Three distinct manuscripts, bound together. These contain (a) 'Jacob and Joseph', a sacred poem in English (f. 1-10v), (b) a French version of the 'Elucidarius' of Honorius Augustodunensis (f. 11-46) and a letter from Prester John to Frederick Barbarossa in French (f. 46v-51v), and (c) 'Le Chasteau d'Amour' (f. 52-64). The 2 musical flyleaves are f. i-ii and 69-70, namely 2 single leaves from the same manuscript, both folded vertically so that f. i and f. 70 are little more than stubs. The music is more or less complete laterally, and, since f. i-ii have music upside down on the reverse side, these pages may be from a rotulus. On f. 69-70, however, the music is upside down on both sides. Except for the Benedicamus domino, the music consists of motet fragments. The MS was presented by Sir Richard Worseley in 1607.

plain brown leather over wooden boards: later than the 17th century

Petronian notation

RISM dates the flyleaves c. 1400, judging from the use of the mensuration sign 0, though the notation is Petronian and there are no minims. But, as Margaret Bent pointed out in 1996 ('The early use of the sign Ø'. Early Music, 24/2: 199-225), the cut-circle sign has no mensural significance. All other palaeographical and musical aspects indicate the early 14th century. So the flyleaves should be dated to the early 14th century. (James R. Tomlinson)

red five-line staves mainly, though f. i verso-ii has 3 brown five-line staves at the bottom of the page. There are now 9 staves on each side of the page, 8 and 7 on f. 69 and 70.

brown ink foliation by G. Langbaine at t.r.r., which runs from f. 1-65; 17th century. Fol. i-vii and 66-70 are foliated in modern pencil at t.r.r.

front and back board offsets, i-ii verso, 69-70

Initials are coloured blue with red filigree for these musical leaves and section A of the corpus, and gold + blue and red in sections B and C, though the latter has mainly small capitals in red or blue.

parchment

f. 69 shows later music overwritten in very pale ink, probably 16th-century

RISM B/IV 1: A parchment manuscript of the second half of the 13th century meas. 188 x 120 mm. and containing vii + 70 folios. According to the Bodleian Summary Catalogue, this source consists of three distinct manuscripts which have been bound together. These contain (a) "Jacob and Joseph", a sacred poem in English (f. 1-10v), (b) a French version of the "Elucidarius" of Honorius Augustodunensis (f. 11-46) and a letter from Prester John to Frederick Barbarossa in French (f. 46v-51v), and (c) "Le Chasteau d'Amour" (f. 52-64). The ms was presented by Sir Richard Worseley in 1607, and the brown ink foliation by G. Langbaine at t.r.r., which runs from f. 1-65, dates from the 17th century. The plain brown leather binding over wooden boards seems to be somewhat later. Fol. i-vii and 66-70 are foliated in modern pencil at t.r.r. The 2 musical flyleaves are f. i-ii and 69-70, namely 2 single leaves from the same manuscript, both folded vertically so that f. i and f. 70 are little more than stubs. The music is more or less complete laterally, and, since f. i-ii have music upside down on the reverse side, these pages may be from a rotulus. On f. 69-70, however, the music is upside down on both sides. The date of these flyleaves is c. 1400, to judge from the use of the mensuration sign 0, though the notation is Petronian and there are no minims. The music is written on red five-line staves mainly, though f. i verso-ii has 3 brown five-line staves at the bottom of the page. There are now 9 staves on each side of the page, 8 and 7 on f. 69 and 70. The present measurements are 190 x 170 and 188 x 186 mm. respectively. Initials are coloured blue with red filigree for these musical leaves and section A of the corpus, and gold + blue and red in sections B and C, though the latter has mainly small capitals in red or blue. Except for the Benedicamus domino, the music consists of motet fragments.

This information is reproduced here by kind permission of the publishers. It is COPYRIGHT and copying/reproduction of any of this content without permission may result in legal action.