A Female Saint, historiated initial on a leaf from a Hebraicum version of the Psalter, in Latin [southern Germany, late 14th century]

single leaf, c.410x335mm, vellum, with the text of Psalms 90:14–100:7, with rubricated tituli, and a historiated initial ‘C’ (opening ‘Cantate domino canticum novum ...’) at the usual major psalter division at Psalm 97 (the first Psalm sung at Matins on Saturdays), 2 columns, 50 lines (310x95-25-95mm), a few lines missing at the top, recovered from a binding inscribed with the date ‘1649’ and ‘No. 270’, and with spots, scuffs, small holes, and one large fold

AN EXTREMELY UNUSUAL EXAMPLE OF THE ‘HEBRAICUM' VERSION OF THE PSALMS

St Jerome made three versions of the Psalms at the end of the 4th century, the ‘Romanum’, the ‘Gallican’ and the Hebraicum; the latter never achieved much popularity and was apparently never used in the liturgy, usually only occuring alongside the Gallican, for scholarly comparative purposes. It is difficult to find a parallel for the Hebraicum text on its own, on the scale of a grand illuminated lectern Bible, as here.

There are hundreds of textual differences between the Hebraicum and Gallican versions of the text, and many are represented on the present leaf: for example, Psalm 94 begins ‘Venite laudeamus’ in the Hebraicum, and ‘Venite exultemus’ in all other versions. Within the same psalm the scribe has left a few lines blank, perhaps suggesting that he was copying an ancient exemplar that had illegible areas due to damage.