Walters Ms. W.200, Alphabet Book Alphabet Book Principal cataloger Randall, Lilian M.C. Cataloger Vinson, Aubrey Editor Herbert, Lynley Copy editor Dibble, Charles Contributor Emery, Doug Contributor Han, Yuna Contributor Tabritha, Ariel Contributor Vinson, Aubrey Contributor Wiegand, Kimber Conservator Quandt, Abigail The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.

 The medieval alphabet is illuminated in two different styles. Without any accompanying text, the original purpose of the book remains unclear, but scholars have suggested that it was a sample or model book for manuscript illuminators, or that it was intended as a gift. The book was rebound in the eighteenth century, and in the same century extensive notes, which have since been erased, were made alongside the initials. Baltimore The Walters Art Museum W.200 No linguistic content; Not applicable 1r - 35v Alphabet Book

Thick, cream-colored parchment of very smooth and fine preparation; antique laid paper flyleaves

 Foliation: vii+23+vi11.9 9.5 Flyleaves have been foliated with the exception of the first leaf; front flyleaf vii (foliated as fol. 6) is eighteenth century parchment

Quire 1: 5 (flyleaf i-fol. 5v); Quires 2-7: 4 (fols. 7r-30v); Quire 8: 6 (fols. 30*r-35v, first folio has been double foliated as 30) None None Fol. 6 was added as a flyleaf, hooks around Quire 2; at least one quire has been removed between Quires 7 and 8

 Twenty-four illuminated letters of the medieval alphabet (excludes J and V) in two alternating styles; Style 1: found on fols. 7v-8r, 9v-10r, etc.; stylistically tied to French 16th century illuminations; blue or rose initials with white patterning, ending in blue, orange, or rose foliate terminals, outlined in black, on black-outlined backgrounds of burnished and/or liquid gold, two or four green disks in corners of the background, infill of naturalistic flowers and fruits; Style 2: found on fols. 8v-9r, 10v-11r, etc.; stylistically tied to Dutch 15th century initials; burnished gold intials with lobed terminals, outlined in black, backgrounds in blue and deep red with white foliate patterning, floral motifs in some infills with lead tin yellow and malachite green detailing; Impression from a rectangular plaque in the front endleaves, showing a seated nimbed figure, possibly the Virgin Mary and Christ child Initial "A" Full-page illumination Initial "B" Full-page illumination Initial "A" Full-page illumination Initial "B" Full-page illumination Initial "C" Full-page illumination Initial "D" Full-page illumination Initial "C" Full-page illumination Initial "D" Full-page illumination Initial "E" Full-page illumination Initial "F" Full-page illumination Initial "E" Full-page illumination Initial "F" Full-page illumination Initial "G" Full-page illumination Initial "H" Full-page illumination Initial "G" Full-page illumination Initial "H" Full-page illumination Initial "I" Full-page illumination Initial "K" Full-page illumination Initial "I" Full-page illumination Initial "K" Full-page illumination Initial "L" Full-page illumination Initial "M" Full-page illumination Initial "L" Full-page illumination Initial "M" with bookmark Full-page illumination and bookmark Initial "M" Full-page illumination Initial "N" Full-page illumination Initial "O" Full-page illumination Initial "N" Full-page illumination Initial "O" Full-page illumination Initial "P" Full-page illumination Initial "Q" Full-page illumination Initial "P" Full-page illumination Initial "Q" Full-page illumination Initial "R" Full-page illumination Initial "S" Full-page illumination Initial "R" Full-page illumination Initial "S" Full-page illumination Initial "T" Full-page illumination Initial "U" Full-page illumination Initial "T" Full-page illumination Initial "U" Full-page illumination Initial "X" Full-page illumination Initial "Y" Full-page illumination Initial "X" Full-page illumination Initial "Y" Full-page illumination Initial "Z" Full-page illumination Initial "Z" Full-page illumination

Rebound in France, eighteenth century; pink brocade with floral and zig-zag striped patterning over boards, sewn on five bands; gilt edges; antique white paper pastedowns and first/last flyleaves, decorated with alternating rows of gold six-pointed asterisks and dots, turned green at edges, paper with matching pattern pasted over bottom 1.5-2cm on front and back boards and flyleaves, which conceal an inscription in capital letters; paper tag printed "83" at bottom of spine; green silk ribbon marker

 Ca. 16th century CE Paris, France (?) Created in the sixteenth century, likely in Paris Rebound in eighteenth century France, truncated watermark on fol. 33 with date '1743' Obliterated note in cursive hand on fol. 1r, likely eighteenth century Note in dark brown ink, partly effaced "J... 609." on flyleaf iv, likely eighteenth century Léon Gruel collection, Paris, late nineteenth or early twentieth century; note in pencil "... 1183" on flyleaf iv; Gruel and Engelmann bookplate inscribed 'No. 1183' Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Gruel between 1895 and 1900 Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest Relevant Works Loftie, W. J. Lessons in the Art of Illuminating, vol. 1. London, after 1874, p.4-7. De Ricci, Seymour. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935, p.828, no. 423. Fruit and Flowers, Baltimore, Baltimore Museum of Art (1961), no. 4, illus. p.3 (fol. 8r). Oliver, J. "Medieval Alphabet Soup: Reconstruction of a Mosan Psalter-Hours in Philadelphia and Oxford and the Cult of St. Catherine," Gesta 24/2 (1985): 138. Randall, Lilian M. C. Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery. Vol. 2, Part 2. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992, pp. 643-644, app. 1. Art Medicine Museum Poetry Script Muhammad, the Prophet Kashmiri Horses Walters Art Museum Document Astrology Devotion History Legal Literature -- Poetry Literature -- Prose Liturgy Philosophy Science Science -- Medicine Scripture Sufism Theology Mineralogy Logic Geography Geomancy Cosmology Cartography Fortune-telling Koran Qur`an Firman Palimpsest Prayer Bible Gospels Psalter Missal Lectionary Book of Hours Antiphonary Homilary Processional Horologion Breviary Hymnal Chronicle Maghreb Sub-Saharan (West) Africa Turkey Afghanistan Central Asia Egypt England India Iran Iraq Pakistan Germany France Austria Netherlands Ethiopia Armenia Flanders Greece Mamluk Mughal Ottoman Ottonian Armenian Byzantine Abbasid Qajar Rajput Christian Arabic Austrian Dutch Egyptian Fatimid German Indian Islamic Persian Safavid Timurid Turkish Umayyad English French Flemish Ethiopian Carolingian Calligraphy Colophon Headpiece Illumination Illustration Medallion Miniature Ornament Painting Early Abbasid script Ragini Romanesque Gothic Watermark Grotesques Historiated initial Inhabited initial White-vine lettering Textura Batarda Humanistic Uncial Accordion book Album Book Codex Manuscript Heraldry Saint's Life Drawing Grisaille New Abbasid style Musical notation Russia Romania Charter Russian Genealogy Mass book Prayer book Gospel Lectionary Psalter-Hours Treatise Grammar Gloss Pontifical Private devotional text Gradual Protective scroll Scroll 10th century 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century 8th century 9th century Block book Caroline minuscule Central Arab lands (Near East) Chart English secretary hand Kufic Gothic book hand Original binding Treasure binding Gospel Book Spanish Spain Italian Italy Coptic Scrapbook American United States Maryland Historical Society Friendship book Friendship Biography Judaism Talmud Collection of Sermons Notable Notable binding Liturgical Devotional Scriptural Theological Legal Historical Scientific Scientific -- Medical Literary -- Prose Literary -- Poetry Philosophical Astrological Sufi English French Book Codex Illumination Manuscript Walters Art Museum France 16th century Document