The Paris Psalter (Paris,

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

, MS. Fonds Latin 8824) is an entire Anglo-Saxon psalm book written in both

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and the

West Saxon dialect West Saxon is the term applied to the two different dialects Early West Saxon and Late West Saxon with West Saxon being one of the four distinct regional dialects of Old English. The three others were Kentish, Mercian and Northumbrian (the l ...

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

. The manuscript dates from the middle of 11th century, written by a scribe who stated that he was called ''Wulfwinus cognomento Cada'' (i.e. Wulfwine or Wulfwig surnamed Cada in Old English). The first 50 psalms are written in prose, while the Old English psalms from 51 to 150 are written in the metrical form. The first 50 psalms have been credibly attributed to

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

. Its illustrations are in the

Utrecht Psalter The Utrecht Psalter (Utrecht, Universiteitsbibliotheek, MS Bibl. Rhenotraiectinae I Nr 32.) is a ninth-century illuminated manuscript, illuminated psalter which is a key masterpiece of Carolingian art; it is probably the most valuable manuscript ...

style, and some may have been filler when the Latin was shorter than the English. It had an estimated 200

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

in 25

quires Various measures of paper quantity have been and are in use. Although there are no S.I. units such as quires or bales, there are ISO''ISO 4046-3:2002 Paper, board, pulps and related terms – Vocabulary – Part 3: Paper-making terminology'' (20 ...

, but 14 leaves (including those with major decoration) were removed. The Latin is written in Anglo-Caroline minuscle.

Editions (Poetry)

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References

Bible translations into English Old English literature Psalters {{Lit-stub