St John's College : Southampton Psalter

St John's College

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This manuscript, probably dating from the tenth century, contains the psalms and canticles, with interlinear and marginal glosses in Latin and medieval Irish. Its designation as the ‘Southampton’ Psalter is misleading, as it has no connection with the place Southampton, and although conveyed to St John’s by the Earl of Southampton, it came from the library of his friend William Crashaw rather than his own collection. This psalter is valued by Irish scholars as a source for early medieval Irish language glosses, and by art historians for its decoration, being notable for three full-page illustrations and the three elaborately decorated introductory pages which face them at the divisions of each set of 50 psalms. The precise location and date of its manufacture are obscure. </p>