[Scriptoris] Luttrell Psalter facsimile

[ciard49 at aol.com]

Greetings fellow Scribes, 
 
I did a study of the Luttrell Psalter whilst designing Master Pendaran's Pelican double set of scrolls based on that source.
 
I even contacted the British Museum to ask them questions and told them of my project. They were quick to respond by email - a day or so - and were very nice and helpful folks.
 
I wanted to see how the pictures correlated to the particular psalm it illuminated. I borrowed several books through inter-library loan, and looked up the English translation for every Psalm I could identify from the illustrations and wording  - from any source I could get my hands on for pictures from the Psalter.
 
I made two huge notebooks, one with the illustrations, page by page, as I had them, and the other had the corresponding English translation of that Psalm, and notes from the borrowed books if I could find any.
 
Using every source I could scrounge, less than 1/3 of the pages were published anywhere in any form, and many of them were of tiny details in the borders.
 
I made all my pictures fit the same scale so lots of my pages only had a one inch picture on it, but many were full pages in color.
 
Forgive me for not giving precise dates and names, I don't have that info in front of me just now.
 
I learned the Psalter was commissioned during 1400's, the same time frame as Blackadder I (I believe). For those familiar with the British series, one time Blackadder's very rich and very puritanical relatives came unannounced while he was throwing a drink-till-you-puke party with some friends.
 
His Aunt and Uncle, (his potential benefactors) wore plain gray longsleeve full length tunics and Uncle had a wooden cross tied to his back to keep it straight and he had taken a vow of silence.  There was something about a rudely shaped turnip too.
 
The illustrations in the Psalter show the strain of the times and the criticism of excess. England (at least where the Luttrells lived) was suffering famine. Many pictures showed gobbling birds or somehow related to gluttony, and other sins, the Scottish wars were going on and several fighting scenes related to that. High Ladies secretly watch athletes perform - impurity of thought. It truly was facinating to understand how it fit together. There was plenty of political gossip too.
 
That most famous double page with the carraiges and horses shows the five queens Sir Luttrell had served under, each identifiable in her own way, riding in their glorious golden coaches, wearing beautiful clothing and looking lovely, but the Psalm talks about how all things pass away into dust.
 
I wish I had an extra 650 dollars to get the whole book, too.  
 
 
Ciard O'Seachnasaigh
 
________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL.  Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.