Walters Ms. W.34, Carrow Psalter

W.34

Carrow Psalter

Psalter-Hours

This English manuscript was made in East Anglia in the mid-thirteenth century for a patron with special veneration for St. Olaf, whose life and martyrdom are prominently portrayed in the Beatus initial of Psalm 1. Known as the "Carrow Psalter" due to its later use by the nunnery of Carrow near Norwich, it is more accurately described as a psalter-hours, as it contains, among other texts, the Office of the Dead and the Hours of the Virgin. The manuscript is striking for its rich variety of illuminations, including full-page cycles of saints, martyrs, and biblical scenes, as well as historiated initials within the Psalter, and heraldry added in the fifteenth century to undecorated initials in the Hours of the Virgin. Especially notable is the miniature portraying the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket, for after Henry VIII found him guilty of treason in 1538, his image was concealed by gluing a page over it rather than destroying it, and it has since been rediscovered.

Mid-13th century CE

East Anglia, England

Book

Devotional

The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.

Parchment

Medium-weight cream-colored parchment; slightly heavier-weight parchment used for full-page miniatures

Foliation: iii+321+iii

Three sets of numbers: pencil foliation in bottom- and occasionally top-right corners rectos that begin numbering on the folio containing Psalm 1 (a few of the upper ones are in pen); pencil foliation in upper right corners rectos through the complete manuscript, not including flyleaves (used here)

Formula: iii, 1(8), 2(8,-8), 3(4,-4), 4(2), 5(4,-4), 6(8,-1), 7(6-6), 8(6), 9-16(12), 17(12,-5), 18(6), 19(12), 20(12,-1), 21(12), 22(6), 23(4), 25-29(12), 30(6), 31(4,-4), 32(6), 33(12), 34(6), 35(6-1), 36(12), 37(12), iii

Catchwords: Lower right corners, versos (occasionally omitted)

Signatures: Some visible in center of rectos

Comments: Quires begin on fols 1(1), 9(2), 16(3), 19(4), 21(5), 24(6), 31(7), 36(8), 42(9), 54(10), 66(11), 78(12), 90(13), 102(14), 114(15), 126(16), 138(17), 149(18), 155(19), 167(20), 178(21), 190(22), 196(24), 200(25), 212(26), 224(27), 236(28), 248(29), 260(30), 266(31), 269(32), 275(33), 287(34), 293(35), 298(36), 310(37)

17.6 cm wide by 24.7 cm high

12.0 cm wide by 17.4 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 14
3. Layout does not apply to calendar (written surface 12 x 19 cm, 32-33 ruled lines)

fols. 1r - 321v:

1. Title: Psalter-Hours
2. Hand note: Littera prescissa, with smaller size used as cues for psalms cited in liturgical texts, antiphons, versicles
3. Decoration note: Manuscript opens with cycle of ten full-page saints' portraits/martyrdom images interspersed with their suffrages, followed by prefatory cycle of eleven mixed full-page and two-register illuminations depicting Adam and Eve and Christ's life, death, and resurrection; second group of five full-page Christological illuminations follow that repeat scenes already depicted, and may have been added; images typically glued back-to-back with blank side of previous folio, and have highly burnished gold grounds, rectangular frames; Psalter contains eleven historiated initials at openings of select psalms and one within hours (six to seven lines high); eleven heraldic arms added in fifteenth century within unadorned initials, beginning with Psalm 119 and found throughout the hours; smaller initials in gold or blue with intricate blue and red pen flourishes begin each line of text (one to four lines high); rubrics in red; text in black ink

fols. 1v - 20r:

1. Title: Suffrages
2. Incipit: Petrus apostolus et paulus doctor
3. Contents: Suffrages for saints: fol. 2r: Peter and Paul; fol. 4r: Barnabus and John the Evangelist; fol. 6r: Thomas and Jacobus; fol. 8r: Bartholomew and Matthew; fol. 10r: Symon and Jude; fol. 12r: Andrew and John (Baptist in text, but Evangelist pictured); fol. 14r: King Edmund; suffrage for Thomas Becket removed between fols. 15v and 16r (image remains); fol. 16r: Mary Magdalene (image missing but suffrage extant); fol. 18r: Catherine and Margaret; fol. 20r: Cecilia (suffrage is for her, but image is of Agatha)
4. Decoration note: Full-page illuminations of saints precede each suffrage (Mary Magdalene is missing, glued to suffrage for Thomas Becket and lost when it was removed)

fols. 21v - 30v:

1. Title: Prefatory cycle, part I
2. Decoration note: Prefatory cycle contains two groups of images; this first group, mainly scenes in two registers, begins with Old Testament images and proceeds through Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and appears to be original to the manuscript

fols. 31v - 35r:

1. Title: Prefatory cycle, part II
2. Decoration note: Prefatory cycle contains two groups of images; this second group appears fragmentary and repeats images from life of Christ found in first cycle, but in full-page format; similar in style but probably added judging from difference in ruling pattern, format, and repetition

fols. 36r - 41v:

1. Title: Calendar
2. Contents: Calendar half-full; graded in gold, blue, red, and black; East Anglian saints include Botulph of Bury, Felix of Durwich, Withburga, Edmund, Sexburga; St. Olaf, who is depicted in Beatus initial, is strangely not in the calender; Thomas Becket's name erased in calendar in sixteenth century after Henry VIII's decree of November 16, 1538

fols. 42r - 249v:

1. Title: Psalter
2. Incipit: Beatus vir
3. Contents: Ten-part psalter division with minor division at Psalm 119 (Gradual Psalms)
4. Decoration note: Historiated initials: fol. 42r (Ps. 1), fol. 74v (Ps. 26), fol. 95v (Ps. 38), fol. 113r (Ps. 51), fol. 114r (Ps. 52), fol. 131r (Ps. 68), fol. 155r (Ps. 80), fol. 178r (Ps. 97), fol. 180v (Ps. 101), fol. 200r (Ps. 109); arms of Earl of Gloucester added in initial on fol. 222v

fols. 249v - 270r:

1. Title: Canticles
2. Incipit: Confitebor tibi domine...

fols. 270v - 274r:

1. Title: Litany, petitions, and collects
2. Incipit: Kyrie eleyson
3. Contents: Martyrs include Edmund and Alban; Confessors include Cuthbert, Dunstan, Guthlac, and Botulf

fols. 275r - 285r:

1. Title: Office of the Dead
2. Incipit: Placebo domino in regione vivorum
3. Contents: Special responses fol. 283v, followed by lauds

fols. 285r - 297v:

1. Title: Hours of the Virgin
2. Incipit: Domine labia mea aperies
3. Contents: Hours of the Virgin, use of Sarum
4. Decoration note: Large initials at beginning of hours have been modified to depict the heraldic arms of the following: fol. 285r: Fitzalan of Bedale Yorkshire; fol. 286v: Earl of Winchester; fol. 288v: St. George; fol. 292v: Mortimer of Wigmore; fol. 294r: Mowbray of Axholme; fol. 294v: Earl of Warwick; fol. 295r: Percy of Northumberland; 295v: Earl of Oxford; fol. 296v: Baron of Stafford

fols. 298r - 321r:

1. Title: Psalter of the Virgin
2. Incipit: Suscipe regina celi que mente benigna Cantica de Psalmis offero sumpta sacris
3. Contents: The Psalter of the Virgin is also found in the Peterborough Psalter (Brussels, Bibliothéque Royale Ms. 9961) and the Psalter of Robert de Lindesey in the Society of Antiquaries
4. Decoration note: Historiated initial fol. 298r with man in prayer before Virgin and Child; may represent original patron of manuscript

fol. 1v:

1. 
2. Title: SS. Peter and Paul
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrage for SS. Peter and Paul

fol. 3v:

1. 
2. Title: SS. Barnabus and John the Evangelist
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages for SS. Barnabus, John, and Paul

fol. 5v:

1. 
2. Title: SS. Thomas and James
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages for SS. Thomas and James
5. Comment:

   James the Apostle is dressed as a pilgrim to Compostela.

fol. 7v:

1. 
2. Title: SS. Bartholomew and Matthew, Apostles
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages for SS. Bartholomew and Matthew

fol. 9v:

1. 
2. Title: SS. Symon and Jude
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages for SS. Symon and Jude

fol. 11v:

1. 
2. Title: SS. Andrew and John (the Evangelist?)
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrages for SS. Andrew and John the Baptist
5. Comment:

   Although the suffrage is for John the Baptist, the John who is pictured holds a book, an attribute more appropriate for John the Evangelist.

fol. 13v:

1. 
2. Title: Martyrdom of King Edmund
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrage for St. Edmund

fol. 15v:

1. 
2. Title: Martyrdom of Thomas Becket
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrage for St. Thomas Becket (now missing)

fol. 17v:

1. 
2. Title: SS. Catherine and Margaret
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrage for SS. Catherine and Margaret

fol. 19v:

1. 
2. Title: Martyrdom of St. Agatha (meant to be Cecilia)
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Suffrage for St. Cecilia
5. Comment:

   The image is labeled "Cecilia," and the suffrage is to her, but the image represents the martyrdom of St. Agatha.

fol. 21v:

1. 
2. Title: Above: Creation of Eve; Below: God's admonition to Adam and Eve
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 22r:

1. 
2. Title: Above: Temptation of Eve; Below: Expulsion from Paradise
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 22v:

1. 
2. Title: Angel hands spade to Adam and spindle to Eve
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 23r:

1. 
2. Title: Above: Annunciation/Visitation Below: Nativity/Annunciation to the shepherds
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 24v:

1. 
2. Title: Above: Magi guided by star/Magi before Herod Below: Magi warned in dream/Adoration of the Magi
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 25r:

1. 
2. Title: Above: Flight into Egypt/Massacre of the Innocents Below: Presentation/Baptism
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 26v:

1. 
2. Title: Above: Devil takes Christ to top of Mountain/Devil with stones Below: Entry into Jerusalem/Footwashing
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 27r:

1. 
2. Title: Above: Betrayal/Flagellation Below: Carrying the Cross/Crucifixion
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 28v:

1. 
2. Title: Above: Deposition/Three Marys at the tomb Below: Limbo/Resurrection
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 29r:

1. 
2. Title: Above: Magdalene (Noli me tangere)/Doubting Thomas/Ascension; Below: Pentecost/Throne of Grace
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Comment:

   The dove has not been included in the Throne of Grace.

fol. 30v:

1. 
2. Title: Above: Last Judgment with Christ in Majesty Below: Resurrection of the dead, and Devil herding damned into Hell
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 31v:

1. 
2. Title: Annunciation
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 32r:

1. 
2. Title: Nativity
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 33v:

1. 
2. Title: Adoration of the Magi
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 34r:

1. 
2. Title: Presentation in the Temple
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 35r:

1. 
2. Title: Carrying of the cross
3. Form: Full-page miniature

fol. 42r:

1. 
2. Title: Story of St. Olaf
3. Form: Historiated initial "B," 10 lines
4. Text: Psalm 1

fol. 74v:

1. 
2. Title: King David kneeling and pointing to his eye
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 6 lines
4. Text: Psalm 26

fol. 95v:

1. 
2. Title: King David kneeling and covering his mouth before a lectern
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 6 lines
4. Text: Psalm 38

fol. 113r:

1. 
2. Title: Fool with bladder on stick eating cusped loaf
3. Form: Historiated initial "Q," 7 lines
4. Text: Psalm 51

fol. 114r:

1. 
2. Title: King stabbing self with sword
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 7 lines
4. Text: Psalm 52

fol. 131r:

1. 
2. Title: Sailors throw Jonah overboard/Jonah in mouth of whale
3. Form: Historiated initial "S," 7 lines
4. Text: Psalm 68

fol. 155r:

1. 
2. Title: Jacob wrestling the angel
3. Form: Historiated initial "E," 5 lines
4. Text: Psalm 80

fol. 178r:

1. 
2. Title: Mass: Priest elevating host at altar
3. Form: Historiated initial "C," 7 lines
4. Text: Psalm 97

fol. 180v:

1. 
2. Title: David kneeling in prayer at altar below hand of God
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 6 lines
4. Text: Psalm 101

fol. 200r:

1. 
2. Title: Throne of Grace
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 6 lines
4. Text: Psalm 109

fol. 222v:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of Gloucester
3. Form: Altered initial "A," 6 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Psalm 119

fol. 285r:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of Lord Fitzallan of Bedal York
3. Form: Altered initial "D," 5 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Matins

fol. 286v:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of the Earl of Winchester
3. Form: Altered initial "Q," 3 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Matins

fol. 288v:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of St. George
3. Form: Altered initial "D," 2 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Lauds

fol. 292v:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of Lord Mortimore of Wigmore
3. Form: Altered initial "D," 4 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Prime

fol. 294r:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of Lord Mowbray of Axholme
3. Form: Altered initial "D," 3 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Terce

fol. 294v:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of the Earl of Warwick
3. Form: Altered initial "D," 4 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Sext

fol. 295r:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of Lord Percy of Northumberland
3. Form: Altered initial "D," 3 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: None

fol. 295v:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of the Earl of Oxford
3. Form: Altered initial "D," 4 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Vespers

fol. 296v:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of Baron of Stafford
3. Form: Altered initial "C," 3 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Hours of the Virgin: Compline

fol. 297v:

1. 
2. Title: Arms of the Earl of Hereford and Essex
3. Form: Altered initial "C," 3 lines, with arms added in fifteenth century
4. Text: Collect

fol. 298r:

1. 
2. Title: Man in prayer before enthroned Virgin and Child
3. Form: Historiated initial "S," 3 lines
4. Text: Ave porta paradisis

The binding is not original.

Henry Yates Thompson had the manuscript rebound in the early twentieth century; limp vellum binding, hair side out with stiff square yapp and green ribbons at fore edge; spine inscribed in gold tooled letters "Psalter of the Monastery of Carehow near Norwich circa A.D. 1245."

Made in East Anglia, England, mid-thirteenth century, for patron with special devotion for St. Olaf (whose miracles and martyrdom are depicted in Beatus initial); saints in calendar help localize to East Anglia

Carrow Priory, Norwich, fifteenth century, recorded in a fourteenth- or fifteenth-century inscription on fol. 1r: "Istud psalterium pertinet domui de Carehowe." Added heraldry may have been the arms of the abbey's benefactors.

John Baptist, 3rd Lord Caryll (1716-1780) (his bookplate recorded in 1902, but is no longer extant); had it rebound in eighteenth-century French binding

George Galway Mills, England, before 1800; collection sold in Mills Sale, London, February 24, 1800

Reverend David T. Powell (1772-1848), England, first half of nineteenth century (penciled ownership note fol. 1r: "nunc ad D.T. Powell); sold in Powell Sale, London, July 31, 1848

4th Earl of Ashburnham (1797-1878), England, third quarter nineteenth century (Appendix no. XXXIII, his bookplate)

Henry Yates Thompson (1838-1928), purchased May 1897 (his bookplate), no. 52; Thompson had book rebound in Paris

Bernard Quaritch, from Yates Thompson sale, Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, March 23, 1920, no. 34, for 4,100 pounds stirling.

Henry Walters, Baltimore, by purchase from Bernard Quaritch Ltd, 1920

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

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Herbert, J.A. Illuminated Manuscripts, London: British Museum, 1911, p. 181.

Yates Thompson, H. Illustrations from 100 Manuscripts in the Collection of Henry Yates Thompson. London: Chiswick Press, 1914, vol. 4, pp. 11-13.

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Lindblom, A. La peinture gothique en Suède et Norvège: Étude sur les relations entre l'Europe occidentale et les pays scandinaves. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1916.

Fett, H. "Norges Malerkunst i Middelalderen." Kristiana 5 (1917): pp. 149-150.

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Fawtier, R. La Bible historiée toute figurée de la John Rylands Library. Paris, 1924, p.36.

Borenius, T. "The Iconography of St. Thomas of Canterbury." Archaeologia 79 (1929): pp. 50-51.

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Ker, N.R. Medieval Libraries of Great Britain, London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1964, p. 48.

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Principal catalogers: Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Smith, Kathryn

Editors: Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William

Copy editor: Dibble, Charles

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Bockrath, Diane; Dutschke, Consuelo; Emery, Doug; Grollemond, Larisa; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.

The Walters Art Museum

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