Psalter

Psalter: see Psalms.

Sacred song or poem. The term is most widely known from the book of Psalms in the Bible. Its 150 psalms, ranging in subject from songs of joyous faith and thanksgiving to songs of bitter protest and lamentation, rank among the immortal poems of all time. They have had a profound influence on the liturgies of Judaism and Christianity. Their dating and authorship are highly problematic, and the tradition of assigning them to King David is no longer accepted. In the original Hebrew text the book had no name. When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (the Septuagint), it was h1d Psalterion, referring to a stringed instrument that would accompany such songs.

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A Psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms and which often contains other devotional material. Various schemes for the arrangement of the Psalms are described in Latin Psalters.

In the early Middle Ages Psalters were amongst the most popular types of illuminated manuscripts, rivaled only by the Gospel Books, from which they gradually took over as the type of manuscript chosen for lavish illumination. Medieval Psalters often included a calendar, a litany of saints, canticles from the Old and New Testaments, as well as other devotional texts. Many Psalters were lavishly illuminated with full-page miniatures as well as decorated initials.

In British North America, the first book printed was the Bay Psalm Book in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Psalms in it are metrical translations into English.

The psalter is also a part of either the Horologion or the breviary, used to say the Liturgy of the Hours in the Eastern and Western Christian worlds respectively.

Eastern Orthodox

In the Eastern Orthodox Church the Psalter is divided into 20 kathismata, for reading at Vespers and Matins. Kathisma means sitting, since the people normally sit during the reading of the psalms. Each kathisma is divided into three stases, from stasis, to stand, because each stasis ends with Glory to the Father…, at which everyone stands. The reading of the kathismata are so arranged that the entire Psalter is read through in the course of a week (during Great Lent it is read through twice in a week). During Bright Week (Easter Week) there is no reading from the Psalter. Orthodox Psalters usually also contain the Biblical canticles, which are read at the canon of Matins during Great Lent. Some Orthodox Psalters also contain special prayers for the departed, which are used during the wake, when the psalms are read over the deceased (see Christian burial).

Significant Psalters

Illuminated manuscripts

• Cathach of St. Columba, early 7th century
• Psalterium Sinaiticum, 11th century
• Canterbury Psalter, 1147CE
• Salaberga Psalter
• Vespasian Psalter, 2nd quarter of the 8th century
• Irish Bog Psalter
• Psalter of Lothaire
• Montpellier Psalter
• Chludov Psalter, 3rd quarter of the 9th century
• Stuttgart Psalter
• Utrecht Psalter, 9th century
• Southampton Psalter
• Gertrude Psalter, late 10th century with mid-11th century illuminations
• Stavelot Psalter
• Bosworth Psalter
• Aethelstan Psalter
• Harley Psalter
• Ramsey Psalter
• Codex Vossanius
• Paris Psalter, 10th century
• Heidelberg Psalter
• Vatopedi Psalter
• St. Albans Psalter
• Theodore Psalter
• Eadui Psalter
• Tiberias Psalter
• Vitellius Psalter
• Winchester Psalter
• Melisende Psalter, circa 1135
• Shaftesbury Psalter
• Westminster Psalter
• Camaldoli Psalter
• Gough Psalter
• London Psalter
• Psalter of Lambert de Bègue
• Grandisson Psalter
• Huth Psalter
• Oscott Psalter
• Alphonso Psalter
• Rutland Psalter
• Felbrigge Psalter
• Psalter of Robert de Lindesey
• Ramsey Psalter
• Psalter of St. Louis
• Luttrell Psalter
• Gorleston Psalter
• Macclesfield Psalter
• De Lisle Psalter
• Queen Mary Psalter
• St. Omer Psalter
• Psalter of Henry VIII
• Tomich Psalter
• Psalter of Bonne de Luxembourg
• Tickhill Psalter
• Ormesby Psalter
• Psalter of Jean, Duc de Berry
• Vienna Bohun Psalter
• Kiev Psalter of 1397
• Burnet Psalter
• Sofia Psalter
• St. John's Bible- Psalms, 2007

Printed Psalters

• Psalterium Romanum, 1457 [Mainz], Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer. The first printed psalter.
• Psalterium Benedictinum, 1459 [Mainz], Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer. The second printed psalter.
• Geneva Psalter, 1562
• Davids' Psalter, 1579
• Scottish Psalter,1635 and 1650
• Bay Psalm Book, 1640
• Grail, The Psalms, 1963, 1993
• ICEL Psalter, 1995
• New England Psalter

See also

• Metrical psalter
• Book of Hours
• Latin Psalters

References