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Title

Psalterium et Liber Canticorum

Generic classification
Manuscripts and illuminations
Object
Manuscript
Date
1001-1000
Century
11th c.
Cultural context / style
Mozarabic
Material
Parchment, Ink
Technique
Illumination
Iconography / Theme
Liturgia, Música
Provenance
Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos (Santo Domingo de Silos, Burgos, Spain)
Current location
National Library of France (Paris, France)
Inventory Number in Current Collection
Smith-Lesouëf 2
Object history

The origin of the library of the monastery of San Sebastián de Silos, later called Santo Domingo de Silos, can be found in the reconstruction carried out by the Castilian Count Fernán González in the middle of the 10th century. In the year 954 the count donated numerous lands and possessions to the monastery, as well as some books relevant to the cult (Senra, 2002). However, the peak of the monastery took place with the abbot Domingo Manso, who had been a monk of San Millán de la Cogolla. In 1041 Fernando I put him in charge of San Sebastián de Silos and under his mandate the monastic complex grew considerably. The library increased thanks to the donations received and the productions of the scriptorium itself (Castro, 2020), reaching its peak at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth century (Sánchez Mariana, 1984; Boylan, 1992).

Precisely, the Psalterium et Liber Canticorum was one of the volumes preserved in the monastery. The Silense library suffered great losses throughout its history, such as this copy. Rodrigo Echevarría, the last abbot of the monastery before the exclaustration of 1835, was in charge of jealously preserving the manuscripts that were still treasured in Silos. According to Besse (1897), he was a manof"uncommon prudence and firmness, combined with an extensive knowledge, a great knowledge of the world and noble and distinguished manners". There is no doubt that his decision to protect the manuscripts helped to prevent them from being dispersed at first. However, their fate changed when he was appointed bishop of Segovia in 1857. Echevarría had to leave the monastery, and from then on the codices fell into disrepair.

Anastasio Rodrigo y Yusto, archbishop of Burgos, was impressed when he visited the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos. Its dilapidated state led him to appeal to the former monks of the abbey. It was at that moment that Sebastián Fernández, one of the exclaustrated monks and vicar of the church of San Martín (Madrid), intervened. Although he was responsible for protecting the manuscripts in the capital, he failed to appreciate their true value, which led him to contact a marquis in Madrid "plus ou moins authentique" who worked with Aunt Jesusa, a woman well known for selling antiquities (Besse, 1897; Ruiz and Gonzalez de Linares, 1978). Thus it was that in 1877 she sold 69 manuscripts for 16,000 pesetas, a figure that undoubtedly pleased the parish priest.

The Psalterium et Liber Canticorum was among these codices sold in Madrid. A year later, it appeared in number 26 of the Catalogue de libres rares parmi lesquels on remarque la Bible Mazarine premier livre imprimé par Gutenberg et des manuscrits du XIe au XVIIIe siècle rédigé par M. Bachelin-Deflorenne cited as follows:

Psalterius et Cantica (sic). Manuscrit sur vélin. Petit in-fol., rel à ais de bois recouv. de v. (Incomplet).

Manuscript from the 10th to the 11th century, long-line text, containing 122 feuillets. Nombreuses et belles lettres initiales peintes.

It is not surprising that the volume ended up in the hands of Antoine Bachelin-Deflorenne, since he was an antiquarian specializing in the sale of antique and rare books. Although his main store was located in Paris, at 10 Boulevard des Capucines, he had branches in London and Madrid. This is how he learned that Sebastian Fernandez was selling the Silensian manuscripts. The Psalterium et Liber Canticorum was offered for sale in Paris on June 1, 1878 at the Hotel des Commissaires-Priseurs (Paris) and was bought by the bibliophile Auguste Lesouëf for a total of 1,400 francs (Leroquais, 1940).

This manuscript was part of his collection until 1906, when he died. Lesouëf bequeathed the books to his sister and his nieces, Madeleine and Jeanne Smith. Later, in 1913, they donated the codex to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and it remained in the Smith-Lesouëf Library in Nogent-sur-Marne until 1980. It appears cited in the Inventaire sommaire des manuscrits anciens de la Bibliothèque Smith-Lesouëf à Nogent-sur-Marne of 1930 as follows:

Psalterium cum canticis. Vel. (XIe s.). Rel. anc. En bois. Vente de l'Abbaye de Silos.

Subsequently, the Psalterium et Liber Canticorum was transferred to the Department of Manuscripts of the National Library of France.

Description

The Psalterium cum canticis consists of two psalters: one of them dated to the first half of the 11th century (it has 112 folios) and the second one to the end of the 11th century (it has 122 folios). The writing and decoration of both psalters vary considerably. In some folios, 14th century Aquitanian notation appears. According to Leroquais (1940) it is probable that the manuscript was copied and illuminated in the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos.

Locations
* The relative location of dealers, antique shops, art galleries, and collectors leads us to the places where they were based or had one of their main headquarters. However, this does not always indicate that every artwork that passed through their hands was physically located there. In the case of antique dealers and art merchants, their business often extended across multiple territories; sometimes they would purchase items at their origin and send them directly to clients. Similarly, some collectors owned multiple residences, sometimes in different countries, where they housed their collections. It is often difficult to determine exactly where a specific piece was kept during its time in their possession. Consequently, the main location of the dealer or collector is indicated. These factors should be considered when interpreting the map. Refer to the object's history in each case.
Bibliography
Citation:

Isabel Escalera Fernández, "Psalterium et Liber Canticorum" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/412

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