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Walters Ms. W.23, PsalterBrowse images (Browse images in a new window) | TEI in XML format
Text title
Psalter and Office of the Dead
Abstract
This manuscript is housed in a sumptuous binding, which, though not original to the book, contains several striking medieval elements. The manuscript is listed in 1864 as coming from the collection of Guglielmo Libri, who was notorious for having ornate bindings and inscriptions added to existing manuscripts, so it is likely the binding was created for him. It was listed as an authentic, fully medieval treasure binding in Libri's catalog. Because of the fragile nature of the binding, the book was not able to be opened, and the information regarding the interior in this catalog entry is derived from earlier images and notes.
Date
Early 13th century CE
Language:
The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.
Support material
Parchment
Heavy, darkened parchment; some folios throughout badly damaged and in places fragmentary; leather tabs that appear to be original have been inserted at various points
Collation
Formula: 1-19(8)
Catchwords: None
Signatures: None
Comments:
Dimensions
16.0 cm wide by 25.0 cm high
Written surface
11.5 cm wide by 18.75 cm high
Layout
Contents:
fols. 1r - 152v:Binding
The binding is not original.
Treasure binding made up of various elements, some medieval and some modern, put together somewhat crudely, probably in the mid nineteenth century, and likely by or for Guglielmo Libri; non-medieval oak boards; upper board has holes from earlier fastenings; spine covered in green velvet; front cover had as centerpiece a seated apostle in copper (now removed, accession no. 53.144), which would have originally decorated a medieval altar; at each corner were Mosan enamel plates (the upper two have been removed); on either side are two Rhenish bone carvings, marked "Joad" and "Davi" ("Joad" is probably not medieval); copper gilt panels at top and bottom
Provenance
Guglielmo Libri, by 1864, listed as no. 57 in his sale catalog of that year; binding very possibly created for him, and sold as original
Purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore, before 1931, possibly from Léon Gruel, Paris; cf. the pattern of the strips of gilt metal around the recess with that on W.16
Acquisition
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
Bibliography
De Ricci, Seymour. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935. p. 769. no. 77.
Catalogue of the Magnificent Collection of Precious Manuscripts and Objects of Art and Vertu, of M. Guglielmo Libri. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 1864, p. 18. no. 57.
Ottosen, K. The Responsories and Versicles of the Latin Office of the Dead. Aarhus, Denmark : Aarhus University Press, 1993, pp. viii, 194, 356.
Contributors
Catalogers: Kauffman, Nicholas; Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Copy editor: Dibble, Charles
Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail
Contributors: Bockrath, Diane; Emery, Doug; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.
Publisher
The Walters Art Museum
License
Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.
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