The cats of the Macclesfield Psalter

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know that I have often published in the past images of medieval animals and creatures – cats, dogs and snails – all from the British Library’s illuminated manuscripts. Today, it’s the turn of the Macclesfield Psalter to yield up its secret feline friends who appear in its folios.

The first two images below are most certainly magnificent micing medieval cats.  But the last two? Are they cats… Or are they bears?

The cats of the Macclesfield PsalterThe Macclesfield Psalter – folio 79v

The cats of the Macclesfield PsalterThe Macclesfield Psalter – folio 106r

The cats of the Macclesfield PsalterThe Macclesfield Psalter – folio 14v

The cats of the Macclesfield PsalterThe Macclesfield Psalter – folio 182v.
He seems to be a cat with a beautiful winged hybrid creature in his mouth.

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All digital images from the Macclesfield Psalter appear by courtesy of The Fitzwilliam Museum and may not be reproduced (© The Fitzwilliam Museum).

Further reading
Stella Panayotova The Macclesfield Psalter: A Complete Facsimile (2008)
Stella Panayotova The Macclesfield Psalter Book (Cambridge, 2005)
Stella Panayotova The Macclesfield Psalter (PDF format on CD)(Cambridge, 2005)

You may also be interested in the following
– Early-modern images
– Images of Medieval animals
– Images of Medieval music
– Images of Tudors
– Images of Medieval devils
– Images of Medieval funerals
– Images of Medieval cats

© Essex Voices Past 2013.

Images of Medieval Cats – Part 2

One of my most viewed blog posts has been Images of Medieval Cats from the British Library’s collection of exquisite illuminated manuscripts. So here to brighten up your day  are some more Medieval Cats, doing what cats do best – being magnificent.

Sloane 4016 f. 62 Rat and catDetail of a miniature of a rat and a cat from Herbal (Lombardy c. 1440),
shelfmark Sloane 4016 f. 62,  © British Library Board.

Sloane 4016 f. 40 Cat and mouseDetail of a miniature of a mouse and a cat from Herbal (Lombardy c. 1440),
shelfmark Sloane 4016 f. 40,  © British Library Board.

Sloane 3544 f. 20v Cat and ratsCats and rats from Bestiary (England, 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 13th century),
shelfmark Sloane 3544 f. 20v,  © British Library Board. 

Additional 18684 f. 53v Cat and dogCat and dog from Collection of halakhical works (France, 1392)
shelfmark Additional 18684 f. 53v,  © British Library Board.

Harley 3753 f. 28v Cat and mouseCat and mouse from Codex Justiniani in 9 books,  (England, Central (possibly Oxford), c.1250) shelfmark Harley 3753 f. 28v,  © British Library Board.

Royal 12 F XIII f. 43 CatCat from Bestiary (England, S. E. (possibly Rochester), 2nd quarter of the 13th century)
shelfmark Royal 12 F XIII f. 43,  © British Library Board.

Harley 3053 f. 56vDetail of decorated initial ‘Q'(ui) with foliate motifs, clasps, a cock, a dog biting a cat and a cat carrying mice from Moralia in Job, (Germany, W. (Arnstein), 2nd half of the 12th century) shelfmark Harley 3053 f. 56v,  © British Library Board.

Royal 12 C XIX f. 36vMiniature of a gray cat and a white cat, hunting mice from Bestiary, and various theological texts, (England, 1st quarter of the 13th century),
shelfmark Royal 12 C XIX f. 36v,  © British Library Board.

All digital images from the British Library’s Online Images archive appear by courtesy of the British Library Board and may not be reproduced © British Library Board.

Further reading
Katherine Meikle Walker, Medieval Cats, (London, 2011).
Katherine Meikle Walker, Medieval Pets, (London, 2012).

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This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– Early-modern images
– Images of Medieval animals
– Images of Medieval music
– Images of Tudors
– Images of Medieval devils
– Images of Medieval funerals
– Images of Medieval cats

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Images of medieval cats

Book of Hours - Harley-6563-f.-40-Cat-playing-a-rebec ‘Cat playing a rebec’ from Book of Hours (S.E. England, c1320-c1330),
shelfmark Harley 6563 f. 40, © British Library Board.

 

Harley 6563 f. 72 Book of Hours - Cat in a tower ‘Cat in a tower, throwing stones down at attacking mice’ from Book of Hours
(S.E. England, c1320-c1330), shelfmark Harley 6563 f. 72, © British Library Board.

 

 Harley 6563   ff. 43v-44   Grotesques ‘Marginal grotesques, arms, and marginal paintings of a cat playing an instrument, and a rabbit beating a drum’ from Book of Hours (S.E. England, c1320-c1330),
shelfmark Harley 6563 ff. 43v-44, © British Library Board.

 

Harley 928   f. 44v   Cat and mouse ‘A cat with a mouse’ from Book of Hours (the ‘Harley Hours’) (England, Last quarter of the 13th century), shelfmark Harley 928 f. 44v, © British Library Board.

 

Harley 3244   f. 49v   Cat and mouse ‘A cat and a mouse’ from Theological miscellany, including the Summa de vitiis, (England, 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 13th century, after c. 1236),
shelfmark Harley 3244 f. 49v, © British Library Board.

 

 Harley 4751   f. 30v  ‘Cats and mouse’ from Bestiary, with extracts from Giraldus Cambrensis on Irish birds, (South England, 2nd quarter of 13th Century), shelfmark Harley 4751 f.30v, © British Library Board.

 

All digital images from the British Library’s Online Images archive appear by courtesy of the British Library Board and may not be reproduced (© British Library Board).

Further reading
Katherine Meikle Walker, Medieval Cats, (London, 2011).
Katherine Meikle Walker, Medieval Pets, (London, 2012).

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– Early-modern images
– Medieval Manuscripts
– Images of Medieval animals
– Images of Medieval music
– Images of Tudors
– Images of Medieval devils
– Images of Medieval funerals

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.