The many lives of a manuscript: Introducing the Southampton Psalter

Have you ever wondered about the journey that a medieval manuscript has taken all the way from the remote past until it arrives in a modern-day library? How many people have studied its pages, and what have they used it for?

In this talk, we will be answering those questions in relation to one particular manuscript: the Southampton Psalter, an illuminated Irish psalm book, dating to around 1,000 AD and now held in St John’s College, Cambridge. This fascinating manuscript has lived through multiple ‘lives’ since its creation in medieval Ireland, in its roles as a lavishly decorated display book, highly annotated learning resource for scholars and valued object of antiquity.

We will delve into the mysteries of this little-known manuscript, using the newly digitised images available via the Cambridge Digital Library. Looking at this manuscript, questions immediately spring to mind: What does this Irish manuscript have to do with Southampton? What do the figures in the three beautiful, full-page illustrations represent? Why is there writing all over the margins of the pages?

We will resolve all these puzzles using a newly developed online resource, which has been produced in collaboration with St John’s College and the Fitzwilliam Museum, and forms part of the series entitled Looking at Collections: a How-to Guide for Researchers. In this resource, concepts such as manuscript production and illumination, religious iconography, interpretation of glosses and manuscripts as collectors’ items are explored in depth using a range of interactive tools. Users are able to brainstorm ideas using drop-down boxes, to watch instructional videos and are directed towards further online resources to enrich their understanding of this manuscript.

As such, it is an ideal introductory resource for anyone wishing to further their knowledge of medieval manuscripts and the discipline of palaeography. In particular, it has been designed to assist students who are undertaking independent research projects for the first time (for example, the Extended Project Qualification). The structure of the website guides students through the process of asking research questions, planning a project, and accessing primary and secondary sources.

By showcasing this new online resource, and thereby introducing the many lives of the Southampton Psalter to a wider audience, we hope to inspire a new generation of enthusiasts for manuscript studies and the medieval period more broadly.