Ferial Psalter and Offices, apparently Use of St-Amé, Douai, in Latin [France (Arras), late 13th century]

157x115mm, vellum, i+236+i, complete, in 21 quires of 12 leaves except xvii3 (3rd leaf, f.195, added) and xxi5 (last cancelled), 2 columns, 19 lines, 108x77mm, 20 large historiated initials, each with marginal extensions forming borders of animals, birds, drolleries, hybrid creatures, etc., the decoration generally in good condition except for the green and gold which has mostly been retouched, significant cropping of some marginal decoration, some leaves with minor losses, others with modern repairs, a few small holes where the ink has eaten through the page, bound in red velvet over wood boards, worn but sound, with two clasps and catches, modern fitted box

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

An unusual collection of texts, with delightful marginal drolleries, displaying the fantasy world of the Middle Ages

provenance

(1) Liturgical evidence points to the collegiate church of St-Amé, Douai, which lay within the diocese of Arras (Cottineau, Abbayes et prieurés, I, 1939, col.992): St Vedast appears first among the confessors and has a double invocation in the litany, which also includes Sts Vindicianus, Amatus (Amé), and Rictrude; there are prayers to Vedast following the litany and in the Office of the Virgin; the Use of the Office of the Virgin is St-Amé, not Arras (according to the chd.dk website; the Office of the Dead corresponds to Arras, but Ottosen does not include St-Amé in his tables).

(2) Offered by Baer, Frankfurt, in various catalogues from 1923 to 1929; and Tenschert, Leuchtendes Mittelalter, I, 1989, no.10 (ill.).

(3) J.R. Ritman; his sale in our rooms, 19 June 2001, lot 12 (ill.).

text and illumination

Ferial Psalter (f.1r), followed by canticles and hymns; Litany (f.160v); Prayers (f.163v); Office of the Virgin, for different liturgical seasons, days, etc. (f.166r), with devotions to St Vedast to be said at Matins and Vespers (f.168r); Office of the Dead (f.184r); Commendations of Souls (f.191v); Common of Saints (f.196r), Dedication of a Church (f.219r); Office of nine lessons of St Maurontus (f.230r).

Douai is not known to have been a centre of book-production, so even if this manuscript was written there, it is more likely that it was illuminated at Arras, about 15 miles west, to which centre a considerable number of important manuscripts can be attributed. Some late 13th-century examples are discussed and reproduced by A. Stones, ‘The Manuscript, Paris BnF fr. 1588, and its illustrations’, in B.N. Sargent-Baur, Philippe de Remi …, 1999, pp.1-39; she has compared the present manuscript with the Arras Missal (Arras, MS 303), the Arras Hours (Baltimore, Walters W.86), and the Psalter part of a Psalter-Hours in Philadelphia (Free Library, Widener 9). None of those she discusses has as much marginalia as the present volume.

The major decorated pages are at the major textual divisions listed above (ff.1, 160v, 163v, etc.); at the usual 8-part divisions of the psalter plus Psalms 51 and 119 (ff.28v, 40v, 52v, 54v, 68r, 85r, 100v, 118v, 137v); and at divisions of the Office of the Virgin (ff.175r, 176r, 177vr).

The subjects of the historiated initials, accompanied by border decoration, are: (1) f.1r, Psalm 1: Initial 'B'(eatus), in two registers, with King David harping, and David and Goliath; a dog chasing a hare, and an angel; (2) f.28v, Psalm 26: Initial 'D'(ominus), with King David pointing at his eye; a hybrid figure playing bagpipes; (3) f.40v, Psalm 38: Initial 'D'(ixi), with King David confronting a horned devil; a hybrid figure playing a harp, another playing a viol; (4) f.52v, Psalm 51: Initial 'Q'(uid), with a man with a bow and arrow, shooting another man, probably representing the apocryphal story in which the blind Lamech accidentally shoots Adam's son, Cain; a semi-human creature with an owl on its wrist, riding a goat; (5) f.54v, Psalm 52: Initial 'D'(ixit), with the Fool before King David; a wading-bird with a small rodent in its beak; (6) f.68r, Psalm 68: Initial 'S'(alvum), with Christ blessing, and King David appealing to him from the waters below; a wading-bird and a rabbit; (7) f.85r, Psalm 80: Initial 'E'(xultate), with King David playing a carillon of six bells with two hammers; a running stag, and a human figure playing a pipe; (8) f.100v, Psalm 97: Initial 'C'(antate), with three clerics singing at a lectern; a man with an upraised sword and a small shield; (9) f.118v), Psalm 109: Initial 'D'(ixit), with the Trinity; a wading-bird confronting a hare, and a bearded figure wearing female head-dress, playing a rebec; (10) f.137v, Psalm 119: Initial 'A'(d), the Virgin climbing the steps to the Temple; (11) f.160v, Litany: Initial 'K'(yrie), with two clerics placing a large cross on an altar; a man wielding a sword, and a dragon; (12) f.166r, Hours: Initial 'A'(ve), with the Annunciation; a man apparently balancing on the three legs of an upturned low stool; (13) f.175r, Initial 'D'(eus), with the Annunciation; a man with a club being attacked by a monkey, and a man's head wearing a hat with a bell on it; (14) f.176r, Initial 'D'(eus), with the Nativity; (15) f.177v, Initial 'D'(eus), with the Adoration of the Magi, one of whom points up at the star of Bethlehem; a madman waving his arms in the air, a bishop-hybrid creature, and a youth playing bandyball using a curved stick to hurl a gold disc at a dead bird tied to a post; (16) f.184r, Initial 'P'(lacebo), with a bier, surrounded by eight candles, and a large cross; a cat licking its forelegs, and a bird; (17) f.191v, Initial 'S'(ubvenite), with three nimbed heads appearing from heaven, probably the Trinity, above six figures praying around a bier; a man on horseback holds bellows and a lance, on which is speared the carcass of a fowl, riding toward a man who presents his backside as target; (18) f.196r, Initial 'E'(stote), with Christ, above Apostles driving out demons; a tall wading-bird; (19) f.219r, Initial 'E'(dificavit), with Moses hewing rock before an altar on which stands the Agnus Dei; a man on horseback with a falcon, and a woman-hybrid playing bagpipes.