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IM-10112: (100x73mm) Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Psalter.  15 lines of ruled text, written in Latin with dark brown ink on animal vellum. One two-line illuminated initial in burnished gold on a blue and red ground with delicate white tracery & extending into the margin with an ivy leaf design in burnished gold; eleven one-line illuminated initials alternating in blue with red pen-work and burnished gold with violet  pen-work.  France, c. 1425-50  (likely closer to 1425).

The one-line illuminated “I” begins Psalm 96 (King James 97) 3-12: “Ignis…” (A fire shall go before him...For thou art the most high Lord over all the earth: thou art exalted exceedingly above all gods.  You that love the Lord, hate evil: the Lord preserveth the souls of his saints, he will deliver them out of the hand of the sinner.  Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart.  Rejoice, ye just, in the Lord: and give praise to the remembrance of his holiness).   The two-line illuminated “D” opens Psalm 69 (KJ 70): “Domine...” (O God come to my assistance...).

The devout were expected to engage in a series of daily devotions, structured around the reading of the Psalms. In the Middle Ages all 150 psalms were to be recited each day, but as this proved impractical, the sequence was restructured to encompass a full week!