Praise be! Treasured psalms book is saved
AN HISTORIC cherished book of psalms has been rushed home safely – just before Britain plunged into lockdown.
The 1,000-year-old Salisbury Psalter was being delicately repaired at Cambridge University Library. But with lockdown threatened at any moment, Salisbury Cathedral ordered its hasty return. The psalter, containing the Book of Psalms, is considered hugely important by
News Reporter
religious scholars. It is believed to have been used by nuns, with its Latin text annotated into early English to help Anglo Saxon novitiates to understand it.
However, its parchment leaves had been damaged by post-war binding and needed to be gently repaired.
The psalter left the cathedral in January 2019 to be worked on by conservator Shaun Thompson at the Cambridge library.
Salisbury Cathedral archivist Emily Naish said: “I am so pleased Shaun was able to return the psalter at such short notice.
“It is an added bonus that all the repair and rebinding work had been completed in time, ensuring its survival for centuries to come. The psalter can now return to its home shelf in our library’s manuscript cupboard.”
The Salisbury Psalter was created in the late 10th century in medieval Latin.
Emily said: “It is a beautifully illustrated manuscript.
“We are not sure under what circumstances it came into the cathedral’s possession.
“Our records show that it was definitely here by 1622.
“The fact that an Old English translation has been written above the Latin has led experts to speculate that it may have been used to train novitiates at nearby Wilton Abbey, which was a Benedictine nunnery expanded by King Alfred the Great.”