This manuscript contains a Psalter, with the marginal Gloss on the
Psalms ( Magna glosatura ) by Peter Lombard (b. c. 1096, d. 1160).
It was probably made in England in the 3rd quarter of the 12th
century, making it a particularly early copy of Peter Lombard’s
Gloss on the Psalms, possibly made within the author’s lifetime.
Originally, this Psalter most likely featured a programme of
decoration for the ten-fold division of the 150 psalms: a
combination of the liturgical division at the first psalm of Matins
for each day of the week (1, 26, 38, 52, 68, 80, 97), the first
psalm for Sunday Vespers (109) and the psalms of the tripartite
division (at psalms 1, 51 and 101). This is suggested by the fact
that the folios with the openings of the psalms at these divisions
have been removed, probably by a book dealer in the modern period.
Psalm 29 (‘Exaltabo te’) also appears to have been illustrated,
since its opening has been removed as well. The only remaining
illustration is a historiated initial on f. 3r. The manuscript's
style of decoration suggests a production in or near Canterbury
(see Cahn, 'St. Albans and the Channel Style in England' (1975), p.
207 n. 60). It was owned by the Benedictine abbey of St Augustine
at Canterbury at an early stage, when a monk Ralph, the uncle of
Abbot Roger I (r. 1176-1216) donated this manuscript as part of a
series of 21 volumes containing a nearly complete glossed Bible to
St Augustine. This is the only identified volume of that
gift.Contents:ff. 1v-2r: A glossed list of Hebrew kings, with
details about their reigns and associated prophets, entitled
‘Catalogus Regum Hebrerorum’.f. 2v: Psalm 151 (apocryphal),
beginning: ‘Pusillus eram inter fratres meos et adolescentior in
domo patris mei’. ff. 3r-3v: Peter Lombard, Prologue to Gloss on
the Psalms, beginning: ‘Cum omnes prophetas spiritus sancti
revelatione constet esse locutos’.ff. 4r-122r: Psalter, with
Gloss on the Psalms by Peter Lombard, imperfect due to the loss of
folios; the following verses are entirely lacking: Psalm 1:1-5
'peccato'; Psalm 25:6 'inter' to 26:10 'tuo'; Psalm 28:9
'revelabit' to 29:6 'matutinum lae[...]'; Psalm 38:1-8; Psalm 50:20
'ficentur muri' to 52:6 'placent'; Psalm 67:26 'pes conjuncti' to
68:9; Psalm 79:17 'increpatione' to 80:6 'exiret'; Psalm 95:13
'veritate' to 97:1 'novum'; Psalm 100.2 'ad me' to 101:2 'exaudi';
Psalm 108:19 'et sicut' to 109:2 'virgam'; Psalm 118:167 'et
dilixet' to 119:3). [f. 1r and f. 211v are empty]. Decoration:1
large historiated zoomorphic (dragon) initial in a blue frame,
featuring a bearded enthroned figure (? David or ? Peter Lombard)
holding a blank scroll, approached by a ? servant or ? student (f.
3r); off-set of text and illumination on f. 2v. Two large blue
initials with foliate decoration in red and blue against a gold
background inside the letter, placed inside green frames with a
background in light brown or red (ff. 58v [Psalm 38], 166v [Psalm
118]). Large and medium initials in blue or red (openings of Psalm
commentaries) or puzzle initials in blue and red (opening of
Psalms) with penwork decoration in red or blue with green fillings,
sometimes highlighted with yellow. Numerous small initials in red
or blue (for Psalm verses), sometimes with penwork decoration in
the opposite colour and green fillers. Display script in red or
blue. Rubrics in red. Paraph markers in red or blue. Quotation
marks (vertical lines in the margin) in red. Underlining in red.
Roman numerals (in running headers) in red. Quire numbers (last
versos) in brown ink. A marginal drawing of a bearded figure,
praying, has been added to f. 128r; the head of a (?) bishop to f.
180r; and a human head in brown ink to f. 211v.
