Felice, Matteo, active 1467-1493, artist Bragge, William, 1823-1884, former owner Walker, Thomas Shadford, 1834-1885, former owner Stevens, Benjamin Franklin, 1833-1902, former owner Hoe, Robert, 1839-1909, former owner
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Description
ff. 17-162. [Psalter]. Latin. Psalter in biblical order, with tituli psalmorum of the Old and New Testaments. On ff. 162-176v, canticles, Te deum, Quicumque vult, Credo, Gloria, Pater noster. On ff. 176-181, litany, including Bernardinus and Leonard among monks, and Clare and Margaret among virgins. ff. 181v-182v, ruled, but blank. On ff. 183-218, Passion according to the 4 Gospels. Preceding the psalter, on ff. 1-12v, calendar in red and black including the feasts of the Translation of Anthony of Padua (15 February),"Resurrectio domini" (27 March, in red), Severus (30 April, in red),"Inventio sancti michaelis" (8 May, in red), Restituta (17 May, in red), Peter de Morrone (19 May), Bernardinus (20 May, in red), Euphebius (23 May, in red), Translation of Francis (25 May, in red), Anthony of Padua (13 June, in red),"Dedicatio sancte marie de angelis" (2 August, in red),"Festum nivis" (5 August, in red), Clare (12 August, in red), Louis of Toulouse (19 August, in red), Antoninus (2 September), Stigmata of Francis (17 September, in red), Januarius (19 September, in red),"Dedicatio sancti michaelis" (29 September, in red), Francis (4 October, in red), Agnellus (14 December, in red); later entries by 2 hands: Francis de Paola (2 April), Thomas Aquinas (8 July),"Sancta maria del carmino" (16 July; now erased), Exuperius bishop and martyr (28 September). On ff. 13-16v, list of the psalms, alphabetical in the first letter only, thereafter in the order of appearance in the psalter, with reference to psalm number. ff. 218v-235. [Prayers]. Latin; Catalan. A number of the prayers are preceded by narratives of the circumstances of composition, of discovery or of recitation; many include phrases such as"da michi famulo tuo T." presumably in reference to the book's first owner; for a prayer on f. 222, the rubric is in Catalan: La sequent oratio feu lo glorios doctor ebisbe mosser sant agosti e demana gratia ad nostro senyor . . . , Deus propicius esto michi peccatori et custos mei esse digneris . . . [Römer, i, 374]; the prayer on f. 236r-v was added in a later hand: O domine iesu christe fili dei vivi crucifixe propter hominem rogo te propter sancta vulnera tua . . . Title from printed catalog. Support: Parchment. Script: Gothic liturgical. Layout: 1¹² 2⁴ 3-18¹⁰ 19⁶(through f. 182) 20-23¹⁰ 24⁸ 25⁶. Catchwords placed horizontally in the center lower margin between flourishes, except on quires 16-18 where they are written vertically along the bounding line; quire and leaf signatures in letters and roman numerals. Span folios: ff. 1-236v. Decoration: On f. 17, 11-line historiated initial in self shaded blue with white patterning and gold lining along the inner edge, set on a square gold ground decorated with colored acanthus leaves; the infilling contains David playing his psaltery; the lettering for "eatus vir qui" in gold on a blue ground placed vertically the length of the initial; full border of dense gold motifs, regularly positioned blue and red flowers, putti attacking birds and animals; the border is framed on both inside and outside and contains an additional rule in the outer border of a narrow blue band of interlocking segments set on a gold band; the bands develop complex strapwork, which in the center lower margin frames a coat of arms. 7 historiated initials, 7-line, in similar style of blue or red lined with gold and on decorated gold grounds; the first letters of the psalm in gold on horizontal blue strips; full borders of similar style but narrower than that on f. 17 and framed, inside and out, by a blue rule. 4 historiated initials for the 4 Passion narratives, 8-line, in similar style and colors, but with decorated floral spray extension to the left of the text. Other Decoration: 5 or 4-line initials in blue, maroon and green on a gold ground with floral spray on ff. 132 (Ps. 114), 144v (Ps. 121), 146v (Ps. 126), 148v (Ps. 131), 152 (Ps. 137), 157 (Ps. 143), 162 (Confitebor). Psalm number in the margin in blue. Assigned Date: s. XVex. Input into Digital Scriptorium by: C. W. Dutschke, 7/31/2012. Cataloged from existing description: C. W. Dutschke with the assistance of R. H. Rouse et al., Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Huntington Library (San Marino, 1989). Bound in modern red velvet, rebacked; gilt edges. HM 1064. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Written at the end of the fifteenth century, probably in Naples and under Franciscan influence to judge from the saints in the calendar. The first owner's name began with"T.": he is often included in the prayers on ff. 218v-235 by his intitial; he also may have been Aragonese, the rubric on f. 222r-v being in Catalan. Unidentified coat of arms on f. 17: azure a flower plant eradicated vert between two affronted lions or, on a chief argent a helmet sable plumed gules; the same coat of arms, lacking the charge in chief but surmounted by the plumed helmet is on f. 128v; the arms may be later additions. An erased inscription, s. XVIII (?), in the upper margin of f. 17. Said in the Bragge sale catalogue to have come from the Prince Petr Dmitrievich Soltykoff collection (not in his sale, Paris, 8 April 1861). Belonged to William Bragge (1823-84); his sale, Sotheby's, 7 June 1876, n. 119 to Quaritch. Belonged to Dr. Thomas Shadford Walker; his sale, Sotheby's, 23 June 1886, n. 346 to B. F. Stevens. Owned by Robert Hoe: Grolier Club (1892) n. 12; Cat. (1909) p. 165; his sale, Anderson, New York, 1911, pt. I, n. 2175 to G. D. Smith. Source and date of acquisition by Henry E. Huntington unknown.
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