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Folchart Psalter

872-883

Held by Abbey Library of St Gall, Cod. Sang. 23read here

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The Folchart Psalter is a large book of 368 pages, 38 by 29 cm, in which three scribes wrote the Psalms in gold and silver. It opens with a litany, a picture of King David as author, and a dedication naming Folchart and Abbot Hartmut. Psalm 1 has a splendid initial, and the book later warns against taking it out of St Gallen.

Where it happens

  1. St Gallen, Abbey Library Where the psalter was made and is kept.12

Through time

  1. 872Start of the period in which the psalter was made.1
  2. 883End of that period.1
  3. 1545Approximate year of the rebinding.1
  4. 1633By this year the book was already in the library.1

Who is in it, and behind it

Folchart monk and prior

Had the psalter made; monk in 849 to 854 and 898 to 899, prior 869 to 878.1

Hartmut abbot of St Gallen

The book was made under him.12

King David biblical author

Pictured as the author of the Psalms.1

Jerome church father

His prologue appears on the pages before the Psalms.1

What it is about

Gold and silver script

Three scribes wrote the text in precious metal inks.12

A gift in verse

A two-line dedication names the people behind the book.1

Do not remove it

A note on one page warns against taking the book away from Gall.1

Pages worth stopping at

  1. Page 6Page 7, where the litany begins, naming Gallus, Otmar and Columbanus.1
  2. Page 8Page 9, King David as author with scribes.1
  3. Page 11Page 12, the dedication with Folchart and Hartmut.1
  4. Page 29Page 30, the title page.1
  5. Page 30Page 31, Psalm 1 (Beatus vir).1
  6. Page 134Page 135, Psalm 51 with a large Q initial and the warning not to take the book from Gall.1

How it came to be here

Folchart, a monk who later became prior, had the manuscript made at St Gallen between 872 and 883 while Hartmut was abbot. The litany on pages 7 to 14 names saints dear to the abbey, including Gallus, Otmar and Columbanus. Around 1545 the book was rebound, and by 1633 it was already in the library. A dedication in two lines of verse sits on pages 26 and 27.

Sources

  1. e-codices: St Gallen Cod. Sang. 23
  2. Wikipedia: Folchart Psalter

Images: e-codices - Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland. CC BY-NC 4.0.

Holder's record · IIIF manifest

Also from Abbey Library of St Gall