A Bilingual German-Latin Psalter - photo 1
A Bilingual German-Latin Psalter - photo 2
A Bilingual German-Latin Psalter - photo 3
A Bilingual German-Latin Psalter - photo 4
A Bilingual German-Latin Psalter - photo 5

A Bilingual German-Latin Psalter

Lot 13
11.12.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1349700
Lot 13 | A Bilingual German-Latin Psalter
Estimate value
£ 8 000 – 12 000
A Bilingual German-Latin Psalter
Bilingual Psalter, in Middle High German and Latin, decorated manuscript on paper [Germany], 1468
A rare appearance on the market of a bilingual Psalter – in Middle High German and Latin – written by the scribe Johannes Rasor in 1468.

212 x 143mm. 204 leaves, complete, collation: 1-1712, 28 lines, ruled space: 187 x 116mm, rubrics and initials in red throughout, one initial on f.193 with penwork infilling, each verse in Latin followed by its corresponding German translation, catchwords survive, (marginal thumbing, occasional smudges, marginal tear to ff.144-5, gutters of gatherings reinforced with re-used vellum fragments, else in excellent condition). Bound in 16th-century blind-tooled pigskin over wooden boards, red leather straps and brass clasps (bosses lacking, now missing). Fitted brown morocco box.

Provenance:
(1) The manuscript is signed and dated on f.191v: ‘Per me Johannem Rasorem de Tann Orate per scriptore. Anno domini MCCCCLXVIII [1468] feria quarta post conversionem Pauli [29 January]’. A Johannes Rasor de Nydemburgh signs a patristic manuscript dated 1479 now in Gdańsk, PAN, Biblioteka Gdańska, MS Mar. F 171. Another Johannes Rasor signature is found on f.167v of a patristic manuscript from Rebdorf of the second half of the 15th century, now in Munich, BSM, Cgm 452. Tann is town in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany.

(2) William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister (1809-1898): Hawarden Castle library label, KK I 3.

Contents: Spiritual monastic exhortation, in Latin and German, f.1; Calendar ff.2-7v; blanks ff.8-12v; Bilingual Psalter, with verses alternating in Latin and Middle High German, ff.13-191v; blank f.192; introduction to the German Psalter, opening ‘Sit wol das offenbar sy das alle propheten habent geredet von des heiligen geistes erluchtunge so hat doch David der fromste und allen propheten […]’ ff.193-201v; blanks ff.202-204v.

By the 15th century, bilingual Psalters had long been in existence, translating the Vulgate to Old and Middle English, Old French, German etc. These vernacular translations reflected a desire to understand the Psalms in one’s own language, to experience the texts in a more direct and personal way. Extant manuscripts of bilingual Psalters offer a wide variety of layouts, from glosses to juxtaposed columns and alternating colours, testifying to the different solutions that were found to present the translations of the Psalms. The present manuscript alternates between Latin and German without visually distinguishing between the two languages, and the lines follow each other consistently, each with a rubricated initial.

The introduction to the Psalter on ff.193-201v is identical to that found in another German Psalter of the second half of the 15th century, Colmar, StB, Ms. CPC 1947.
Place of origin:Western Europe, Germany, Europe
Auction house category:Books and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
11.12.2024 – 11.12.2024
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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