St Gall neumes (Early German neumes)
Two leaves from a Psalter, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, mid-11th century]
Handsome leaves with ample margins written in an elegant late Carolingian script, with added notation.

c.277 x 198mm, two leaves, 27-28 lines written in brown ink in a late German Carolingian minuscule, ruled space: c.200 x 140mm, marginal gloss in a smaller minuscule, a few staffless St Gall neumes (Early German neumes) and reading signs added later, rubrics and headings in rustic capitals, each line preceded by a red capital, 3-line initials in red (recovered from a binding and consequently some marginal staining, some fading to a few lines, one margin reinforced with later vellum). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery.

Provenance:
(1) Antiquariat J. Voerster, Stuttgart.

(2) Bernard Quaritch, acquired in 1993 by:

(3) Schøyen Collection, MS 1668.

Text:
These are two non-consecutive leaves, the text beginning with Psalm 63:1: 'Exaudi Deus orationem meam' and ends in Psalm 65:3: 'in multitudine virtutis tue mentientur ti[bi inimici tui]'. The text on the second leaf begins, on the verso as bound, in Psalm 72:20: '[in civitate] tua imaginem ipsorum' and ends, on the recto as bound, in Psalm 73:19: 'Ne tradas bestiis animas confitentes tibi, anima[s pauperum tuorum ne obliviscaris in finem'].

Script and music:
The manuscript is copied in a large, clear Germanic hand of the later 11th century, slanting slightly towards the right, with thick, confident strokes. A very simple notation has been added in a later hand, showing the points at which to divide each Psalm verse and occasionally other details of intonation.