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The Many Lives of a Manuscript
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The Many Lives of a Manuscript

The Southampton Psalter

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This resource has been designed to help students develop skills in independent research, using the medieval manuscript known as the Southampton Psalter as a starting point.

By working through the project you will find out about a range of skills, strategies and methods which can then be applied to other historical artefacts. The resource has been written with reference to the A-Level Assessment Objectives to demonstrate how to plan and manage a research project and use a range of different resources.

Credits

Produced by St John's College and St John's College Library, in collaboration with staff at the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Written by Dr Alice Taylor-Griffiths, in association with Prof. Máire Ní Mhaonaigh and Dr Rebecca Shercliff, all of the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic, and St John’s College.

Video and Photography: Dr Ian McKee

With thanks to the following: Kathryn McKee, Sub-Librarian and Special Collections Librarian, St John's College; Huw Jones, Head of Cambridge University Digital Library; Dr Orietta Da Rold, Associate Professor, Faculty of English and St John’s College; Abigail Farrow and Fergus Holmes-Stanley, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, and St John’s College; Prof. Pádraig P. Ó Néill, Department of English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Dr Elizabeth Duncan, Devon; Nicolle McNaughton, Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge.

We are grateful for the assistance of St John’s College Communications Office, and to other College staff for facilitating filming; to the Cambridge University Digital Library for digitisation and hosting of the digital images of the Southampton Psalter; and to St John’s College for a grant from the Annual Fund to develop this resource.

Video Credits

Music provided by the choir of St John’s College Cambridge, directed by Andrew Nethsingha; organist James Anderson-Besant

Image of vellum production provided by:
William Cowley Parchment Makers

Manuscripts featured:

St John’s College, Cambridge

MS C.9 (The Southampton Psalter)

MS N.31 Mortuary roll of Amphelisa, Prioress of Lillechurch

MS D.30 Psalter of Simon de Montacute
MS A.8 Josephus
MS L.1 Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseide

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Macclesfield Psalter

Portraits:

Henry Wriothesley (after Michael Jansz. van Miereveld)

Thomas Wriothesley (engraved by Thomas Wright after the original by Peter Lely)

Documents:

Crawshaw’s signature reproduced from SJCA/D105/189

MS U.3 Shelf-list of St John’s College Library, Cambridge, with a record of later donations and purchases. 1634-90.

Printed books:

John Speed The theatre of the empire of Great Britain…, 1614. Bb.8.14
Crashaw monogram from Calvin’s commentary on Isaiah, 1583. Pp.3.8

Items from St John’s College Library and Archives are reproduced by permission of the Master and Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge.