Fragmentarium

Linking fragments of a Psalter transcribed by Pietro Ursuleo of Capua – Fragment

Parchment · 9 leaves · 1450 – 1483 CE · Southern Italy · various

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[sine loco], codices restituti, various

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Language
Latin

Reconstruction Summary

Fragments from a Psalter transcribed by Pietro Ursuleo of Capua (d. 1483), an accomplished scribe and bishop of Satriano from 1474 to 1483 (appointed to the archbishopric of Santa Severina 22 Feb 1483 until his death in April).

The leaves are probably from the Psalter once in the library of John Boykett Jarman (1782-1864), auctioned by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge 13-14 June 1864 (lot 161). It later passed to London book seller James Tregaskis (1850-1926), and was offered for sale between 1912-1913 (catalogues 717, 720, 743), then in 1916, the manuscript was broken and leaves sold individually (catalogue 777). Now widely dispersed, fragments occasionally appear for sale.

A sister manuscript written by Pietro Ursuleo (Cambridge: Trinity College, MS. O.7.46) provides a model useful for comparing what the intact Psalter once probably would have looked like.

Rose Faunce initiated the virtual reconstruction to bring together identified fragments held in Australian and New Zealand collections. It was sparked by her identification of an uncatalogued leaf in the University of Hobart Library (containing Luke 22: 62-71; 23: 1-8). It precedes a leaf (Luke 23: 8-26) once held by English bookseller Clifford Maggs. Other notable fragments include the Psalter’s colophon in the National Library of Australia Nan Kivell Calligraphic Collection (NLA MS 4052/3/107), identified in 1982 by Albinia de la Mare of the Bodleian Library, and the leaf holding part of the Litany in the State Library of South Australia.

An early list of surviving leaves can be found in Margaret Manion, Vera F. Vines and Christopher de Hamel., Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in New Zealand Collections, 1989, no. 89. A number of leaves traced by Peter Kidd are discussed in his blog Medieval Manuscripts Provenance (10 May, 2014).

(Rose Faunce)

Online Since
10/08/2018