Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.5.4, folio 135v: the Psalms, with commentary by Peter Lombard

Abstract

MS Cambridge, Trinity College, B.5.4, folio 135v, is a page from a twelfth-century Latin manuscript of the commentary on the Psalms by Peter Lombard, in a version produced by Herbert of Bosham, secretary to Archbishop Thomas Becket. The page displays many of the techniques developed during the twelfth century for linking text and gloss, as well as a unusual and detailed referencing system. Luxurious but also highly scholarly, the book employs a stunning variety of techniques to aid the reader in deciphering its complex pages. Seven texts appear simultaneously on each page, and yet the use of ruling, placement of text, hierarchy of script and decoration, colour, and images mean that the reader is always able to distinguish them.