The main scribe also copied most of DijBM 517 and portions of WashLC L25; the Sermisy piece and the falsobordoni pieces are later additions, in different hands. Repertorial connections with DijBM 517, WolfA 287, and WashLC L25. Copied at the court of the Dukes of Burgundy at Dijon (JepK), or possibly in France (DijBM 517). In the 16th century, the manuscript was owned by Guillaume Hue (d. 1522), and later by Jean du Moulin (d. 1563), canon and cantor at Sens Cathedral. Moulin gave the manuscript as a gift to Olivarius le Crec (d. 1582), abbot of a Cistercian monastery (later disbanded) at what is now Jouy le Châtel (Dept. Seine-et-Marne). The manuscript was still in France in 1736, but may have been in England later in the 18th century. It was eventually acquired by Count Otto Thott (1703-85), Danish minister of state and an ardent book collector. After Thott's death, his collection went to the Royal Library in Copenhagen.
DK-Kk MS Thott 291, 8° (Copenhagen Chansonnier)
Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen, Denmark
manuscript of polyphony: c. 1469-73
| Archive | Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen, Denmark (DK-Kk) |
|---|---|
| Shelfmark | MS Thott 291, 8° (Copenhagen Chansonnier) |
| Image Availability | DIAMM does not have images of this source. Please refer to the external links for image availability. |
| Surface | Parchment |
| Numbering System | Foliation |
| Measurements | 170 x 120 mm |
| Other Identifiers |
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| Notations |
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| Contents | Contains 39 compositions, 21 from 14 composers, 18 are anonymous. |
General Description
Physical Description
Originally seven fascicles, each of four bifolia; some folios are now missing.
Binding
Covers of velvet on wood.
Notation
black void mensural
Foliation
New foliation, 1-47.
Decoration
Fanciful decorated initials, identical to those in WolfA 287.
Surface
parchment
DIAMM Note
Inventory supplied by Jane Alden, 2011
Census Catalogue of Music Description
This information is reproduced here by kind permission of the publishers. It is COPYRIGHT and copying/reproduction of this content without permission may result in legal action.
34 French secular pieces (1 is a later addition), 1 set of falsobordoni pieces (a later addition) = 35
(Basiron)-1, (Busnois)-5, (Convert)-3, (Delahaye)-2, (Hayne van Ghizeghem)-1, (Michelet)-1, (Molinet)-1, (Morton)-2, (Ockeghem)-1, (Ockeghem/Busnois)-1, (Prioris)-1, (Sermisy)-1, (Symonet le Breton)-1, anon-14
49 parchment folios, 170 x 120. Originally seven fascicles, each of four bifolia; some folios are now missing. New foliation, 1-47. Covers of velvet on wood. No index. The main scribe also copied most of DijBM 517 and portions of WashLC L25; the Sermisy piece and the falsobordoni pieces are later additions, in different hands. Fanciful decorated initials, identical to those in WolfA 287. Repertorial connections with DijBM 517, WolfA 287, and WashLC L25.
Ca. 1470-80 (JepK). Copied at the court of the Dukes of Burgundy at Dijon (JepK), or possibly in France (see DijBM 517). In the 16th century, the manuscript was owned by Guillaume Hue (d. 1522), and later by Jean du Moulin (d. 1563), canon and cantor at Sens Cathedral. Moulin gave the manuscript as a gift to Olivarius le Crec (d. 1582), abbot of a Cistercian monastery (later disbanded) at what is now Jouy le Châtel (Dept. Seine-et-Marne). The manuscript was still in France in 1736, but may have been in England later in the 18th century. It was eventually acquired by Count Otto Thott (1703-85), Danish minister of state and an ardent book collector. After Thott's death, his collection went to the Royal Library in Copenhagen.
Vol. 4
Physical: 49 parchment folios, 170 x 120. Several original folios now missing. Modern foliation, 1-47, on upper right rectos (excludes first two folios). Original covers of purple velvet over boards. No index. Copied by one main scribe, who also wrote most of DijBM 517 (JepK); second scribe wrote ff. 40'-41; third scribe added psalm tone formulas on ff. 41'-45'. Illuminated initials in gold, red, blue, yellow, and green incorporate fanciful representations of human figures, grotesque faces, animals, etc.; similar initials also appear in WolfA 287.
Date/provenance: Ca. 1469-73, with additions in 16th century (GutiérrW). Copied in France, possibly in Loire Valley region (GutiérrW); copied in Burgundy, perhaps at Dijon (JepK, based on assumption of scribal concordance with DijBM 517, and latter's Burgundian provenance).
The inventory could not be loaded.
Sets
Loire Valley Chansonniers
Linked by Origin or Contents · 7 sources
‡ denotes primary source study
Alden, Jane. 2011. Songs, Scribes, and Society; The History and Reception of the Loire Valley Chansonniers. New York: OUP.
Gutiérrez-Denhoff, Martella. 1985. Der Wolfenbütteler Chansonnier Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek Codex Guelf. 287 Extrav.: Untersuchungen zu Repertoire und Überlieferung einer Musikhandschrift des 15. Jahrhunderts und ihres Umkreises. Wolfenbütteler Forschungen, vol. 29. Wiesbaden. Pages: 94-128,299,301ff, passim. Notes: physical description; contents list; concordances (partial); discussion.
Brown, Howard Mayer (editor). 1983. A Florentine Chansonnier from the Time of Lorenzo the Magnificent: Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale MS Banco Rari 229. Monuments of Renaissance Music, vol. VII. Chicago and London. Pages: 143,184-5, 282,298. Notes: contents list (partial); concordances (partial); texts (partial); mention of MS; discussion.
Brown, Howard Mayer. 1983. A 'New' Chansonnier of the Early Sixteenth Century in the University Library of Uppsala: A Preliminary Report. Musica Disciplina, 37: 171-233. Pages: 200-2. Notes: contents list (partial); concordances (partial).
Atlas, Allan W (editor). 1981. Robert Morton: The Collected Works. Masters and Monuments of the Renaissance, vol. 2. New York. Pages: xxiii-xxvi, 70-85. Notes: contents list (partial); concordances (partial); mention of MS; discussion.
Hortschansky, Klaus. 1981. Notationsgewohnheiten in den burgundischen Chansonniers des 15. Jahrhunderts. Formen und Probleme der Überlieferung mehrstimmiger Musik im Zeitalter Josquins Desprez, Wolfenbütteler Forschungen, vol. 6. 9-22. Munich. Notes: contents list (partial); concordances (partial); transcriptions (partial); mention of MS; discussion.
Perkins, Leeman L, and Howard Garey (editors). 1979. The Mellon Chansonnier. New Haven and London. Pages: II,7,154-6,182-3,239-40,280-1,321-2. Notes: physical description; contents list (partial); concordances (partial); mention of MS; discussion.
Gore, Glenn Leon. 1978. The Works of Philippe Basiron (Philippon?): Transcription and Commentary. West Virginia University, Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Pages: I,20-1,101-4; II,xv. Notes: contents list (partial); concordances (partial); transcriptions (partial); mention of MS; discussion.
Hudson, Barton (editor). 1977. Hayne van Ghizeghem: Opera Omnia. Corpus mensurabilis musicae, vol. 74. Neuhausen nr. Stuttgart: American Institute of Musicology. Pages: xvii-xviii,xxii,xxxvii-xxxviii. Notes: mention of MS; contents list (partial); concordances (partial).
Douglas, Conrad Edward Mary. 1969. The motets of Johannes Prioris with a prefatory bio-bibliographical study. University of Illinois, Ph.D. Dissertation. Pages: 46, passim. Notes: physical description; mention of MS; discussion.
Plamenac, Dragan. 1954. The 'Second' Chansonnier of the Biblioteca Riccardiana (Codex 2356). Annales Musicologiques, 2: 105-87. Pages: 139-61. Notes: concordances (partial).
Blume, Friedrich (editor). 1949-79. Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik. Kassel. Pages: IX, 1829-30. Notes: facsimile (partial).
Hewitt, Helen Margaret (editor). 1942. Harmonice Musices Odhecaton A. Studies and Documents, vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Mediaeval Academy of America. Pages: 108. Notes: concordances (partial).
Jeppesen, Knud (editor). 1927. New York, 1965 (reprint, with new remarks by the editor). Der Kopenhagener Chansonnier: Das Manuskript Thott 291s der Königlichen Bibliothek Kopenhagen. Copenhagen and Leipzig. Copenhagen and Leipzig. Notes: physical description; contents list; concordances; texts; facsimile (partial).
Droz, Eugénie, Geneviève Thibault, and Y Rokseth (editors). 1927. Trois Chansonniers Français du XV Siècle. Paris. Notes: concordances (partial); transcription (partial); facsimile (partial).
Thibault, Geneviève, and Eugénie Droz. 1927. Le Chansonnier de la Bibliothèque Royale de Copenhague. Revue de Musicologie, 11: 12-35. Notes: physical description; contents list; transcription (partial); facsimile (partial).
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Jasper Teunen
Thursday, 29 January, 2026
Added link to higher quality images that also include images of the binding
Census-Catalogue of Manuscript Sources of Polyphonic Music 1400-1550
Monday, 23 January, 2017
NB: Migrated from old site. Credit for notes may not be completely accurate. Census Catalogue of Music Description