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Psalter and New Testament

Middle Byzantine, ca. 1084. Dumbarton Oaks MS 3, BZ.1962.35

Selected Psalms and Odes, and New Testament, with prefaces, including Eusebios of Caesarea’s Epistula ad Carpianum. Gospels preceded by canon tables, and each Gospel by chapter headings. Original section (ff. 1r–340v) very likely written in Constantinople, ca. 1084 (indicated by Easter tables); latter section (ff. 341r–362v) restored in Italy between 1454 and 1462. 363 leaves; original section on vellum; restored section on paper, color illustrations; 16.2 cm, written in one column, with some sections (ff. 2r–3r, 94r, 94v, 128r, 128v, 150r, 150v) in two columns, six leaves (ff. 77v, 82r, 85r, 214v, 253v, 266r) in cruciform blocks, missing seven folios: ff. 4, 78 (now in Benaki Museum, Athens), 86, 87, 187, 187bis (now in Tretjakov Gallery, Moscow, no. 2580), and 254 (now in Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, accession number 50.154), in 36 lines, blind-ruled in Greek pearl liturgical miniscule script. Bound between two boards, flush with text block, with grooved edges, covered in gold/yellow velvet, worn and damaged, missing from spine.

Collation: 1(5), 2(8), 3–5(8), 6(8+1), 7–9(8), 10(8-1), 11(5), 12(6), 13–15(10), 16(4), 17–18(8), 19(6), 20(2), 21–23(10), 24(5), 25(missing), 26–28(8), 29(3), 30–33(8), 34(8-1), 35–44(8), 45(5), 46–49(6)

Illumination: Twenty-two full- and half-page illustrations, mostly author portraits. Thirty-six historiated initials and 22 marginal illustrations.

Museum Record Library Catalog Entry