Manuscript No. 43: Psalter

Item Overview

Title

Manuscript No. 43: Psalter

Uniform title

Saghmosaran

Date Created

early 17th Century

Date

1601/1640

Language

Armenian

Collection

Armenian Manuscripts

Notes

Description

Text in bolorgir, written in one column of 17 lines. Subtitles in notragir, and initials throughout the text in large erkat’agir.Because there are many lacunae, it is impossible to determine the number of quires. Some complete quires suggest that the gatherings probably had 12 leaves.

Provenance

There are no colophons or inscriptions in the codex; hence its fate of execution and provenance are unknown. The paleography and the style of the illustrations suggest that the book was probably executed in the early 17th century.The later history of the MS is also unknown, and there is no information as to when and from whom the book was acquired by Dr. Minasian.

Physical Description

Extent

136 folios

Dimensions

12.5x8.5 cm.

Binding note

Traditional Armenian binding, rebound. Brown lind-tooled damaged leather over thin wooden boards, but most of the leather on lower board and spine missing. Both wooden boards have horizontal cracks in them which have been repaired by zigzag sewing. No flap. Two holes on both boards are evidence of fastenings. Fragmentary traditional raised endbands. A red, white, green, and brown floral atamped cloth arranged in vertical rows lines the inside of both boards. No edge coloring. Pages damaged and worn, some repaired. Sewn on three cords with board attachment loops. Herringbone stitch evident. Four unused notches (two V and two W) indicate this manuscript was rebound; there are no notches corresponding to the supports. Fragments of white spine lining cloth evident.

Condition note

The leaves in the codex are loose, and many have suffered damage from fire and dampness. Folios are missing at the beginning and end of the book, and there are lacunae throughout the text, too numerous to be mentioned here. Many pages have been scribbled on, and several leaves are torn.

Illustrations note

The illustrations in the codex consist of 28 decorative initials which mark the major text divisions. These initials are made up of traditional tubular and floral forms, sketched in lively magenta lines.

Keywords

Genre

Manuscripts
Illuminations

Resource type

text