Picture Day Friday: Illuminated Manuscript with Gold Lettering on Purple

Book of Psalms from 9th century with gold lettering on purple parchment. It's currently housed at the Bodeleian Library at Oxford (Bodleian Douce FF 59). This is part of the Douce collection at the library.

Francis Douce (1757–1834) was an antiquary and collector. He was trained as a lawyer but quickly realized that books were his passion. For a while, he was the Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum. In 1823, he came into property and money and then onwards freely indulged his love for collecting manuscripts, books connected with English literature, especially Shakespeare, and curiosities of every description.

[Images are used with permission by Erik Kwakkel.]