THE UTRECHT PSALTER. 
 
 REPORTS 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM 
 
 ON THE AGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT, 
 
 BY 
 
 E. A, BOND, E, M. THOMPSON, BEV. H. 0. CONE, EEV. S. S. LEWIS, 
 SIR M. DIGBY WYATT, PROFESSOR WESTWOOD, 
 
 F. H. DICKINSON, AND PROFESSOR SWAINSON. 
 
 WITH A PBEFACE BY 
 
 A, PENRHYN STANLEY, D.D., 
 
 DEAN OF WESTMINSTER. 
 
 Mith ihr^ facsimiles. 
 
 WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 
 
 14 HENRIETTA ST., CO VENT GARDEN, LONDON: and, 20 SOUTH FREDERICK ST., EDINBURGH. 
 
 MDCCCLXXIV. 
 
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THE UTRECHT PSALTER. 
 
 REPORTS 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM 
 
THE TJTRECHT PSALTER 
 
 REPORTS 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM 
 
 ON THE AGE OE THE MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 BY 
 
 E. A. BOND, E. M. THOMPSON, HEY. H. 0. COXE, KEV. S. S. LEWIS, 
 SIR M, DIGBY WYATT, PROFESSOR WESTWOOD, 
 
 F. H. DICKINSON, AND PROFESSOR SWAINSON. 
 
 WITH A PREFACE BY 
 
 A. PENRHYN STANLEY, D.D., 
 
 DEAN OF WESTMINSTER. 
 
 
 WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 
 
 14 HENRIETTA ST., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON: and, 20 SOUTH FREDERICK ST., EDINBURGH 
 
 MDCCCLXXIV. 
 
-—- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 THE GETTY CENTER 
 
 library 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the discussions occasioned by the proposed permission to disuse in the English 
 Church the recitation of the Confession of Faith, commonly called the Creed of S. Athana¬ 
 sius, a subordinate controversy arose amongst scholars as to the probable date of the 
 Creed. This date had been variously fixed from the middle of the 4th Century to the beginning 
 or the middle of the 9 th. One of the elements of this Chronological question was felt to 
 be the age to be assigned to the Manuscript usually known as the Utrecht Psalter, which 
 having once formed part of the Cottonian Collection has, at least since the early years of 
 the 18th Century, been the property of the University Library at Utrecht. Inasmuch as this 
 Manuscript contained what was supposed to be the earliest copy of the Creed, considerable 
 attention was attracted towards the document. “ Impressed with a sense of its importance, 
 the present Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, Dr. Ellicott, requested the Master of the Rolls 
 to obtain, if possible, a photograph of the MS. from the authorities of Utrecht. He believed, that 
 if it could be proved that the early age in which the MS. is supposed to have been written could 
 be shewn to be correct, it would entirely remove a prevailing impression that the Creed was a 
 forgery of the 9th Century. Lord Romilly thereupon through the cordial assistance of Earl 
 Granville, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, obtained from the Trustees of the Academical 
 Library at Utrecht a photograph of several portions of the Manuscript.”* 
 
 On this photograph, at the request of Lord Romilly, an elaborate report was made by Sir 
 Thomas Duffus Hardy, the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records. In this Report, printed for 
 the Master of the Rolls, Sir Thomas Hardy arrived after much learned argument, paheographical, 
 artistic, and historical, at the conclusion that the date of the Manuscript must be placed at 
 the close of the sixth Century,f and that it was probably brought to England by Bertha, 
 Queen of Ethelbert,J and by her bequeathed to the Monastery of Reculver.§ 
 
 The interest naturally attaching to the opinion of so distinguished an antiquarian—of which 
 the importance was enhanced by the great stress laid upon it in a Public Meeting held at 
 St. James’s Hall, soon after it was made known—led to further inquiries, which issued in an 
 application on the part of the Trustees of the British Museum to the authorities at Utrecht 
 to allow the Manuscript itself to be transferred for a time to the British Museum, and 
 there deposited for inspection. This by the kindness of the guardians of the Utrecht Library 
 
 * “The Athanasian Creed in connection with the Utrecht Psalter, being a Report to the Right Honourable Lord 
 Romilly, Master of the Rolls, on a Manuscript in the University of Utrecht, by Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy, D.C.L., 
 Deputy-Keeper of the Public Records,” p. 10. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 11—32. f Ibid. p. 32—36. 
 
 § It should be added that the Appendix to Sir Thomas Hardy’s Report coutains the Reports on the date of the 
 Psalter by two learned Dutchmen—one the Librarian of Utrecht, Dr. Yermuelen, wdio decides that “it belougs to 
 the 8th or 9th Century (750-850) (p. 39); the other, Baron Yan Westreenen van Tiellandt, who concurs in the 
 opinion of Haenel, “ placing it in the 6th Century as an intermediate epoch.” (p. 12.) 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 was permitted, and thus the scholars and archaeologists of England have, for the first time since 
 the Manuscript left this country, had an opportunity of examining it at leisure. 
 
 At the request of the Trustees of the British Museum, the most distinguished of these 
 sent in their several Reports on the question of the date of the Manuscript. 
 
 Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy, after investigation, has seen no reason to change the opinion 
 expressed in the Report above mentioned. 
 
 The Reports of the other gentlemen, by permission of the Trustees, and with the consent of 
 the writer's, are published in the following pages. Their conclusions may be thus briefly given: — 
 
 1. Mr. E. A. Bond, Keeper of the Manuscripts in the British Museum, concludes that 
 it is not earlier than the end of the 8th Century, and is disposed to assign it to the 9th. 
 
 2. Mr. E. M. Thompson, Assistant-Keeper of Manuscripts in the British Museum, 
 concludes that it cannot be assigned to an earlier age than the close of the 8th Century. 
 
 3. The Rev. H. 0. Coxe, Librarian of the Bodleian Library at Oxford “ cannot see 
 reasons to conclude that the MS. was written before the commencement of the 9th century.” 
 
 4. The Rev. S. S. Lewis, Librarian of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, “ concludes 
 that he should not feel warranted in assigning it to an earlier date than the 9th Century.” 
 
 5. Sir M. Digby Wyatt concludes that its date is “ certainly not earlier than the 7th or 
 8th Century”—“ probably about the middle of the 8th.” 
 
 6. Professor J. 0. Westwood, author of “ Miniatures and Ornaments of Anglo-Saxon 
 and Irish MSS,” etc., concludes that it is “of the 8th or 9th Century at the earliest;” and 
 that the drawings cannot be previous to the 2nd Council of Nic^ea, (a.d. 786). 
 
 7. Mr. F. H. Dickinson, whilst offering some interesting remarks, does not express any 
 opinion on the age of the MS. 
 
 8. The Rev. C. A. Swainson, Norrisian Professor of Theology at Cambridge, and 
 Canon of Chichester, concludes that the MS. “ cannot be much earlier than the middle of the 
 9th Century, and may be considerably later.” 
 
 At the end of the Reports will be found three facsimiles in permanent photography, by 
 Messrs. Spencer, Sawyer, and Bud, of pages of the Psalter ; selected as specimens of both the 
 writing and the drawings of the Manuscript. 
 
 The first represents the second page of the text, and shows particularly the use of golden 
 uncial letters in the first line of the Psalm, together with the manner of work of perhaps the 
 best draughtsman of the illustrations. 
 
 The second gives the drawing for the 95th Psalm and the text and drawing of the 96th. 
 In the writing will be noticed the various forms of the mark of contraction, and the abbreviation 
 of t r for tur, which is of frequent occurrence in the Manuscript. The drawing exhibits the jagged 
 outlines of the draperies referred to as characteristic of English work of the 10th and 11th 
 Centuries, and the classical origin of the design in the River God. 
 
 The t hir d has the text of parts of the 105th and 106th Psalms, with the illustration of the 
 former. It has been chosen on account of the fine execution and interesting subjects of the 
 drawing, which shows an antique origin in the beautiful treatment of the oxen at the plough, and 
 in the emblems of the Sun and Moon. The forms of the ships and the details of architecture 
 are also deserving of attention. 
 
 A. P. STANLEY. 
 
Report to the Trustees of the British Museum from Mr. E. A. Bond , Keeper of the Manuscripts 
 
 in the British Museum. 
 
 British Museum, 22nd July, 1873. 
 
 I have the honour to submit to the Trustees the result of my examination of the 
 ancient Manuscript Psalter, formerly belonging to the collection of Sir Robert Cotton, and now 
 the property of the University Library of Utrecht, which by the liberality of the Curators has 
 been temporarily deposited in the Museum on loan. 
 
 The volume in which it is contained consists of two distinct manuscripts, viz. 1st. The 
 Latin Psalter with Canticles, Gloria in Excelsis, Lord’s Prayer, Apostles’ Creed, the Quicunque 
 vul% entitled “ Fides Catholicam,” and the apocryphal 151st Psalm: 2nd. Fragments of the 
 Gospels of Matthew and John, in Latin, with Jerome’s Prefaces. 
 
 The Psalter has been a separate book, and the condition of its last page shows that it has 
 been at some time unprotected by covers. 
 
 The Gospel fragments are written in fine uncial characters, of the 7th or beginning of 
 the 8th century, and are only accidentally connected with the Psalter by having been bound 
 with it at some comparatively recent time—in all probability by Sir Robert Cotton. 
 
 The description of the Psalter itself may be summarized as follows :— 
 
 The vellum is leathery and wants the fine surface of a very ancient manuscript. 
 
 The gatherings are of eight leaves, folded one within the other. 
 
 The writing is between double lines and in three columns. 
 
 The ruling is by a dry point between vertical lines, beyond which a margin of an inch 
 extends; but all the margins have been much clipped. 
 
 Illustrative drawings in outline occupy the breadth of the three columns. 
 
 The text is written in Roman Rustic Capitals, and the words are run together, with only 
 the necessary breaks to mark the alternations and terminations of the verses. 
 
 Titles are in red uncial letters. 
 
 Initials of the several verses are also in coloured uncials, standing in the margin a little 
 apart from the text. 
 
 The first lines of the earlier Psalms are in letters of gold. 
 
 The manuscript is fully punctuated throughout, by simple points (not in the form of a 
 comma) and by the virgule and point in the forms of a modern semicolon and the same reversed. 
 
 Abbreviations are of frequent occurrence, and not only of the names of the Deity, as Deus, 
 Dominus , Jesics, Christus , Sanctus , Spiritus , but of ordinary words, such as qnm for quoniam; 
 nr for noster; oms for omnes; tra for terra; aetnu for ceternum; pat for pater; c for con ; 
 n for non; b. for bus; neq; for neque; f for tur ; rnt for runt; st for sunt; and others. 
 
 The marks of contraction are of three forms; 1st. a horizontal slightly curved line, fine 
 and raised a little at the extremity ; 2nd. a line turned in opposite directions at the ends and 
 slanting upwards obliquely to the right; 3rd. a modification of the same, in which the ends are 
 both turned inwards. 
 
 Accents are occasionally used ; as sometimes over the preposition a, and over o in os. 
 
 The initial letters of the Psalms are plain and uncoloured and about half an inch 
 square, excepting that of the first Psalm, which is 21 inches long and of an ornamental design, 
 having, on a gold ground edged with red, a knotted line pattern, with colour of a stone blue 
 shade introduced in the upper extremity. 
 
 Of individual letters the y is almost always dotted, and there are no specially archaic forms. 
 
2 
 
 REPORT OF MR. E. A. BOND. 
 
 The diphthong 93 is written sometimes combined, sometimes as distinct letters, and most 
 often as e with a cedilla. 
 
 The n and t are occasionally combined at the end of a word. 
 
 The drawings intended to illustrate the subjects of the several Psalms extend across the 
 page. They are drawn by the pen and are not framed. At the beginning of the Psalter the 
 figures are slightly shaded, and the execution is firm and skilful, with careful treatment of the 
 limbs and attention to proportion. But the first and best hand soon ceases, and the remainder 
 of the subjects are by different and very unequal draughtsmen. There are some exceedingly 
 interesting designs towards the end, but the figures are generally exaggerated in action and out 
 of proportion, the hands, legs, and feet entirely without shape, and the dress represented by a 
 roughly drawn jagged outline, in the style common to English drawings of the 10th and 11th 
 centuries. Paint outlines of figures, generally corresponding with those in the drawings, can 
 be detected in some of the lower margins and sometimes in the body of the drawing itself. 
 
 Many of these illustrations are found in the Psalter of the 11th century in the Harley 
 Collection, No. 603. Some are exactly similar in design, but generally additions are introduced 
 in the later copies with differences in costume; and it is remarkable that many of the series in 
 the Harley MS. are altogether different from those in the Utrecht Psalter. 
 
 From this description of the MS. the probable age of it may be inferred. Although some 
 particulars point to an early time, others, and those more numerous, prove it to be later. 
 
 The use of Roman Rustic Capitals, and the arrangement of the text in three columns, in 
 themselves might be taken to indicate a time prior to the 7th century, but the abbreviations, 
 the forms of contraction, the punctuation, the coloured initial letter of the first Psalm, the 
 writing of the first lines in golden letters, are unmistakeable evidences of a date so late at least 
 as the end of the 8th century. The earlier characteristics may be, and in other instances are 
 found to be, carried on in more recent times, but the free use of late forms cannot be anticipated. 
 
 The use of Rustic Capitals for occasional purposes, such as titles and arguments, was 
 common many centuries after it was discontinued, as far at least as Manuscripts now extant 
 show, for entire books. 
 
 Instances however can be produced of the use of Rustic Capitals, even for the greater part 
 of Manuscripts, so late as the 9th or 10th century. In the Harley Collection, No. 647, is a 
 copy of Cicero’s metrical version of the Treatise of Aratus on Astronomy, with the Commentary 
 of Hyginus. The Commentary is written in Rustic Capitals within figures of the Constellations, 
 drawn in an antique style and occupying the greater part of the page; while the text of Aratus 
 is written below, in Minuscles of the beginning of the 10th century. The reason is obvious. 
 The MS. was copied from a much older one; and, in order to keep up the likeness of the figures, 
 it was found convenient to preserve the forms of the letters in the writing within them. But 
 so misleading is the appearance of the Rustic characters, combined too with the running 
 together of words, as in the Psalter, and the antique drawing of the figures, that Ottley the Art 
 Historian actually wrote a long, elaborate, and expensively illustrated dissertation, in the 
 Archseologia, to prove that the Harleian Manuscript was of the 2nd or 3rd century. 
 
 In the case of the Psalter there is evidence in the illustrative drawings that it has 
 been copied from an earlier original. The drawings in the first MS. extended across the page, 
 as was common in early times, and the text was written in three columns, and therefore, for the 
 same purpose of preserving the original arrangement, the form of letters as well as the three 
 columns was repeated. I may refer to a 9th or 10th century copy of the Bible, in the 
 Additional MS. 24,142, for an instance of the continued use of the arrangement of the text in 
 three columns, accompanied with other ancient appearances, evidently transferred from the earlier 
 MS. it was copied from. 
 
REPORT OF MR. E. A. BOND. 
 
 3 
 
 That the Rustic Capitals are not genuine characters of the 6th century is evident from their 
 comparative weak form and irregular setting. The first aspect of the writing conveys this 
 impression most forcibly ; and that the impression is correct is proved by the numerous indica¬ 
 tions of late work revealed in almost every item of the description of the manuscript. 
 
 The use of what may be called the semicolon proper and inverted is hardly seen in Manu¬ 
 scripts before the end of the 7th century, and is not common till the end of the 8th or 9th. In 
 the Psalter the two forms are freely used throughout, and have every appearance of having been 
 inserted, as was the common practice, by the reviser of the Manuscript. 
 
 The occurrence of numerous abbreviations of words other than the names of the Deity, in 
 Manuscripts in capitals and uncials, strongly implies a late date; more especially when such 
 forms of abbreviation as f for tur are met with. The frequent use of this contraction is alone 
 conclusive evidence of the late date of the Psalter. But not only are the abbreviations numerous, 
 but the marks of contraction are of late form. The slightly-curved line, inclining a little upwards 
 to the right in a fine stroke, may be occasionally met with in Manuscripts of the end of the 
 7th century, but cannot be considered to be in full use till the 8th, and is the ordinary form 
 from that period for some centuries. The oblique line turned contrary ways at the ends is rarely 
 found till late in the 8th century, but is frequent in the 9th and following centuries. The 
 variation given to the same form by turning the line inwards at both extremities with termi¬ 
 nating points, and so producing a simple curve, is also rare before the 9th and common in that 
 and the following centuries, even to the 12th. 
 
 The addition of a point over the letter y, found throughout the Manuscript with rare 
 exceptions, is also a decided mark of late age ; as is the discontinuance of the practice of 
 reducing the size of letters at the end of a line, in order to complete a word. 
 
 Still stronger and more decisive of a later age is the illuminated initial letter at the beginning 
 of the first Psalm. This has been erroneously stated to be of Irish execution and of early date. 
 The form of the pattern used in the ornament is certainly derived from ancient Irish work, but 
 the whole design of the letter and colouring, including the outer edging in red to the gold ground, 
 is unmistakeably of a different—probably the Anglo-Frankish—school. A close resemblance to 
 it will be found in the ornamental initial letter of the first Psalm in the Cotton Psalter, Galba 
 A. xviii, which is a foreign Manuscript of the 9th century. 
 
 To this school and period belong also the golden writing of the first lines of the Psalms in 
 the earlier part of the Manuscript; and in entire agreement with these is the practice of colouring 
 the initials of the verses, and placing them in the margin a little apart from the text. And as 
 further indication of late age may be noticed the absence of a running title in the upper margin. 
 
 In turning from the writing of the Manuscript to the illustrative drawings we find addi¬ 
 tional evidence of late date. Although there are traces of antiquity in the designs, as in the 
 architecture, objects of furniture, and general treatment, by the side of these are proofs of later 
 age, and it is apparent that the drawings are copies made some centuries after the date of the 
 original designs. In the instances which have been preserved of drawings in Manuscripts prior 
 to the 7th century, the forms of the figures retain the fulness and roundness of the Classical 
 period ; whereas these in the Psalter are thin and sketchy, the limbs having no substance or 
 contour. The contrast between the two methods of drawing is very strong. On the other hand, 
 if compared with acknowledged works of the 10th and 11th centuries, the connexion of the 
 drawings in style of execution with this later manner of representing the figures is equally 
 apparent. They are in fact Gothic in their style ; and cannot easily be conceived to be of a 
 period when the Classical method was still imitated. The covering of the legs is the wrinkled 
 hose, not the sandal. The Crucifixion is fully represented, and Our Saviour’s form is uncovered 
 to the waist, a practice referred to 9th Century innovation in Histories of Christian Art. 
 
4 
 
 REPORT OF MR. E. A. BOND. 
 
 These are the principal grounds on which I consider it impossible to refer the Psalter to an 
 earlier time than the end of the 8th century, and am more disposed to assign it to the 9th. 
 
 In the preceding remarks I have concerned myself solely with the question of the probable 
 age of the Manuscript, because on that rests its importance in reference to the so-called 
 Athanasian Creed, the occurrence of which at the end of the Psalter has been the occasion of 
 bringing it into so much notice. In respect to the Creed it might be argued that, granting that 
 the Psalter is a Manuscript of the 9th century, it has every indication of having been copied 
 from one of far higher antiquity, and that this would also have contained the Canticles, Creeds, 
 and apocryphal Psalm. I am of opinion however that, if it were so, the apocryphal Psalm would 
 not have been found where it is in the Utrecht Psalter—at the end of the Manuscript, after the 
 Canticles and Creeds — but rather after the last Psalm. It seems to me more probable that all 
 the additions to the actual Psalter ought to be assigned to the period of its transcription. We have 
 an instance of the apocryphal Psalm being subsequently added to a manuscript Psalter of about 
 the date a.d. 700, in the Cotton MS. Yespasian A. I., where it occurs on an inserted leaf, showing 
 that it had not been included in the older manuscript from which this Psalter had been copied. 
 On the other hand, its position after the Canticles and Creeds is an indication of the Manuscript 
 being not later than the end of the 9th century, from which time it is commonly found in its 
 proper place immediately after the Psalms themselves. In a Psalter of the 9th century, in the 
 Museum (Royal Collection, 2 B. v.) of English use, it is placed as in the Utrecht Manuscript. 
 
 Reasons other than palaaographical have been alleged for placing the Psalter as early as the 
 6th century, such as that the version of the Psalms is the Gallican, and that, as the Roman 
 version was introduced into England in the 8th century, the Psalter would be of a date 
 earlier than that. There must be something very unsound in this argument, for in the Museum 
 Collection of Psalters the greater number of those of the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries are 
 of the Gallican version. These too are of English use, having English glosses. 
 
 It has been endeavoured moreover to give a remote history to the Psalter, and to trace its 
 introduction into England to the arrival of Bertha, daughter of Chariberct, King of France, as the 
 wife of iEthelbert, King of Kent. The presumed evidence is found in the fact that an original 
 Charter of Lothair, King of Kent, to Bercuald Abbat of Reculver, of the year 679, was at one 
 time in the volume containing the Psalter. It is argued from this that the book must have 
 belonged to the Monastery of Reculver, that it would have been given to the Monastery by Queen 
 Bertha, and that it was removed to Canterbury either when Bercuald became Archbishop, or in 
 999, when the Monastery of Reculver was dissolved. 
 
 But there is an error at the bottom of this legend. It was not a custom in early times to 
 bind the title deeds of Religious houses in books. Far from it : they were folded up and preserved 
 in proper repositories for use, not stitched into service books for ornament, and the incessant 
 litigation in which Religious Houses were involved brought them constantly into law courts. 
 The insertion of the Charter in the volume containing the Psalter could not have been before 
 the time of Henry the Eighth’s suppression of the Monasteries. It no doubt was placed there 
 by Sir Robert Cotton himself, whose taste for enriching favourite volumes by such means, 
 carried him to the length of mutilating precious manuscripts. He bound the Gospel Fragments with 
 the Psalter because they were of the same form, and were both very ancient manuscripts, and he 
 added the Charter as suiting them in size, and as a specimen of equally old writing. But it has 
 been overlooked that the Charter was placed, not with the Psalter, but at the end of the volume, 
 after the Gospel Fragments, as is evident from the table of contents on the fly-leaf at the beginning; 
 so that there never was any proper connexion between the Psalter and the Charter. Nor, as far 
 as appears, is there a trace of the Psalter having ever been a Canterbury Manuscript. 
 
 Nothing, in fact, is known of the history of the Manuscript prior to its appearance in the 
 
REPORT OF MR. E. M. THOMPSON. 
 
 5 
 
 library of Sir Robert Cotton; excepting only, that in the lower margin of folio 60b an entry, 
 in a hand of the middle of the 16th century, can be made out, of the name “ Mary Talbott,” 
 now nearly obliterated. 
 
 In Sir Robert Cotton’s Collection the volume was originally numbered 207. It subsequently 
 had the press mark Claudius C. VII. 
 
 In a manuscript catalogue of the collection drawn up in Sir Robert Cotton’s time, in the 
 year 1621 (Harley MS. 6018), the Psalter is described under the number 207 in the following 
 terms, “ Psalmi dauidis latine literis Romanis (que in usu circa Imperii inclinantis tempora) 
 exarati, iisque majusculis, cum schematis non impari vetustate passim intertextis.” 
 
 Archbishop Ussher, in his treatise u De Romance Ecclesiee Synodo,” published in 1647, speaks 
 of having examined the manuscript when in- the Cotton Library. And, in fact, a letter from him 
 to Sir Robert Cotton, dated on the 12th of July, 1625, is extant (Cotton MS. Julius C. III. f. 
 1509 b.) in which he speaks of having borrowed four Latin Psalters, three of which were of the 
 Gallican use; and no doubt this manuscript was one of them, and that he examined it at this time. 
 But he returned it to Sir Robert; for among some later memoranda at the end of the Catalogue 
 of 1621, already referred to, under a general heading of “ A note of such bookes as have been 
 lent out by Sir Robert Cotton to divers persons and are abroade in their hands att this daye 
 the 15th of Januarye 1630” [1631], is a list of volumes lent “to my Lord the Earle of Arundel” 
 (fol. 173 b.) among which occurs the Psalter, under the description of “ An Auncient coppie of 
 the Psalmes literis maiusculis, in latin, and pictures: bound in redd lether with Sir Robert Cottons 
 Armes, fol.” It is not entered in the classed Catalogue of the Cotton Manuscripts of the year 
 1674 (Add. MS. 8926; and Harl. 694 f. 214); and in the printed Catalogue of the Collection, 
 published in 1696, it is still wanting. 
 
 It appears therefore that the Psalter was lent to the Earl of Arundel between the years 
 1625 and 1631, and had not been returned by him at the latter date. 
 
 Nothing is heard of it from this time till the year 1718, when it was presented to the Library 
 of the University of Utrecht, as recorded in a memorandum on the fly-leaf of the manuscript. 
 
 The identification of the volume, as formerly of the Cotton Collection, and the first public 
 notice of it in England, are due to Professor Westwood of Oxford, who wrote an account of it 
 for the Archaeological Institute many years ago. 
 
 Edwd. A. Bond. 
 
 Report of Mr. E. M. Thompson , Assistant-Keeper of the Manuscripts in the Bntish Museum. 
 
 British Museum, 22nd July, 1873. 
 
 Mr. Thompson has the honour to report to the Trustees that he has examined the Utrecht 
 Psalter, and that he has come to the conclusion that it cannot be assigned to an earlier age than 
 the close of the 8th Century. 
 
 He will briefly state the reasons which have led him to form this conclusion. 
 
 The body of the text of the Psalter is written in Rustic Capitals ; the titles to, and in some 
 instances the opening words of, the psalms, as well as the initial letters of the verses, being in 
 Uncial letters. The words are written continuously, without spaces of separation between them, 
 except at the pause in the middle of each verse. 
 
 MSS. having their text written in Rustic Capitals, and without separation of words, are 
 generally to be accepted as of great antiquity, and not later than the 6th or 7th century. 
 But that this character was sometimes used for the text in comparatively late MSS. is proved by 
 
6 
 
 REPORT OF MR. E. M. THOMPSON. 
 
 the existence of the Aratus of the Harleian Collection—a MS. which is certainly not earlier than 
 the 9 th or 10th century, and in which the commentary, written within the outlines of the Con¬ 
 stellations, is in Rustic Capitals. 
 
 The impression which the writing of the Utrecht Psalter conveys to the eye is that, though 
 the style is old, the forms of the letters are not true. There is a weakness and uncertainty 
 about the strokes which force one to feel that the scribe is writing in a character to which he is 
 not habitually accustomed. This impression increases the more the MS. is examined, until it 
 amounts to a conviction that the writing is an imitation. An examination of the letters in detail 
 will show, in the Rustic letters, certain deviations from original forms, which would not be found 
 in genuine writing. The few leaves in the Augustine Psalter (Vespas. A. I.) which are written 
 in this character, and which are themselves probably not earlier than the 8th century, impress 
 the eye far more favourably. The uncial letters of the titles, &c., are also open to the same 
 objection of want of regularity and finish. 
 
 This general impression that the MS. is an imitation is supported by points of detail: the 
 texture of the vellum; the mechanical setting of the writing ; the colour of the ink ; the marks of 
 punctuation ; the numerous instances of abbreviation ; and the form of the initial B at the head 
 of the 1st Psalm. 
 
 The vellum, though not thick, is not of a fine texture. It is of a rather soft leather-like 
 consistency, which bends easily under its own weight; and it has none of the smooth, crispness- 
 which one looks for in very ancient MSS. 
 
 The writing is between double lines, not on single ones ; the ruling being close-set. This 
 circumstance is significant, supposing the scribe to be writing in an unaccustomed style, in which 
 his hand would require guidance ; for the writing is not of that exact regularity, which is found 
 in ancient MSS. when written between lines. The arrangement of the initial letters of the verses, 
 regularly placed beyond the margin of writing, is also a rather too artificial method to be con* 
 sistent with great antiquity. 
 
 The ink is of the reddish brown tint which is in common use in the 9th century. 
 
 The usual marks of punctuation are the inverted semicolon (i) and the semicolon (;). 
 These marks appear to be contemporaneous with the writing ; the colour of the ink being the 
 same. In ancient MSS. there are usually either no stops, or simply the full point. 
 
 Contractions are used throughout the MS. ; and these are not limited to the abbreviations 
 of sacred names and titles, which occur in the most ancient MSS., but comprise many forms 
 which are only found in those of the 8th and subsequent centuries. One mark of contraction of 
 peculiar form claims special notice, viz. : the sign used for the termination ur, which is never 
 found in the earlier centuries. The ordinary mark of abbreviation (a waved or curved stroke) 
 has the same uncertainty and want of uniformity and decision which is to be observed in the 
 writing. 
 
 The initial B of the 1st Psalm belongs to the class which is found in Carlovingian MSS. of 
 the 9th century—gilt edged with red—though rather simpler in form. 
 
 With respect to the drawings with which the Psalter is illustrated it may be observed that 
 the hands of at least three artists can be traced. There is no reason to suppose that they are 
 later insertions, yet they approach more nearly in style to the light sketchy drawing of 
 English MSS. of the 10th and 11th centuries, than to that of such MSS. as the Vatican 
 Virgil or the Cotton Genesis, where the classical element is so strong. They therefore also 
 tend to support the opinion that the Psalter is not of so great an antiquity as has been 
 represented. 
 
 Judging from the style of the initial letter, taken in combination with other details, Mr. 
 Thompson is of opinion that the MS. was probably written in the north-east of France. 
 
LETTERS TO THE PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN. 
 
 7 
 
 He should further add that he does not consider the marginal drawings, which occur here 
 and there, to be designs for, but rather sketches taken from, the illustrative drawings. 
 
 Ihe Gospel fragments bound at the end of the Psalter have no connexion with it. The 
 accident of their being in the same covers may be laid to the charge of their former owner, 
 Sir Robert Cotton, who frequently bound together any two or more MSS. of similar size. The 
 fine uncial writing of these fragments may be assigned to about the end of the 7th Century. 
 
 E. M. Thompson. 
 
 Letter of the Reverend H. 0. Coxe , M.A., Bodleian Library , Oxford , to ihe Principal Librarian 
 
 of the British Museum. 
 
 __ _ Bodleian Libeaby, 15th July, 1873. 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I am told that the Trustees of the British Museum are wishing to have the 
 opinion of those versed in early MSS. on the probable age of the Utrecht Psalter—and have 
 been asked to say what are my own views upon this matter: I will only remark, that, MSS. of 
 so great an age being comparatively rare, no expert would presume to approach the subject but 
 with very great diffidence: I do this the more myself, as I have never seen a MS., save the one 
 in question, written throughout in the character and tri-columnal form by which it is distinguished. 
 
 At the same time, I am well acquainted with the character itself, and specially with that 
 of the initial letter at the commencement of the Psalter: the drawings also I have examined 
 with considerable care—but, as I presume that the Trustees do not so much wish me to go 
 into detail, as to the ground of my opinion, as to know what that opinion is, I will merely add 
 that I can see no reason to conclude that the MS. was written before the commencement of the 
 ninth century. 
 
 Believe me to be, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 H. 0. Coxe. 
 
 Letter of the Reverend S. S. Lewis , M.A., F.S.A ., Librarian of Corpus Christi College , Cambridge , 
 to the Principal Librarian of the British Museum. 
 
 CoBPirs Cheisti College, July 22nd, 1873. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Having been requested by Mr. Bond to state the opinion that I have formed as to 
 the date of the Utrecht Psalter, I beg to submit that, from certain points of similarity to a 
 Psalter, No. 272, in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, as well as from general 
 considerations, I conclude that I do not feel warranted in assigning it to an earlier date than the 
 9th century. 
 
 Believe me to be 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 S. S. Lewis. 
 
8 
 
 LETTERS TO THE PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN 
 
 Letter of Sir M. Digby Wyatt , to the Principal Librarian of the British Museum. 
 
 37, Tavistock Place, W.C. July 19th, 1873. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Understanding that the Trustees of the British Museum desire to have recorded 
 expressions of opinion as to the date of the Utrecht Psalter, I venture to trouble you with a 
 few lines on the subject; premising by congratulating the Trustees upon having taken the steps 
 by which an opportunity has been afforded to those interested in such matters in this country, 
 of critically examining one of the most important and curious manuscripts time has spared to us. 
 I would venture also to express a hope that this exceptional action may hereafter be accepted as 
 a precedent, and that similar opportunities may be afforded to eligible students of comparing 
 some other very rare MSS. preserved in Foreign libraries, such for instance as the great rarities 
 of Vienna, Rome, Paris, Milan, Munich, &c., with the treasures of the British Museum. 
 
 I have now examined the Utrecht Psalter with some attention, and feel justified thereby 
 in adhering to the general views on the subject I had occasion to make public in the year 
 1861.* I then stated my impression that the writing, and especially an Uncial B heightened 
 with gold which commences the first Psalm, would give it a date “ certainly not earlier than 
 the 7th or 8th Century” while the pen and ink drawings (or at any rate some of them) may 
 have been “ probably executed a century later.” I then supposed the execution of the 
 drawings to coincide with the ITarleian Psalter No. 603 more closely than I find it to do on 
 confronting the two Psalters. The style appears decidedly earlier in all the drawings of the 
 first part of the volume in the Utrecht than in the Harleian, as may be noticed especially in the 
 following details :—the knees of the figures, the draperies, the architecture, the characteristics 
 of furniture,—some portions of the costume especially those of the feet and legs, and the 
 continuity of outline expressing contours. The majority of the pictures in the Utrecht Psalter 
 give every indication of having been copied from a much earlier, and probably less profusely 
 illustrated, painted Psalter, produced under a decidedly Classical influence. The pictures in the 
 Harleian although retaining the same features of composition exhibit more assertion of 
 independence on the part of the scribe or penman , and less decidedly the influence of the 
 painter . One might readily believe that the Harleian may have been executed by an 
 illuminator having only the Utrecht (or a replica of it) under his eye ; but I feel as strongly 
 as an artist may do, that the Utrecht (at any rate as far as the text throughout the Psalter and 
 the pictures, certainly as far as the series executed from the beginning by the original Artist’s 
 hand are concerned) was probably done, at about the middle of the 8th Century, and from a 
 much more ancient model, written with fewer contractions, and more classically formed capitals, 
 and with freely painted Illustrations originated under strong Latin early-Christian influence— 
 from such a volume in fact as we may readily suppose one of the two Psalters to have been 
 which St. Augustine may have brought to this country in the year 597. 
 
 A very interesting MS. — for comparison with both the Utrecht and Harleian Psalters, 
 illustrating Saxon penmanship and painting, reproducing very early and original Latin painting 
 and types, is to be found in the “ Aratus” of the British Museum, which deceived Mr. Ottley 
 into the belief of its Classical Antiquity, exactly as the somewhat analogous peculiarities of the 
 Utrecht Psalter led to the impression on the part of the old compiler of the Cotton Catalogue 
 that it dated from the period of Valentinian. 
 
 As my errors of judgment will no doubt be corrected by the learning of acute and learned 
 Palaeographers, I venture to express the crude opinion I have been induced to form as an artist 
 on the subject. 
 
 I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 M. Digby Wyatt. 
 
 * “ The Art of Illuminating.’ 
 
OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 
 
 9 
 
 Opinion on the date of the Psalter , communicated by Professor J. 0. Westwood, of Oxford , Author 
 of “ Miniatures and Ornaments of Anglo-Saxon and Irish MS SI Folio , 1871, &c. 
 
 NOTES ON THE DATE OF THE UTRECHT PSALTER. 
 
 1. In the year 1858 I spent several days at Utrecht for the purpose of examining and making 
 copies of portions of the text and drawings in the Cottonian Psalter Claudius C. 7. The result 
 of this visit was published in the Journal of the Royal Archaeological Institute for 1859, in which 
 I observed that “the Psalms are written throughout in triple columns on each page, in rustic 
 capitals,” and that “ a date not more recent than the 6th or 7th Century ought to be assigned to 
 the MS.; but the initial letter of the first Psalm is a large golden uncial B ornamented in the 
 genuine interlaced Saxon style.”—I moreover noticed that the drawings had been inserted after 
 the text had been written, as in several instances they ran close to or even upon the text 
 below; adding “ supposing the drawings to be later additions by an Anglo-Saxon artist, copying 
 from an early Classical series of drawings, we should have no difficulty in referring the text to 
 the 5th or 6th Century. The initial of the first Psalm however precludes us from assigning it 
 to so early a date and would bring it to the 1th or 8 th at the earliest , in which case the drawings 
 may have been added in 9th or 10th Century;”—concluding my remarks by introducing it into 
 the list of the six fine MSS. written in early Anglo-Saxon times, in the purest uncial and rustic 
 capitals, but decorated with initials in the Anglo-Saxon or Irish style. 
 
 2. A similar opinion was expressed in my work on the “ Miniatures and ornaments of 
 Anglo-Saxon and Irish MSS.” in which I gave a precise account of the Contents of the MS., 
 stating that it included a copy of the Athanasian Creed, which has led to the present Contro¬ 
 versy as to the age of the latter as affected by this MS., which has from my description been 
 identified with the MS. described by Archbp. Ussher since supposed to have been lost. There 
 are however several other circumstances which induce me to refer this MS. to the 8th or 9th 
 Century at the earliest. 
 
 3. The space for the large initial B was certainly left by the scribe of the MS.—a proof 
 that a later date than the 6th Century must be assigned to the MS. The early MSS. have no 
 large initials. 
 
 4. The style of the ornamentation and the use of gold in the Initial B are also proofs of a 
 late date. The latter circumstance is decidedly against the Irish origin of the initial advocated 
 by Sir T. D. Hardy. A comparison of the Initial B with the same initial in the little Psalter of 
 King Athelstan proves the contemporary date, if not the identical origin of the two MSS., which 
 is further proved by the three lines of golden uncials following the initial B in both MSS. 
 
 5. The fact of the text containing the Gallican Version of the Psalter is no proof of the 
 Continental origin of the MS. 
 
 6. The fact of a MS. being written entirely in Rustic Capitals is in my opinion not a suffi¬ 
 cient proof of its being of the 4th or 5th Century as affirmed by the authors of the Nouv. Tr. de 
 Diplom., and hence I am not convinced by their laboured arguments (Vol, III. pp. 43 and 98) 
 that the Golden Rustic Gospels No. 663 S. Germ, des Pres is of the Age of Clovis I. On the 
 contrary I believe that MS. to be of the 8th or 9th Century. The use of the Rustic writing was 
 common from the 6th to the 12th Century, scarcely a good MS. of that long period exists in 
 which some portion is not in that character. In the 9th Century Gospels used for the Corona¬ 
 tion of the Anglo-Saxon Kings (Tib. A. 11), there is an entire page (p. 112) written in golden 
 rustic letters, and it is childish to affirm that because an entire MS. is so written, it must neces¬ 
 sarily be of the 4th, 5th, or 6th Centuries. 
 
 7. Throughout the Utrecht Psalter the first line of each Psalm is written in Uncial letters. 
 I maintain that such a mixture of two kinds of Writing does not occur in the fine MSS. of the 
 
10 
 
 LETTER TO MR. BOND. 
 
 4tli — 6th Centuries—which are on the contrary, written throughout in one kind of writing. 
 —This I take to be a sufficient proof why the golden Gospels, No. 663, above referred to are of 
 a much later date than the time of Clovis I., because, as the Benedictines themselves have shewn, 
 the MS. contains at least one passage written in fine ordinary Roman Capitals. (N. Tr. III. p. 43.) 
 
 8. The employment throughout the Utrecht Psalter of the i to divide each Yerse into 
 two portions for Chanting is another proof of its later date. I believe this mark cannot be traced 
 back earlier than the end of the 7th Century. 
 
 9. The drawings of the Utrecht Psalter were, as I have stated above, added after the text had 
 been written and space reserved for them—but I consider them not to be much subsequent to 
 the writing. The style of the drawings is very peculiar—I know none in Continental MSS. 
 which can be compared with them—whereas they accord entirely with Anglo-Saxon drawings, 
 such as are contained in the Oxford Pseudo Caedmon published by Sir H. Ellis in the Archaeo- 
 logia, the Seasons in the Cotton MS. Julius A. 6. (Shaw’s Dresses and Decorations, Vol. I.) 
 and several other late 9th and 10th Century Anglo-Saxon MSS. 
 
 10. I consider that the subjects of many of the drawings in the Utrecht Psalter are such as 
 would not have been tolerated in the 4th — 7th Centuries — in fact previous to the 2nd Council of 
 Nice—The representations of the Crucifixion—God the Father, the Trinity, the Blessed Virgin 
 as an object of worship, &c. In this respect, compare the drawings on p. 109 and those of the 
 Gloria in Excelsis and the Credo published by Sir T. D. Hardy with those in the Anglo-Saxon 
 MS. Titus D. 27, especially that of the Triumph of the Trinity over Judas and Arius (copied 
 by Dibdin, Bibl. Decam. Vol. I.) 
 
 JNO. 0. WESTWOOD. 
 
 Oxford, July 22, 1873. 
 
 Letter of Mr. F. II. DicJdnson to Mr. Bond. 
 
 Kingweston, Someeton, July 23, 1873. 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I did not examine to form (still less 
 to express) any opinion on the age of it. I thought it must have been copied from an earlier 
 MS. as the pictures which give the meaning of the following Psalm are frequently at the end of 
 a page which could hardly have been the case with the MS. as originally designed. I compared 
 it with Harl. 603, which in the earlier part seems to follow it page by page, and at the end to be 
 copied from a different MS. and throughout illuminated hi colour—which I conceive is the 
 principal difference of the earlier part—and containing a different version of the Psalms. Compare 
 the last page of Harleian MS., Ps. 144 verse 6 (143 in the MS.) where the Utrecht Psalter agrees 
 with the Vulgate and therefore I suppose the Gallican Psalter, and the Harl. MS. with what 
 Sabatier prints as the Itala. See also the very peculiar arrangement of the 119th Psalm (118 
 in MS.) in Harl. MS. 
 
 In the picture for the 23rd Psalm (22nd in MS.) there is a small difference. That in 
 Utrecht gives handles to the cup which the copy leaves out. I incline to think that when the 
 earlier picture was designed the reception of the eucharist in both kinds was common, but when 
 the copy was made was forgotten, for the cup with handles is I believe the early chalice. 
 
 If there is any thing in this it may not be easy to assign any value to it as indicating the 
 age of the Utrecht MS., because the time when communion in both kinds ceased differed 
 probably in different places, and I prefer to mention it to you rather than the Principal 
 Librarian, to whom you can mention it if you think it important. 
 
 I remain, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 F. II. Dickinson. 
 
 E. A. Bond, Esq. 
 
EEPOET OF THE EEV. CANON SWAINSON. 
 
 11 
 
 Letter of the Reverend Canon C. A. Swainson to the Principal Librarian of the British Museum; 
 
 with a Report on the Psalter. 
 
 Canon Lane, Chichester, 11th August, 1873. 
 
 Deae Sie, 
 
 At the request of some friends I have prepared the enclosed Report on the Utrecht 
 Psalter, giving some literary reasons for my belief that it could not have been written long before 
 the middle of the 9th Century. I trust that it may be deemed worthy of being added to the 
 other Reports, of which I have heard, from Mr. Bond and others, and if these Reports are 
 printed that it may be printed with them. 
 
 Believe me to be, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 C. A. Swainson. 
 
 J. Winter Jones, Esq., &c. &C. 
 
 Report on the Utrecht Psalter. 
 
 My Loeds and Gentlemen, 
 
 The beautiful Psalter now belonging to the Utrecht Library has engaged much of my 
 attention since I was the fortunate medium in identifying it with the long missing Manuscript 
 which though seen by Archbishop Ussher, was lost when Dr. Waterland wrote his work on the 
 Athanasian Creed. I have already given some reasons why I cannot accept as conclusive the 
 evidence which has been brought forward to assign the manuscript to the 6th Century. In the 
 present report I shall avoid (with one exception) all arguments of a palseographical character, and 
 merely adduce reasons of a literary nature which compel me to retain my opinion that the 
 volume cannot be much earlier than the middle of the 9th Century, and may be considerably 
 later. 
 
 1. I must first remove an impression which seems to prevail in more quarters than one, 
 as to the Version of the Psalms which this book contains. It is the Gallican Version, so called 
 merely because it obtained a general currency in the first instance in countries North of the Alps, 
 and was thus distinguished from an earlier recension by Jerome which was retained for a time in 
 the Churches of Rome and Italy. By a very pardonable confusion of terms, it has been supposed 
 that when the Romanus Ordo and the Romanus Cantus spread North of the Alps the Roman 
 Psalter must have gone with them.* The fact is that the three things were perfectly indepen¬ 
 dent of each other, and indeed we have a complaint in the 11th Century of the inconvenience 
 caused in Gaul by the attempt to adapt the Roman Chant to the Gallican Psalter. Thus, instead 
 of the Gallican Psalter having been antiquated in the 9th Century, or the Gallican Psalter 
 having been then long superseded by the Roman Psalter, (as has been somewhat hastily 
 assumed), the state of the fact was that the Roman Psalter was gradually and steadily 
 ousted by the Gallican. The latter spread from Gaul and Germany to Churches in the 
 North of Italy, and was ultimately accepted by nearly all the Churches in communion 
 with the Church of Rome. At all events at a recent visit to the British Museum, I 
 compared the first five Psalms and others here and there in the Utrecht MS. with Tischendorfs 
 recent edition of the Vulgate; and the differences which I noted between the two are not worthy of 
 notice. Of course there were differences of spelling, but I believe that the only real discrepancy 
 so far as I went was this: in the last verse of Psalm V. turn is found in the Vulgate and not in 
 
 * The Romanus Ordo contained services of Baptism, Ordination, &e. The Roman Cantus was the Roman (or 
 Gregorian ?) mode of chanting. 
 
12 
 
 REPORT OF THE REV. CANON SWAINSON. 
 
 the Utrecht Psalter. Thus the argument that this Psalter must have been written before the 
 middle of the 7th century because at that period the Gallican version was superseded, is founded 
 on an entire misapprehension of the history. 
 
 2. I need not draw attention to another misconception, viz. that the handwriting of the 
 Utrecht Manuscript had become obsolete for some centuries before the 9th. This is an entire 
 mistake. But a comparison in another respect must be drawn between this MS. and the 
 Harleian 603, which is considered to belong to the 10th or 11th Century, and which contains 
 a large number of illuminations similar in outline to those which occur in the Utrecht Psalter. 
 It has been considered that the Harleian pictures must have been imitated or copied from the 
 Utrecht drawings. On careful examination I discovered some time ago that this could not be; 
 because, of the drawings in the Utrecht Psalter to which I have on another occasion begged 
 attention as belonging to the 9th or 10th Century or later, not one occurs in this Harleian 
 Psalter: thus, taken as a whole, the Harleian pictures must be regarded as exhibiting an earlier 
 type than the Utrecht drawings; and, if the former are of the 10th or 11th Century, the latter 
 must be brought down much lower. 
 
 3. In regard to the general contents of the Utrecht Psalter, I have now examined or 
 received notes of eighty or ninety Psalters. I have been particularly anxious to obtain information 
 of the contents of every early known Psalter. I have succeeded far better than I could have 
 expected, and the result is this : that there is not a single Psalter known, of a date anterior to the 
 time of Charlemagne, which contains the Psalms, Canticles, and other contents of the Utrecht 
 Psalter. After the time of Charlemagne, or, at all events after the accession of Charles the Bald, 
 such Psalters rapidly multiply. Of course I need not point out that such a multiplication of 
 copies indicates that in the monasteries and churches through Europe a need for such works 
 had been created which had not existed previously, and the demand was being supplied. 
 The earliest known order to recite the Faith of Athanasius at any of the hour services is assigned 
 to the year 820. 
 
 4. Amongst the contents of the Psalter are the Te Deum and Gloria in Excelsis and the 
 Apostles' Creed. These appear (with a few exceptions to which I shall allude below) in their 
 modern received version. Thus their texts must have been fixed with some degree of unanimity 
 when this Psalter was prepared (as the rubrics show) for use in the services of the Church. 
 Taking them in detail I remark that 
 
 (1.) It is now well known that the text of the Apostles' Creed was not fixed definitely 
 even in the 9th Century. In addition to the evidence furnished by Dr. Heurtley, I may 
 mention that MS. Reg. 2 A. XX. in the Museum, of the 8th Century, contains an imperfect 
 Creed. The one recited by Etherius and Beatus about the year 785 is given by Dr. Heurtley : 
 the Creed contained in the “ Book of Deer” of the 9th Century is imperfect. All these are 
 found in such connections that we may feel confident that they were severally in use in their 
 respective localities at the time, in their imperfect forms. To my mind these facts seem 
 irreconcilable with the supposition that the Creed was used in its present complete form as in the 
 Utrecht Psalter, any where, in the 6th Century. 
 
 (2.) So in regard to the Te Deum : we know that a hymn so entitled was directed to be 
 used by Qsesarius of Arles, in the 5th or 6th Century, but when we pass on to enquire into the 
 ancient text of the Te Deum, we meet with the following facts. The older versions vary 
 considerably from each other and from the modern received text, i.e. from the text in the 
 Utrecht Psalter. One of these versions was retained to a late period in Ireland, as may be seen 
 in the interesting Irish hymn book which was edited for the Irish Archaeological and Celtic 
 Society by the late Dr. Todd. Other versions are noted in the Psalter published by Thomasius 
 at Rome in 1696. On the whole I am led to believe that the text of the Te Deum as it is in 
 the Utrecht Psalter was not fixed before the time of Charlemagne. It subsequently underwent 
 
REPORT OF THE REV. CANON SWAINSON. 
 
 13 
 
 a conjectural emendation : the old Suscepisti hominem being altered at the suggestion of Abbo 
 of Fleury (if my memory is correct) to Suscepturus. 
 
 (3.) A similar question arises in regard to the Gloria in Excelsis. This hymn came into 
 Europe from the Eastern Morning hymn (as may be seen from the Irish hymn book referred to 
 above); and the earlier notices of it are not sufficient to show when the text was altered. But 
 the Utrecht manuscript gives it in its modern form, i.e. very different from the Irish Book. (I 
 do not lay much stress on this.) 
 
 5. Every early Psalter that I know, which gives the Te Deum and gives also the occasion 
 of its use, describes it as used on Sundays in Matutinis. The Utrecht Psalter describes it thus 
 “ Hymnum ad Matutinis” (sic) i.e. daily at Matins. The only other copy amongst the earlier 
 ones that so entitles it, which I have seen, is the llth-Century-appendix to the Vespasian, 
 A. I. We are told by Daniel that the Te Deum had not come into daily use in the Church of 
 Rome in the 9th Century. Thus the title in the Utrecht Psalter leads me to the conclusion that 
 at all events that title could not have been written before the 9th or 10th Century. 
 
 The titles were inserted by a scribe inferior in education to the writer of the Psalter. This 
 is shown in many pages of the volume, and notably, on the last page where we find the “ Psalmus 
 extra numerum,” beginning “Pusillus eram.” The title there is per se unintelligible. But it 
 bears evident internal marks that it was made up of two older titles, which I find elsewhere, and 
 must therefore be of later date than both of them—which fact seems again inconsistent with the 
 theory that the book was completed in the 6th Century. 
 
 Of course I am aware that these titles were inserted after the Psalms were written, and 
 that it is possible that two, three or even four centuries may have elapsed between the two 
 epochs. But the weakness of my argument here does not affect the strength of my earlier 
 position that the versions of the Te Deum and of the Apostles’ Creed, and also (as I believe) of 
 the Gloria in Excelsis, as found in the Psalter, combine to show that the contents of the 
 Psalter could not have been arranged nor could the Psalter have been written long before the 
 year 800. 
 
 In consequence of a curious but unintelligible reading in the Te Deum, 
 
 Te’ ergo scae quassumus tuis famulis, &c. 
 resembling one in Galba A. XVIII. 
 
 Te ergo sce q; tuis famulis, 
 
 I think it may be worthy of a thought to compare the two MSS. more carefully together, so as 
 to learn whether they are copied one from the other, or from the same original. The 
 comparison might help to determine the locality where this Psalter was written. There is a 
 somewhat striking resemblance between the initial B in the Beatus Vir, in the two volumes. 
 The position of the Te Deum differs: the other contents occur (I believe) in the same order. 
 
 There will be ample opportunity hereafter to make this and other comparisons, when the 
 facsimile (permission to take which has been so generously granted by the authorities of the 
 Library at Utrecht) is in the hands of the subscribers. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 C. A. Swainson, 
 
 Canon Eesidentiary of Chichester Cathedral, 
 and Norrisian Professor of Divinity, Cambridge. 
 
 P.S. I would add that Mabillon notes that Gregory of Tours, in quoting the Psalms, quotes 
 a version different from the Gallican: his hypothesis was that the Galilean version was intro¬ 
 duced North of the Alps by Boniface, i.e. about the middle of the eighth century.—The short 
 
14 
 
 REPORT OF THE REV. CANON SWAINSON. 
 
 table of contents which ascribes the draAvings of the Utrecht Psalter to the time of Yalentinian 
 seems to me to be in the same handwriting as “ Claudius C. 7 ” on the first folio, i.e. of the time 
 of Sir Robert Cotton. It is therefore of value only as expressing an opinion of the seventeenth 
 century. 
 
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