But a psalter is a book. Not just any book, but a book of psalms. (You know,
those songs in the Bible).
PSAlter is a unique and powerful tool for working with PostScript in Microsoft Windows.
But a psalter is a book. Not just any book, but a book of psalms. (You know,
those songs in the Bible).
Since 'psalm' is pronounced 'salm', 'psalter' is pronounced 'salter'.
(Did you
know or care that Netscape should be pronounced 'mozilla'?)
Although a psalter is a book, when referring to the Book of Psalms,
it is called the Psalter.
Capital letters make all the difference.
I'm counting on nobody noticing that the 14th century
manuscript leaf illustrated is not from
a psalter at all, but from a Book of Hours.
There is a course including a section on
From Gothic Manuscripts to Panel Painting with a tantalising page
showing some of the art works, including the Psalter of St. Louis (no,
the other St. Louis). Unfortunately, the enlargements are locked away in
a virtual glass case. Still, there is a lot of material, over several
pages, and even the
thumbnails are beautiful.
AH201 looks an interesting course.
In 1709, the Massachusetts Indian Psalter was produced
in columns of Indian and English : being an introduction for training up
the aboriginal natives in reading and understanding the Holy Scriptures.
It's not clear which "Indian" language they really used (but see
also these).
You can get
a copy of the words of the Psalter from the
Electronic
Book of Prayer. It is divided into two text
files, each fairly large. There are a number of other copies of
the Psalter. This page is an index of the Paris Psalter, which is in Anglo Saxon.
There is a copy of a beautiful Book of Days called
Les
Tres Riches Heures Du Duc de Berry,
with large
JPEG copies of the illustrations. This isn't a psalter, but is worth a visit.
A psaltery is nothing at all to do with psalters. It is an ancient
stringed instrument, rather like the zither, often played by a psaltress.
It is usually triangular and has no neck.
You can buy one or
see a picture
for $260. Or buy a
recording.
And a psalterium is a cow's third stomach. Or another word for psalter,
depending who you believe.
The Melbert B Cary, Jr. Graphics Arts Library
is an extensive collection at the Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, and
well worth a virtual visit.
Other information
It seems that every time I look on the net there is more about psalters.
The Cary Collection
There is an excellent archive of medieval manuscripts which make up
part of
the Cary Collection.
It includes eight leaves from PSAlters from the 12th to 15th centuries. There
are descriptions, and pictures of the leaves, with details. We particularly
liked this
13th Century English psalter. And
this one is
interesting for having a small piece of music on the page as well.
And also...
An extensive bibliography
of books and periodicals about the book of Psalms for those more interested in
the content and history than the presentation.
Go back to Quite At Home.