Tidbits: A Treasured Book

He stared at the volume. “I recognize this.” He opened it and turned a few pages. “It’s a psalter. Like the one that belonged to my mother. Indeed, exactly like it. Hers was ruined in the storm years ago, but I remember her reading it when I was a boy.” He shut it again and with his index finger traced the carvings of its fine cover.

— Captain de Wynter in Of Gentlemen and Heroes

Merriam-Webster defines a psalter as “a collection of Psalms for liturgical or devotional use,”[1] and they were commonly found in personal libraries from the Middle Ages onward (at least by those who could afford them). In the novel, Captain de Wynter’s late mother—a devout Christian—owned a beautiful edition which I imagine over the years had been read often and wept over more than once.

My great-great-great-great-grandmother Amy Baldwin (b. 1801) also possessed a psalter, properly titled The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, And Applied to the Christian Use and Worship. Published in 1817 at the behest of the General Association of Connecticut, it was edited by Timothy Dwight of Yale College. It also includes a selection of hymns—few of which, if any, I know.

The tiny book about the size of my palm now lives on my shelf. I marvel to think of my very own ancestor sitting by the fireplace and reading from the same book I can hold in my hand today. Such objects connect us with the past in a simple, yet intimate, way—they are very special treasures!

[1] Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “Psalter,” accessed June 8, 2026, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Psalter.