Books by Kristen Collins

One of the most compelling and provocative books of twelfth-century England, the Markyate Psalter was probably produced at St. Albans Abbey between 1120 and 1140. Heralded as a high point of English Romanesque illumination, the manuscript contains the Chanson de St. Alexis. Leading scholars of twelfth-century manuscript studies explore the Psalter, understanding it through new methodologies , pursuing innovative lines of inquiry. The collection shines fresh light on a well-known manuscript, and opens important lines of discourse about the book and its readers.

The St. Albans Psalter is one of the most important, famous, and puzzling books produced in twelfth-century England. It was probably created between 1120 and 1140 at St. Albans Abbey, located on the site where Alban, England's first saint, was martyred. The manuscript's powerfully drawn figures and saturated colors are distinct from those in previous Anglo-Saxon painting and signal the arrival of the Romanesque style of illumination in England. Although most twelfth-century prayer books were not illustrated, the St. Albans Psalter includes more than 40 fullpage illuminations and over 200 historiated initials. Decorated with gold and precious colors, the psalter offers a display unparalleled by any other English manuscript to survive from the period. In 2007 the St. Albans Psalter was removed from its binding and in 2012 the disbound leaves traveled to the J. Paul Getty Museum.0Exhibition: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA (20.09.2013-02.02.2014).