Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 312, no. 32
Two fragments of a Latin Psalter, with a continuous gloss in Old English
Contents
Language(s): Latin, with glosses in Old English
Item i, recto side: Psalm 73.16 ('[auror]am') to Psalm 73.21 ('[f]actus', with gloss 'geworden').
Item i, verso side: Psalm 73.22 ('memor') to Psalm 74.3 ('iudicabo', with gloss 'deme').
Item ii, recto side: Psalm 77.31 ([eoru]m') to Psalm 77.37 ('erat').
Item ii, verso side: Psalm 77.37 ('habiti') to Psalm 77.43 ('Sicut . pos[uit]', with gloss 'swa swa he s[ette]').
Physical Description
- Item i 223 × 15-40 mm.
- Item ii 217 × 34-39 mm.
The two fragments were renumbered in 2021 as MS 312, no. 32, items i-ii, as part of the re-housing and conservation of Pembroke College's fragments collection.
Condition
Layout
Ruled in hardpoint. Originally 17 lines, in a single column: on Item i, remaining written space is 165mm height, with 14 lines of text on both sides; on Item ii,m remaining written space is 190mm height, with 16 lines of text on both sides. Old English glosses added above the Latin text in smaller handwriting. Punctus versus at the end of verse lines.
Hand(s)
Text written in a late standard English Caroline minuscule script.
Rubricated title written in uncial script.
Old English gloss written in English vernacular minuscule script.
cf. Bremmer and Dekker (2006), pp. 63-64
'The antiphon 'In israheh (sic) / magnum . nomen eius', written in small hand and provided with Anglo-Norman neums...The text has been fit inside the bowl of the initial C of 'Confit[ebimur]', the first word of psalm 74 of the Gallican version. It corresponds to that commonly used with this psalm for Matins of Thursday throughout the year in the Divine Office.'
Decoration
Three-line initial C in red (Item i).
Verse initials (only partially complete) in alternating colours (blue, red, green, red (purple?), blue, red, green) to the left of the text-block, separated by a dry-point vertical bounding line.
Rubricated psalm title and initial.
Accompanying Material
The fragments are tied together with a modern slip of paper bearing the number 'Pembroke College, MS 312 C.1 and C.2'. Bound with the preceding item from the same box (i.e. Pembroke College, MS 312, no. 31) is a letter from Neil Ker, dated 1952, in which he mentions 'the strips from a psalter with an O.E. [i.e. Old English] gloss'.
History
Canterbury, Winchester or Exeter may be considered as possible places of origin, on palaeographical grounds. Gneuss
suggested that '[t]hese fragments may be the remains of a book once owned by Gunhild,
the daughter of Earl Godwine (not
Gunhild, the daughter of King Cnut)'.
Provenance and Acquisition
'At Flanders by 1069, Bruges from
1087?'.
The fragments were separated from the source manuscript at an unknown date, probably in the early 16th century (see below).
The fragments were re-used as a component in the binding of a copy of Johann Reuchlin,
De accentibus et orthographia linguae Hebraicae (Hagenau, 1518) (now Pembroke College Library,
11.3.27), at an unknown date after its printing. Other fragments from the same source manuscript
have
survived in bindings that were made around 1600 in a Dutch workshop, probably in Leiden,
suggesting a possible approximate
date and location for this re-use.
An inscription on the title-page of this copy of Reuchlin's De accentibus confirms that it was formerly owned by the Dutch theologian Balthasar Lydius (1577-1629). Lydius was a student at Leiden alongside Samuel Meienreis (1572-1604), the owner of the books in which other fragments from the same source manuscript have been found.
This copy of Reuchlin's De accentibus later came into the hands of the
astronomer Roger Long (1680-1770).
Bequeathed by Roger Long
(1680-1770) to Pembroke College Library, as
part of this copy of Reuchlin's De accentibus. (See Custodial History for further information).
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
Researchers should note that Pembroke College's western European medieval manuscripts are housed at Cambridge University Library. Scholars who wish to consult Pembroke College manuscripts should contact the Special Collections Reading Room to arrange their visit; all University Library admissions procedures will apply. For information on eligibility and admissions procedures, see Joining the Library. For further enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.
Custodial History
Bibliography
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kryptokalvinistischen Zeit um 1600, 181-187, 1929)
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