Latin Manuscripts : Psalter of Joan of Navarre

Latin Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>The Psalter of Joan of Navarre stands as one of the most opulent examples of medieval illuminated manuscripts from the Western world. Created in France during the early thirteenth century, it is attributed to a Parisian workshop linked to the production of the Vienna Moralized Bibles.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The manuscript is named after one of its distinguished owners, Joan of Navarre (1370?-1437), also known as Jeanne or Joanna, daughter of Charles II, King of Navarre (1332-1387). Joan held the title Duchess of Brittany from 1386 to 1399, and in 1403 became the second wife of Henry IV, King of England (1367-1413). The ownership of the manuscript is confirmed by her signature, inscribed as <i>Royne Jahanne</i>. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The manuscript begins with a Calendar (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(9);return false;'>4r-7v</a>), though it is incomplete, missing two leaves that would cover the months of January, February, September and October. The remaining leaves feature miniatures depicting the labours of the months and the signs of the zodiac. Following the Calendar is an incomplete Prefatory Cycle (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(17);return false;'>8r-12r</a>), consisting of five full-page miniatures, each containing ten medallions illustrating scenes from the Life of Christ. After the Calendar and the Prefatory Cycle comes the Psalter (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(29);return false;'>14r-155rr</a>), which, although partially incomplete, missing small sections of text, otherwise contains the Vulgate version of all 150 Psalms, embellished with historiated initials. The manuscript concludes with eleven Canticles (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(309);return false;'>155r–167r</a>), an Athanasian Creed (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(333);return false;'>167r-168r</a>), and ends with the Litany of Saints (<a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(335);return false;'>168r</a>), though the Litany is also incomplete due to a missing leaf.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>In July 2024, the Library acquired one of the two missing leaves from the Psalter, completing Psalm 118[119], specifically verses 71–89. This newly acquired leaf appears to have been separated from the manuscript before its purchase by Lord Crawford in 1869. During much of the twentieth century, it passed through the hands of various private collectors. Most recently, it was part of the Böhlen Collection, owned by Dr. Ernst Böhlen, who consigned it to Sotheby’s in 2024.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Notable for its extensive illustrative programme, the manuscript had been the subject of a special notice by the librarian and historian Léopold Delisle (1826-1910), who described it, as <i>parmi les chefs-d'œuvre de l'art français du XIII^e siècle'</i> | among the masterpieces of thirteenth-century French art .</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Following Delisle’s work in the nineteenth century, the manuscript has been studied and discussed iconographically and stylistically as one of a group of six thirteenth-century French psalters, known as <i>the fully illustrated Psalter group</i>. This features a rich body of illustration within the Psalms text and is further enhanced by the rubrics accompanying the historiated initials.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Subsequent revisions of the corpus include a number of scholarly additions or subtractions. The most recent discussion of the group (Peterson, 2004), contains the following manuscripts alongside Latin MS 22: <div>Moore Psalter (<a target='_blank' class='externalLink uom-purple' href='https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-EE-00004-00024/1'>Cambridge University Library: MS Ee.4.24)</a><br />La Charité Psalter (British Library: Harley MS 2895)<br />Psalter (National Library of Russia: MS Lat.Q.v.I.67)<br />Amiens Psalter (<a target='_blank' class='externalLink uom-purple' href='https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b105286177/f2.item'>Biblothèque nationale de France: Latin 10435</a>)<br />Lewis Psalter (<a target='_blank' class='externalLink uom-purple' href='https://openn.library.upenn.edu/Data/0023/html/lewis_e_185.html#a42r'>Free Library of Philadelphia: Lewis E 185</a>)<br />Bute Psalter (<a target='_blank' class='externalLink uom-purple' href='https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103RWZ'>J. Paul Getty Museum: MS 46</a>)<br /></div><br /></p><p style='text-align: justify;'>There are several differences between all seven manuscripts, mainly in the state in which they preserve the contents normally found in Psalters. For instance, each manuscript contains the Book of Psalms in Latin, but they do not all preserve the usual textual accompaniments. The canticles are included in all manuscripts, but there is no calendar in the Amiens or Bute Psalters, no litany in the Harley, Cambridge, or Amiens manuscripts, and no additional prayers in the Rylands, Cambridge, or Amiens manuscripts. Also, the prayers in the Bute Psalter were added in the fourteenth century. While these differences might hold back attempts to localise and date the manuscripts, they do not substantially impede discussions of the fully- and extensively- illustrated psalter components (Peterson, 2004).</p>