Petronian notation

1-1v, 132-133v

Parchment

RISM B/IV 1: An early 14th century parchment manuscript (with additions of the 15th century) meas. 322 x 220 mm. and containing 133 folios. In addition, there are 4 blank unnumbered paper folios each end belonging to the 19th century binding. The codex is a Missal of the Augustinian Canons Regular, with special insertions for the church of St. Thomas the Martyr, Dublin. On f. 54v is the inscription Jacobus Cottrell abas [1526] sancti thome me possidet. The manuscript was bought by the British Museum in 1867 (or 1866), judging from the pencilled total of folios and the date at the end. The foliation is in modern pencil at t.r.r., while the binding is of plain chocolate brown leather over wooden boards. The spine bears the following title in gilt: Missale||Ad Usum||Abbatiae|| S. Thomae || Dublin. The large Gothic script of the ms corpus only allows room for some 18 lines per page. Except for the 15th century additions, the initials are in red or blue with blue-red filigree. The polyphony appears on 3 flyleaves of the first half of the 14th century, 1 at the front and 2 at the back. The Roman numerals VI and VIII appear in blue ink at t.m.r. on f. 132-133, while f. 1 has a red II in the same position. The ms was in fact arranged alphabetically, since the correct letter of the alphabet appears at the top of each folio at t.m.v. as follows: 132 (R), 133 (T), 1 (T). The music is from a motet manuscript written in Petronian notation on 13 red five-line staves per page (12 on f. lv). The signum rotundum occurs on f. 132. Initials are as in the Missal. Sharps sometimes have 4 dots inside.

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