Lieve Watteeuw & Marina Van Bos: ‘Un tres beau psaultier, tout escript de lettre d'or et d'azur’. Looking closer at and conserving the Peterborough Psalter ( Brussels, KBR 9961-9962)

Introduction

The Brussels Peterborough Psalter is one of the most lavishly illuminated English manuscripts from the beginning of the 14th century. It belongs to the group of Fenland manuscripts commissioned by, owned by or associated with Benedictine monasteries in the diocese of Lincoln. The manuscript has an impressive provenance, coming from the library of the Dukes of Burgundy to the Royal Library of Belgium. The manuscript was researched and conserved between 2006 and 2012. The first part of this paper will discuss through archival, literary and book-archaeological sources the conservation and restoration history of the Peterborough Psalter; the second part will illustrate the analyses of the writing and illuminating materials.

History and binding through archival sources

The Peterborough Psalter was commissioned around 1300 by Geoffrey of Crowland, Abbot of Peterborough (1299-1321). In the fourteenth century it came into the possession of Philippe VI de Valois (1293-1350). In the 1374 inventory of the Librairie du Louvre, the Peterborough Psalter is described thus: un tres beau psaultier, tout escript de lettre d'or et d'azur, et sont les hays brodez des armes de Bourgogne, et y est Ie sacre des roys d' Angleterre, a une chemise blanche’. In the mid-fifteenth century it entered the library of the Dukes of Burgundy. Around 1805, at Napoleon’s behest, it was rebound in Paris in a red morocco binding with an Empire design, signed by the Parisian bookbinder Lefèbvre in the bottom spine compartment. The binding had a dos cassé, a flexible spine, a technique introduced by Lefèbvre’s uncle, the famous French bookbinder Jean-Claude Bozérian. It allowed for a flatter opening of the manuscript and offered considerable advantages for the preservation of the miniatures. This particular feature was adapted during the 2012 conservation, when it was decided to reuse the early 19th-century Empire binding .

Analysis of writing and illumination materials

In the second part of the project, the identification of inks and pigments was carried out. Unusually, the 14th-century inventory of Charles V describes the visual effect of the writing materials of the Psalter: un tres beau psaultier, tout escript de lettre d'or et d'azur. The bright colors of the text, beautifully written in two columns, needed closer examination. It is obvious that identification of materials can only be done using non-destructive techniques. X-ray Fluorescence analyses showed that the golden text was written using gesso with gold leaf on top of it. Two different blue writing ‘inks’ were found, one containing azurite and one containing what is probably ultramarine. Both pigments, although chemically very different, were often named azur in the Middle Ages. The shift in the use of the components in the blue ‘ink’, gave indications about different stages of production in the scriptorium. Further coloured ‘inks’; were either red, based on an unidentified organic red, or green, based probably on malachite. For the border decorations and the flourishing of initials, the same materials as used for the writing are present, further enriched by lead white, red lead, orpiment, vermilion, glazing layers and metallic finishes of gold and silver.

Conclusions

The combination of material analyses, codicology and historical sources revealed important new insights into the production and subsequent history of the richly illuminated Peterborough Psalter. Moreover, this case-study illustrates the shift in attitudes of an early 19th-century French bookbinder towards rebinding medieval codices to satisfy the new demands of bibliophiles. Finally, the 2006-2012 ‘conservation momentum’ illustrates the possibilities of an interdisciplinary approach for the book conservator.