A gradual copied for Aliénor of Dreux-Bretagne, 16th abbess of Fontevrault. Contains a fine collection of sequences, also 7 farced epistles and Sanctus and Agnus with Romance farcing. . The Credo in particular is in organal style with note-against-note movement in fourths, fifths and octaves: only at the Amen do these pieces become more melismatic. F. 1-3 are blank, except for a note on f. 1 telling how Pascal Hugonot, abbot of La Couture du Mans, gave the codex to the 'collégiale' of St. Junien on May 7th, 1387. There is no notation after f. 286, only empty staves till f. 292.

The first few folios have been torn out, hence the original MS begins actually at f. 5

green cloth over wooden boards is in bad condition ; the spine now has a covering of green velvet, and a loose cover of green leather fits over the old binding completely.The entire codex is housed in a wooden case lined with green velvet: this has gilded capitals on every line, much lesser decoration and some 40 very large letters representing scenes in the life of Christ, Mary and the saints as well as miracles and liturgical ceremonies. The colours used are carmine, blue, vermilion, white, brown and grey.

Square plainsong. The two-part pieces are written in undifferentiated longs, which sometimes become breves, but rarely and then only in appearance. The ligature which consists of three breves one above another joined by a vertical line at the right appears in no. 1

at least 11 red four-line staves per page.

235-41

There is no old foliation; a 19th century foliation appears at t.r.r

The dividing line of ornament between the two staves of the score is in blue, red and gold.

Parchment

RISM B/IV 1: A 14th century parchment Gradual meas. 262 x 183 mm. and containing 304 folios written for Aliénor of Dreux-Bretagne, 16th abbess of Fontevrault. The first few folios have been torn out, hence the original ms begins actually at f. 5, although all the first folios are old : f. 1-3 are blank, except for a note on f. 1 telling how Pascal Hugonot, abbot of La Couture du Mans, gave the codex to the "collégiale" of St. Junien on May 7th, 1387. There is no old foliation and no modern flyleaves have been added; a 19th century foliation appears at t.r.r. The binding of green cloth over wooden boards is in bad condition ; the spine now has a covering of green velvet, and a loose cover of green leather fits over the old binding completely. Finally the codex is housed in a wooden case lined with green velvet. This very ornate volume has gilded capitals on every line, much lesser decoration and some 40 very large letters representing scenes in the life of Christ, Mary and the saints as well as miracles and liturgical ceremonies. The colours used are carmine, blue, vermilion, white, brown and grey. The square plainsong notation employs at least 11 red four-line staves per page. There is no notation after f. 286, only empty staves till f. 292. The codex contains a fine collection of sequences, also 7 farced epistles and Sanctus and Agnus with Romance farcing. The two-part pieces are written in undifferentiated longs, which sometimes become breves, but rarely and then only in appearance. The ligature which consists of three breves one above another joined by a vertical line at the right appears in no. 1. The Credo in particular is in organal style with note-against-note movement in fourths, fifths and octaves: only at the Amen do these pieces become more melismatic. The dividing line of ornament between the two staves of the score is in blue, red and gold.

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