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A rare Latin psalm book discovered at The Masters House in Newry is going under the hammer at Stephen Fitzpatrick Auction on tomorrow, 26 September, with the auction starting at 11am.
The Psalterium Davidicum, a Cistercian Order book of psalms, was found at "The Masters House" at the Abbey Yard in Newry following the purchase of the site.
The full title of the work is Psalterium Davidicum ad usum Sacri Ordinis Cisterciensis per hebdomadam dispositum, and it carries a mandate page dated 1952, issued by Dom Gabriel Sortais, Abbot General of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, commonly known as the Trappists, approving the book for daily use. It was printed by Typographia Ordinis Cisterciensium Strictioris Observantiae in Westmalle, Belgium.
According to the auction house, the interior pages are in perfect condition, with the text and musical notation described as vibrant and undamaged. The book has a leather spine binding and heavy brass clasps, features said to point to a high end custom devotional binding.
Although 1952 is a relatively recent date for an antiquarian book, the large folio volumes were printed in limited numbers and were not intended for general public sale, meaning a well preserved copy such as this is considered scarce. The publishing date also places it just before Vatican II, making it, in the auction house's description, the final complete post-war expression of the classical Cistercian plain chant tradition before the major liturgical changes of the 1960s.
Recent examples of 1952 editions have sold for upwards of £600, with prices rising further for copies that include a wooden cross and thick wooden boards.
The book can be viewed alongside other lots at the auction site today, 25 September, until 6pm, and tomorrow from 10am, or online at www.easyliveauction.com
