminated Manuscripts of the XIVth and XVth Centuries (Paris: Van Oest, 1928), pp. 8-9, 25, pls. 19-20.
O. Elfrida Saunders, English Illumination, 2 vols (Florence: Pantheon; Paris Pegasus Press, 1928), I, pp. 94, 100-02, 105-07, 111, II, pls. 113-14.
Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts 1916-1920 (London: British Museum, 1933), pp. 194-96.
Otto Pächt, 'A Giottesque Episode in English Illumination', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 6 (1943), 51-70 (pp. 52, 53, 57, pl. 14d).
Joan Evans, English Art 1307-1461 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1949), pp. 40-41, pl. 26b.
F. Wormald, 'The Yates Thompson Manuscripts', The British Museum Quarterly, 16 (1952), 4-6 (p. 6).
B. L. Ullman, ‘Manuscripts of duke Humphrey of Gloucester’, in Studies in the Italian Renaissance, Storia e letteratura, 51 (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e letteratura, 1955), pp. 345-55 (first publ. in English Historical Review, 52 (1937), 670-72), (p. 354 no. 18) [when the manuscript was Add. MS 39810].
Margaret Rickert, La Miniature Anglaise: Du XIIIe au XVe siècle (Milan: Electa, 1961), pp. 12, 21.
Margaret Rickert, Painting in Britain: The Middle Ages, 2nd edn (London: Penguin Books, 1965), pp. 130-32, 134, 181-83, pls pp. 133, 182(a).
[D. H. Turner], Reproductions from Illuminated Manuscripts, Series 5 (London: British Museum, 1965), no. 29.
[Derek Howard Turner], Illuminated Manuscripts Exhibited in the Grenville Library (London: British Museum, 1967), no. 24, p. 31.
Josiah Q. Bennett, 'Portman Square to New Bond Street, or, How to Make Money though Rich', The Book Collector (1967), 323-39 (pp. 325, 326, 330).
A. N. L. Munby, Connoisseurs and Medieval Miniatures 1750-1850 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), pp. 124-25.
Richard Marks and Nigel Morgan, The Golden Age of English Manuscript Painting 1200-1500 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1981), pp. 18, 80, pl. 21.
Lynda Dennison, 'The Fitzwarin Psalter and its Allies: A Reappraisal', in England in the Fourteenth Century: Proceedings of the 1985 Harlaxton Symposium, ed. by W. M. Ormrod (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1986), pp. 42-66 (pp. 50 n. 36, 65).
Michael Camille, Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art (London: Reaktion, 1992), pl. 66.
Justin Clegg, The Medieval Church in Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2003), p. 33 pl. 27.
C. M. Kauffmann, Biblical Imagery in Medieval England 700-1500 (London: Harvey Miller, 2003), pp. 212, 215, 230, pl. 158.
F. O. Büttner, ‘Der illuminierte Psalter im Westen’, in The Illuminated Psalter: Studies in the Content, Purpose and Placement of its Images, ed. by F. O. Büttner, (Belgium: Brepols, 2004), pp. 1-106 (p. 18 n. 48).
Lucy Freeman Sandler, The Lichtenthal Psalter and the Manuscript Patronage of the Bohun Family (London: Harvey Miller, 2004), p. 157 n. 54.
Stella Panayotova, The Macclesfield Psalter: ...A Window into the World of Late Medieval England (Cambridge: Fitzwilliam Museum 2005), p. 14.
Treasures of the British Library, ed. by Nicolas Barker and others (London: British Library, 2005), p. 240.
M. A. Michael, ‘Seeing-in: The Macclesfield Psalter’, in The Cambridge Illuminations: The Conference Papers, ed. by Stella Panayotova (London: Harvey Miller, 2007), pp. 115-28 (p. 116 n. 12).
Scot McKendrick, John Lowden, and Kathleen Doyle, Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination (London: British Library, 2011), no. 33.
- Exhibitions:
- The Middle Ages, (online), 26 March 2015-
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)