Why the Tickhill Psalter is now in the USA
This magnificent 14th century illuminated manuscript was produced in Worksop Priory. After the Dissolution it disappeared into private hands and ‘turned up’ in one of the libraries of the Marquess of Lothian at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, in the 18th century where it remained until 1932 when it was sold in the USA. The following article in ‘Sheffield Daily Telegraph’, Friday, 29 January 1932, page 4, explains what happened.
‘The Tikyll Psalter was sold in New York today [for $61,000] to Dr Rosenbach a New York dealer in old books [on behalf of New York Public Library]….His purchase today was once a Nottingham treasure, written and illuminated at Worksop Priory for or by John de Tickhille or Tickyll, prior of that monastery fully 600 years ago. It has long been preserved in a Norfolk hall. England is unlikely to see it again…. The courtesy and patience of Dr Rosenbach and Mr Pierpont Morgan have allowed the British Museum to retain the Lutterell Psalter and the Bedford Book of Hours. These came together on the market a year or two back and many months were needed to extract from English pockets the money needed to repay options on them. Having won these two treasures, the Museum cannot strain its resources again to get a third of the same period and in a similar style….’
It is most unlikely that an export licence would be granted today to allow such a historic treasure to be sold abroad; it is unfortunate that its sale followed closely after the sale of similar manuscripts at a time of economic depression which made fund raising difficult. The Psalter has been described as ‘one of the most important manuscripts in America’. (Hofer, P., ‘The Tickhill Psalter and related manuscripts’ in Speculum Vol 15, No. 3 July 1940, pages 353-355, The University of Chicago Press.)
The image below is courtesy of New York Public Library/public domain and can be accessed at website: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tickhill_Psalter_f.26v.jpg
