(MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT FRAGMENT). ~ [Single leaf bearing the opening lines of Psalm 98, in Latin. France, early fifteenth century].
Manuscript fragment of vellum (175 × 140 mm), 12 lines of gothic text, one 2-line decorated initial in pink, blue and burnished gold, and three 3-line initials and three line fillers. Catchword ‘Viderunt’ at foot. Old mount.
An attractive, probably from a Book of Hours or Breviary (the verso has the end of Psalm 96 and the antiphon ‘Dignare me laudare te, Virgo sacrata. Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos’. The portion of Psalm 98 present reads:
Cantate Domino canticum novum, quia mirabilia fecit.
Salvavit sibi dextera ejus, et brachium sanctum ejus.
Notum fecit Dominus salutare suum; in conspectu gentium revelavit justitiam suam.
Recordatus est misericordiæ suæ, et veritatis suæ domui Israël.
(’O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel... KJV)