On this page, you can learn more about the various medieval devotional manuscripts in St John’s College Library. This includes Books of Hours and Psalters.
MS 187
MS 187 contains the Hours of the Holy Spirit, a set of prayers. This manuscript was produced in England c.1475. It contains numerous decorative initials, including a historiated initial depicting the Dove of the Holy Spirit (shown here).
A full catalogue entry is available here.
MS 196
MS 196 is a Psalter produced in England c.1475. The calendar includes feast days for major English saints, and the litany includes English confessors. This manuscript includes a historiated initial of David kneeling in prayer with a harp at his feet (shown here).
A full catalogue entry is available here.
MS 204
MS 204 is a Psalter produced in Northern France c.1325–1375. It contains five surviving historiated initials, one of which is reproduced here. This initial at the beginning of Psalm 109 shows two people talking, with the holy spirit descending as a dove.
A full catalogue entry is available here.
MS 208
MS 208 primarily contains the Office of the Dead, a set of prayers for the deceased. This manuscript was produced in England c.1450–1475. It contains five illuminated leaves ascribed to ‘the master of Sir John Fastolf’. The detail shown here is of three clerics at a funeral service.
A full catalogue entry is available here.