Graduals (Chants)
Music--Manuscripts
Illumination of books and manuscripts--Specimens
Manuscripts, Latin--Specimens
Manuscripts, Latin--New York (State)--Buffalo
Paper; f. 1 but torn in half (?); 4 lines of text printed in Roman font, and 4 staves of 4 lines each, with square notation. Major initials (P and F) printed in red, as are the rubrics. In the lower margin of the verso, "Pars Aestiva" (so the text is not from the feast of the Epiphany?) and "eee." In upper left corner of the recto, the usual label, "No. 2 <?>, Elson Collection." In the lower margin of the same page, "BECPL."
European printed text and music, 19th century, although the actual location and date of the printing are not known. The very uncertain identity of this fragment may explain its presence in this collection that belonged to Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920) who was a professor of music theory and history at the New England Conservatory of Music from age 34 onwards; he had begun studying music with his mother, then went on to study in Leipzig; he composed songs, operetta and works for the piano, but mainly he studied and wrote on the history of music; he published in a number of Boston newspapers, and was the editor-in-chief of Modern Music and Musicians (1912; 20 vols.) and of the University Musical Encyclopedia (1912-14; 10 vols.), among the ca. 50 items that he published over the course of his life. The collection of medieval fragments of music that had belonged to Louis Charles Elson was acquired in 1924 by the Grosvenor Library in Buffalo NY; this library, together with the Erie County Library and the Buffalo Public Library merged in 1953 to form today's Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. This leaf (presumably because it is not dated to medieval or Renaissance times) was not described by De Ricci. Elson no. 28.
The chant for communion on the recto (Ponam visitationem) is identified on the Cantus Database and on the Musica Hispanica database as being from the Hispanic rite, for Epiphany, with the Cantus ID: h03550b ; this piece of text is from London, British Library, Add. 30844, f. 127 (Spain, second half of the 10th century, or 11th century). However, none of the other texts on this fragment are listed in either database, nor did movement forward or backward in the manuscript identify any other pieces of text or chant, nor did an online examination of the description of this British Library manuscript. No results found in Liber usualis, ed. by the Benedictines of Solesmes (Tournai: Society of St. John the Evangelist, Descľe, 1952); none in W. H. Iacobus Weale, Analecta liturgica, pars 1, Clavicula missalis romani (Insulis et Brugis: Typis Societatis s. Augustini, 1889); nor in the mass in time of war (introit, Reminiscere miserationum) in a printed Missale Romanum ex decreto sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum (Regensburg, 1861).
Bibliography: De Ricci, p. 1209, n. 2 (although this fragment is not mentioned)
Formerly classified as RBR MSS. C33F7 900Z, item 4
Catholic Church
Elson, Louis Charles, 1848-1920
Rare Book Room of B&ECPL (repository)
Digital image copyright 2023 by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
lat
[Divine office, or, liturgy of the hours/Opus dei]
Liturgies
Music-Manuscripts
Illuminations of books and manuscripts--Specimens
Paper; f. 1, although cut ca. in half (?); the fragments now hold 5 lines of text, in a script imitative of Roman font, and the same number of 5-line staves for music in square notation. Rubrics in red.
Produced in the northern part of Europe possibly during the 17th century. In the upper left corner of the verso, the standard label, "No. 3<?>, Elson Collection." Belonged to Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920) who was a professor of music theory and history at the New England Conservatory of Music from age 34 onwards; he had begun studying music with his mother, then went on to study in Leipzig; he composed songs, operetta and works for the piano, but mainly he studied and wrote on the history of music; he published in a number of Boston newspapers, and was the editor-in-chief of Modern Music and Musicians (1912; 20 vols.) and of the University Musical Encyclopedia (1912-14; 10 vols.), among the ca. 50 items that he published over the course of his life. The collection of medieval fragments of music that had belonged to Louis Charles Elson was acquired in 1924 by the Grosvenor Library in Buffalo NY; this library, together with the Erie County Library and the Buffalo Public Library merged in 1953 to form today's Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. This leaf (presumably because it is not dated to medieval or Renaissance times) was not described by De Ricci. Elson no. 26.
R: From the Divine Office, parts of the service for Good Friday, in the 3rd Nocturn; see, for example, the Liber usualis with Introduction and Rubrics in English, ed. by the Benedictines of Solesmes (Tournai, 1950) pp. 682-684. -- V: From the Divine Office, parts of the service for Good Friday, at Lauds; see, for example, the Liber usualis with Introduction and Rubrics in English, ed. by the Benedictines of Solesmes (Tournai, 1950) pp. 689-690.
Formerly classified as RBR MSS. C33F7 900Z, item 3
Manuscripts, Latin -- New York (State) -- Buffalo.
Parchment; f. 1, cut down so that barely two lines of text and musical staves survive on each side. The text is produced by stencil, with the originally open spaces of lines around enclosed spaces filled in by hand (for example, to fully enclose the o; to close the upper partial circle of the e; to finish off the enclosing of the bottoms of the rounded spaces in the letters b and d; etc.). Square musical notation on red 4-line staves.
Produced in France during the 18th century. On the recto, in the lower right corner, an octangle label, edged in printed blue design, bearing the pen-written note: 1051. Belonged to Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920) who was a professor of music theory and history at the New England Conservatory of Music from age 34 onwards; he had begun studying music with his mother, then went on to study in Leipzig; he composed songs, operetta and works for the piano, but mainly he studied and wrote on the history of music; he published in a number of Boston newspapers, and was the editor-in-chief of Modern Music and Musicians (1912; 20 vols.) and of the University Musical Encyclopedia (1912-14; 10 vols.), among the ca. 50 items that he published over the course of his life. The collection of medieval fragments of music that had belonged to Louis Charles Elson was acquired in 1924 by the Grosvenor Library in Buffalo NY; this library, together with the Erie County Library and the Buffalo Public Library merged in 1953 to form today's Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. Elson no. 24; This leaf (presumably because it is not dated to medieval or Renaissance times) was not described by De Ricci.
For the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul (29 June), the sequence that begins, "Quos unus in vita labor," as printed in, for example, the Missale cenomanense (Lyon: ex typographia Caroli Monnoyer, 1835) p. 527. The piece of text missing between the end of the scrap of the recto and the beginning of the scrap of the verso is: una quondam martyres/ In morte iunxit gloria,/ Vos una nunc colit dies./ Supernus inter vos Pater/Partitur. -- //uos unus in vita labor,/ Quos// <text cut away> //orbem: tu doc<es>/<o Petre,> Judaeos; fide/ T//<u, Paule, gentes imbuis>
Previously classified as RBR MSS. C33F7 900Z, item 2.
Antiphonaries
Parchment; f. 1, cut down at both top and bottom; now with 16 long lines in an early gothic script (double pp is fused; round s at the ends of words, but round r occurs only once) with staffless Germanic neumes inscribed between the lines of text. 6-line letter H to open the responsory on the recto: particolored yellow and parchment, with zigzag line in red to separate the areas; infilling of non-painted leaves, outlined in red, against a light blue ground. 1-line initials within the text touched in red. Rubrics in red.
Written in Germany, or perhaps in the Netherlands, during the 13th century. It survived to modern times as the cover of a small book, with clearly visible wear and dirt along what was the spine (with the recto of the leaf facing outwards). Belonged to Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920) who was a professor of music theory and history at the New England Conservatory of Music from age 34 onwards; he had begun studying music with his mother, then went on to study in Leipzig; he composed songs, operetta and works for the piano, but mainly he studied and wrote on the history of music; he published in a number of Boston newspapers, and was the editor-in-chief of Modern Music and Musicians (1912; 20 vols.) and of the University Musical Encyclopedia (1912-14; 10 vols.), among the ca. 50 items that he published over the course of his life. The collection of medieval fragments of music that had belonged to Louis Charles Elson was acquired in 1924 by the Grosvenor Library in Buffalo NY; this library, together with the Erie County Library and the Buffalo Public Library merged in 1953 to form today's Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. This leaf, as described by De Ricci, was no. 2 in the Elson collection.
J. V. Mierlo, Jr., S. J., "Een utrechtsch Antiphonarium: Bijdrage tot de Geschiedenis van het liturgisch Drama in de Nederlanden," in Leuvensche Bijdragen vol. 8 (1908-1909) pp. 1- 75, here p. 15 (recto) and pp. 16-17 (verso) for the office at Christmas.
Previously classified as RBR MSS. C33F7 900Z, item 1
Bibliography: De Ricci, p. 1209, n. 2, item 1.
Manuscripts, Medieval--Specimens
Manuscripts, Medieval--New York (State)--Buffalo
Office book or breviary, containing the office at matins for the feast of Sts. Philip and James (3 May). Parchment; f. 1; 15 long lines ruled in drypoint. Copied in a caroline minuscule script in two sizes; the larger script is used for lessons, and the smaller size is used for chant texts (responsories with their versicles). Somewhat later, staffless Germanic neumes (some in red ink that is now faded, but most in brown) were added in the interlinear space under the chant texts.Thanks to Prof. Susan Boynton (Columbia University, Dept. of Music) for her description of the musical notation.
Written in Germany, during the 10th century; it survived to modern times as the pastedown in a bound volume: the dark areas on the recto of the leaf (shaped as a backwards letter c) show where the glued was adhered. Belonged to Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920) who was a professor of music theory and history at the New England Conservatory of Music from age 34 onwards; he had begun studying music with his mother, then went on to study in Leipzig; he composed songs, operetta and works for the piano, but mainly he studied and wrote on the history of music; he published in a number of Boston newspapers, and was the editor-in-chief of Modern Music and Musicians (1912; 20 vols.) and of the University Musical Encyclopedia (1912-14; 10 vols.), among the ca. 50 items that he published over the course of his life. The collection of medieval fragments of music that had belonged to Louis Charles Elson was acquired in 1924 by the Grovesnor Library in Buffalo NY; this library, together with the Erie County Library and the Buffalo Public Library merged in 1953 to form today's Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. This leaf was n. 1 in the Elson collection.
Formerly classified as RBR MSS. C33L4 900Z
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Elson, Louis Charles, 1848-1920 Rare Book Room of B&ECPL (Repository)
Manuscript on vellum, written in Italy, in the Dominican use, containing musical notation.
Liturgy and ritual
Psalter
Selected pages digitized due to condition of item.
Digital image copyright 2024 by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Original leaves from famous Bibles, nine centuries 1121-1935 A.D. ... Collected and annotated by Otto F. Ege ...
Bibles
Ege, Otto F.
Manuscript leaves from a 15th century Psalter
Catholic Church--Liturgy--Texts--Manuscripts
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)
Psalters
Described by Seymour De Ricci, Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts (1937), v. 2, p. (1208), Buffalo Public Library, no. 2.
Rare Book Room copy: Each leaf mounted; illuminated, with miniatures in color and gold leaf; missing pages 27-28.
Antiphonal and prayer book. Written in Germany for a chapel under the patronage of St. Cassius, St. Florentius, and St. Mallusius.
Prayer Books
Manuscript, on paper; initials and captions in red.
Identification from Ricci, Seymour de. Census of medieval and renaissance manuscripts in the U.S. and Canada.
Bound in elaborately gold-tooled Morocco over wooden boards: very large centerpiece formed of 4 large quasi-circles, touching each other at their center back point; the quasi-circles enclose flowers, leaves and scrolls; at the bottom of each quasi-circle, another set of stamps that include a crown over an elaborately formed letter M (for Maria?); in each of the 4 corners of the cover, complex scrollwork of 4 swirling branches, each terminating in a profile of a flower; all parts of the gold-tooled design with single-stem offshoots pointing away from the design itself and into the otherwise blank areas; scattered gold dots; edges gilt; pastedowns of the so-designated 'Dutch gilt paper' (made in Germany during the 18th century); two fore edge clasps closing from the back to the front cover.
1) f. 1r-v. Asperges me Domine hysopo et mundabor . . . (antiphon at mass in all seasons except Easter), followed by vers., resp, and prayer, Praesta quaesumus omnipotens Deus per huius aspersionem aquae sanitatem mentis, integritatem corporis 2) ff. 2-3, Three benedictions: Benedictio in ambitu ad portam, Domine Iesu Christe qui introitum Portarum Ierusalem salvans sanctificasti dum spendore gemmarum duodecim totidem Apostolorum nomina persignasti ? [including saints Cassius, Florentius, Mallusius and companions]; Benedictio super scriptorium, Benedicere digneris Domine hoc famulorum Scriptorium et omnes habitantes in eo, ut quidquid hic divinarum Scripturarum ab eis Lectum vel scriptum fuit, sense capiant, ore perficiant per Christum Dominum nostrum; Benedictio ad cellam, Omnipotens et misericors Deus qui ubique praesens es, majestatem tuam suppliciter exoramus ut huius promptuario gratia tua adesse dignetur atque cunta ab eo adversa repellat et abudantiam benedicitionis tuae largiter infundat per Christum Dominum nostrum, Amen. 3) ff. 3-4v; f. 5, torn out Dominicis diebus quando servatur nocturn<um?> ad processionem sequens Antiphona, Sanctifica nos Domine signaculo sanctae crucis ut fiat nobis obstaculum contra saeva jacula inimicorum, defende nos Domine per lignum sanctum 5) ff. 7-37v, Antiphons and responses for the liturgical year from Advent through Palm Sunday; note in particular those designated on ff. 28v-30, "Apud portam coloniensem," on f. 30r-v, "In porta stellae," and on ff. 31-32, "In curia dominorum."
6) ff. 38-39v, In Coena Domini absolutis vesperis dans benedictionem cum calice incipit Antiphona sequentem [sic], Hoc Corpus, Hoc corpus quod pro vobis tradetur, hic calix novi testament est in meo sanguine, dicit Dominus, hoc facite quotiescunque sumitis in meam commemorationem. Antiphona finita, portatur venerabile sacramentum ad cryptam cantando Pange Lingua fol. [space left blank] submissa voce et redeundo ex crypta itur ad lavandum altaria cantando per ordinem sequentes Antiphonas cum versu et collecta; functionem autem Presbiter iunior habet; incipitur autem ab Altari summo De Sanctis Patronis nostris Cassio, Florentio Antiphona sequens: Milites Christi hanc Domino dicaverunt concordiam. . . , vers., resp. and prayer, Propitiare quaesumus Domine nobis famulis tuis per Sanctorum Martyrum Cassii, Florentii, Mallusii Sociorumque eorum . . .services for Ash Wednesday, including washing of the altar, citing the high altar as that of 'our patrons' Cassius and Florentius, and with a prayer invoking Cassius, Florentius, Mallusius and their companions. 7) ff. 39v-53v, Prayers to twenty-six saints in what seems an ad hoc order, but which presumably reflects the order of the altars or reliquaries that belonged to this church: Holy Cross; Servatius; John of Nepomuk; Joseph; 'De Domina nostra in crypta'; Nicholas; Lambert of Maastricht; Helen of Constantinople; James the Greater; John the Evangelist; Andrew apostle; Cyriacus and companions; Agatha; "Domina in pasculo"; Urban pope; the Three Kings; Michael archangel; Peter apostle; 11,000 Virgins; Catherine of Alexandria; the Holy Trinity; Mary Magdalene; Stephen protomartyr; Barbara; Clement pope; All Saints. 8) ff. 54-72v, Services for the Triduum at Easter from Good Friday through Easter Sunday. 9) ff. 73-81v, Antiphons to sing at the altar to saints, with feasts from December through February: Barbara (4 December), Nicholas of Bari (5 or 6 Dec.), Stephen protomartyr (26 Dec.), John the Evangelist (27 Dec.), Holy Name of Jesus (1 or 15 Jan.), Sebastian (20 Jan.), Agnes (21 and 28 Jan.), Agatha (5 Feb.), Paul apostle (10 February), with this last possibly ending incomplete: . . . Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto Inter<cede pro nobis ad Deum qui te elegit ut digni efficiamur gratia Dei> (although the full text is cited on the preceding recto). 10) ff. 82; f. 82v blank, Ownership notes for Engelthal and for Andreas Velten. 11) ff. 83-85; f. 85v blank Index huius Libelli, A, Alma Redemptoris, 42; Ambulans Iesus, 46; Ante sex dies, 29 . . . Videte miraculum, 13, [crossed out and without page number: Vir iste in populo], Vox Tonitrui, 76. Alphabetical index of the 70 hymns in this book, with notes in the appropriate place that there are no hymns beginning with the letters F, K and R; the saints mentioned by name in the index are Barbara (f. 52), Joseph (f. 22), Michael archangel (f. 49), Paul (f. 81). Stephen (f.75)
Paper (no watermark found); ff. iii + 85 + ii; 115 x 113 mm in an almost square shape; on the leaves with text alone: 17 long lines with a 'catchword' to the next page at the bottom of every page; when music is present, 6 lines of text and music per page with the music on 4-line staves. Written in a script imitative of Roman font, e.g. "ae" diphthong present; straight letter d; tall s at the beginning of and internal to words (but with a round s at the end or words); very few abbreviations. Music in Hufnagelschrift on 4-line staves. Rubrics and initials (the height of one line of text and its accompanying music) in red. Written in Germany, almost certainly in Bonn at Engelthal, for if not at the house of the Augustinian nuns who were there from at least 1324 (existing documentation); in 1460, they joined the Windesheim Reformation; the house was secularized in 1802. This ownership information derives directly from the modern note in pencil on f. 82: "Aus dem Kloster Engelthal im Bonn." The book was copied in or after 1729, since it includes on f. 40v a prayer to St. John Nepomucene (c. 1345 - 20 March 1393), who was canonized on 19 March 1729. The saints who are repeatedly cited in this book are the three members of the Theban Legion: Cassius and Florentius , who were martyred at Bonn on the Rhine; they were declared Principal Patrons of Bonn in 1643; the third and other members of this group are Mallusius and their Companions; the feast of these saints is on 10 October, with translation of their relics on 2 May (it occurred in 1166). Designations of the persons performing the various services are for men, not women: f. 32, "Decanus et duo seniores"; f. 33, "Duo Vicarii Refectoriales"; f. 38, "presbyter iunior"; f. 54, "Diaconi"; f. 63, "duo Chorales" (this last direction could technically have been for women). Another note in pencil, also in German and quite possibly by the same person who identified the book as coming from Engelthal, at the bottom of the same leaf, f. 82: "Hern Andr. Velten geschenkt." Andreas Velten (1794-1870) was a carpenter and music collector in Bonn; see Kalliope-Verbund under Velten's name for a list of some 100 pieces relating to music; see also his book, authored by "a citizen of Bonn," (standing for Andreas Velten), Beitr̃ge zur Geschichte der s̃mmtlichen fr eren und jetzigen Kirchen und Kl̲ster der Stadt Bonn und ñchsten Umgebung (Bonn: Carthaus, 1861) pp. 100-103 for a history of the convent of Engelthal (this manuscript not mentioned). *
On f. i recto (facing the front pastedown): bookplate of the Grosvenor Library; the handwritten modern call number, "B. C. 2. 1. 17"; and the oval book number inscribed "No. 34, Elson collection." Belonged to Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920) who was a professor of music theory and history at the New England Conservatory of Music from age 34 onwards; he had begun studying music with his mother, then went on to study in Leipzig; he composed songs, operetta and works for the piano, but mainly he studied and wrote on the history of music; he published in a number of Boston newspapers, and was the editor-in-chief of Modern Music and Musicians (1912; 20 vols.) and of the University Musical Encyclopedia (1912-14; 10 vols.). The collection of medieval fragments of music that had belonged to Louis Charles Elson was acquired in 1924 by the Grovesnor Library in Buffalo NY; this library, together with the Erie County Library and the Buffalo Public Library merged in 1953 to form today's Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. This leaf was n. 34 in the Elson collection. Present call number: RBR MUSIC 1600.C3.
* We are grateful to Dr. Christine Glassner of the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften who read the inscription at the bottom of the page and who then identified Andreas Velten as well as the book that he authored and the musical texts that he wrote and owned.
Manuscripts, French--Specimens
Manuscripts, Dutch--Specimens
Breviary
Book of hours
Contents: France. Breviary leaf on vellum (ca. 1250) -- Rouen, France. Service leaf (ca. 1480) -- Book of hours (ca. 1500).
Title and date for each leaf from penciled notation on folder.
Each leaf mounted in mat board folder; in portfolio.
Leaves 1 and 2 in Latin, in double columns; leaf 3 perhaps in Dutch.
[Book of hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
1) Parchment; 1. ff. 38-44v, The Gospel pericopes (beginning with the standard text from John 1:1-14), missing the opening leaf, followed by the usual prayers (Protector in te sperantium; Ecclesiam tuam quesumus domine benignus illustra), and then the usual extracts from Luke (1:26-38), Matthew (2:1-12) and Mark (16: 14-20). Misbound in the present position; the pericopes usually occur after the calendar and before the prayers, Obsecro te and O Intemerata (or before the beginning of the Hours of the Virgin).
2) ff. 42-43v, f. 37r-v, ff. 1-5; f. 5v blank//et leticie, fons consolationis et indulgencie Per illam sanctam ineffabiliter leticiam qua exultavit spiritus tuus in illa hora quando tibi per gabrielem archangelum annunciatus et conceptus filius dei fuit . . . [f. 43v] et michi famulo tuo impetres a dilecto filio tuo complementum omni misericordia et consolation, omni consilio, omni auxilio et [f. 37r-v:] adiutorio, omni benedictione et sanctificatione, omni salvatione, pace, prosperitate, omni gaudio et alacritate. Eciam habundanciam . . . tenere me faciat et a septem peccatis crimina- [ff. 1-5] -libus me liberet et deffendat usque in finem vite mee. Et in novissimis diebus meis ostende michi faciem tuam . . . . et exaudi me dulcissima virgo maria mater dei et misericordia. Amen. Oratio beate marie virginis, O Intemerata et in eternum benedicta . . . [f. 2v] et esto michi miserrimo peccatori propicia in omnibus auxiliatrix . . .
3) ff. 6-29, 47-52v -- //psalmis iubilemus ei. Ave maria gratia plena dominus tecum. Quoniam deus magnus dominus et rex magnus super omnes deos . . . Hours of the Virgin (at matins), opening defectively, probably use of Rouen; the office of prime occupies ff 47-52v, and the antiphon and capitulum at prime are: Ant., Maria virgo assumpta est ad ethereum thalamum; Cap., Per te dei genitrix est nobis vita perdita; the service at nones is no longer in the book, as only parts of matins, lauds and prime remain, with all miniatures cut out. Following the remaining part of lauds are, on ff. 25-27v, suffrages of the Holy Spirit, John the Baptist, Nicholas, Martin of Tours, Anthony of Padua, Maurus, and Lupus (here spelled "Luppus," in whose suffrage the text breaks); on ff. 28-29 (f. 29v, blank) is the end of a suffrage of Catherine of Alexandria, here remaining are 27 verses in French in 6-line stanzas ([aa]baab ccdccd eefeef gghggh etc.) plus an irregular final stanza.
4) ff. 30-35vShort hours of the Cross, opening miniature cut out, but containing the rest of the text, through compline -- 5) f. 35v, f. 36r-v, ff. 43-46v, Short hours of the Holy Spirit, opening miniature cut out after f. 35r-v (rubric is on f. 35v, Les heures du saint esperit). -- 6) f. 46v, Rubric in French at the bottom of the page to signal the beginning of the Office of the Dead, which would have followed the Short hours of the Holy Spirit, but which is no longer in this book: Les vespres des mors.Parchment; ff. 52, much misbound and with all illumination removed, as well as easily half of the text leaves, including all of the calendar, the second half of the Hours of the Virgin, the Penitential Psalms, and the Office of the Dead. 175 x 125 mm. Written in a formal gothic book hand in 2 sizes (the smaller is for versicles and responses), on 15 pale red lines to the page. No catchwords or signatures remain.
Illuminated initials and floriated borders.
Written in France, probably in Rouen, given the liturgical use of the Hours of the Virgin (at Prime; Nones no longer remains in the manuscript), during the middle of the 15th century. Probably during the 18th to 19th century, the book belonged to the family residing in Milton Hall, near Peterborough, given the book label on the front pastedown (but this attribution is made with some caution, since the shell of the binding might have belonged to another book).
Now surviving only on f. 1, a 4-line white-decorated blue initial with both colors on acanthus leaves in the initial, set on a square gold ground with a bar border on the left extending the length of the text space formed of a gold strip and a colored strip (divided, in part blue and in part pink), and with a C-shaped border of flowers (blue 4- and 5-leaf flowers, strawberries and round red berries) and acanthus leaves in blue and gold around the text on three sides. 2-line initials in white-decorated color (alternating blue or pink) with both colors in the acanthus leaves within the initial, set on a squared gold ground, with a spray of mainly gold trilobe leaves with one colored flower at the top and one at the bottom of the spray, and extending into the margin. 1-line gold initials on blue and pink white-decorated grounds; line fillers in the same colors. Initials of the verses in French for St. Catherine, f. 28r-v, touched in yellow. Rubrics in red. Offset of blue paint from decoration on what was the facing page with a full border, now visible on ff. 5v (before the Hours of the Virgin), 15v (before lauds), 30 (before the Short Hours of the Cross), 35v (before the Short Hours of the Holy Spirit), 42 (before the Obsecro te), 47v (before the now-missing Office of the Dead), 52v (before the now-missing terce of the Hours of the Virgin). On f. 22, lower margin, note, s. XVII (?), "En faint mon fils s<?> ne voullez po<?> maine." Foliated, September 2023.Bound, possibly in former days, in limp vellum over boards, to the extent that there is with today's completely unbound book an outer shell of a limp vellum binding, but it is uncertain if this was ever attached to the present book, in that, sitting on the book's "front" and ''back" areas, there is a dark vellum "leaf" that might have been part of this book's binding. The stitching of the book's gatherings is solid, holding the book in its present jumbled state, and placing the book's one leaf with its highest present level of decoration in first position (the opening of the O Intemerata prayer, with a 4-line initial and C-shaped page decoration).
Original leaf from an illuminated manuscript on vellum [manuscript] [ca. 1480]
Breviaries--Italy--Specimens
Title from front cover and from presentation letter.
One vellum leaf (24 x 16.5 cm.) in a presentation case, accompanied by an undated presentation letter from Fred Alpers of the General Bookbinding Company.
Leaf taken from an Italian breviary, ca. 1480.
Initials and headings decorated in red and blue. No illuminations.
Parchment; f. 1; 9 lines of text and music; the text written in a formal gothic book hand in a space delineated with dry point (?) ruling at the top and at the bottom of the height of the minims; the music in square notation on 4-line red staves, with a custos at the end of each set of staves. On the verso, a historiated gray initial on a blue ground of the height of 2 lines of text with their staves of music, depicting Mary wrapped in her blue cloak, lying as if dead on her bed, with the apostles surrounding her, while in a cloudburst at the top of the initial, Christ, holding Mary as a small child, looks down upon her in her bed. On this verso, a color and gold bar, with gold balls, runs the length of the text; at the top it breaks in half and swirls off in both directions; at the height of the initial, it includes a grotesque with helmet, sword and shield; below the initial, it includes a grotesque with a human head on a bird?s body; in the lower margin, it includes a grotesque whose human upper part turns backward with ax overhead ready to fight his body?s tail which terminates in a dog?s head. A small squarish piece of parchment is now cut away, at what would have been the lowermost bit of decoration, with what were gold balls at its terminating points (the gold now completely worn away). Other decorated initials, the height of one line of text and ca. 3 lines of musical staves, in either red with blue penwork flourishing, or in blue with red flourishing; smaller initials in 1-line height following the same patterns of colors. In red: the rubrics and the superscript folio numbers for the parts of the mass cited (with red roman numerals from 205 through 231). Foliated in red roman numerals in the center upper margin of the verso: clxxxiiii (= 184); adjacent to his original folio number is a modern number in pencil, ?198.?
Written in France during the 15th century; the use of the word ?officium? to designate the introit suggests that the book from which this leaf was taken had been copied for a church of Carthusian, Dominican or Carmelite rite. Belonged to Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920) who was a professor of music theory and history at the New England Conservatory of Music from age 34 onwards; he had begun studying music with his mother, then went on to study in Leipzig; he composed songs, operetta and works for the piano, but mainly he studied and wrote on the history of music; he published in a number of Boston newspapers, and was the editor-in-chief of Modern Music and Musicians (1912; 20 vols.) and of the University Musical Encyclopedia (1912-14; 10 vols.), among the ca. 50 items that he published over the course of his life. The collection of medieval fragments of music that had belonged to Louis Charles Elson was acquired in 1924 by the Grosvenor Library in Buffalo NY; this library, together with the Erie County Library and the Buffalo Public Library merged in 1953 to form today?s Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. This leaf was n. 9 in the Elson collection. Present call number: RBR PRINT 235. Two leaves from the BECPL (one, a leaf taken from the psalter belonging to the Buffalo Public Library in 1936; and the second, the present leaf from a gradual from the Grosvenor Library MS 9, now RBR PRINT 235) were lent to Colgate University for an exhibition planned and run by Prof. Judith Oliver; the leaves were returned to the BECPL on 5 June 1987.
Both leaves in black ink with illuminated capitals ; 1st leaf is a page with musical notation and lyrics ; 2nd leaf is apparently from a breviary. Both leaves were part of an exhibition at the Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, in 1987.
Gradual with chants from the end of the feast of St. Lawrence (10 August), the rubrics for the feast of St. Hippolytus and companions (13 August), and the vigil and then the beginning of the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (14 and then 15 August).
References: De Ricci. Census, p. 1210, no. 9
Fifty original leaves from medieval manuscripts.
llumination of books and manuscripts--Specimens
Manuscripts--Specimens
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)--Specimens
Manuscripts, Latin--New York (State)--Buffalo.
"These fifty manuscript leaves were selected to illustrate the art of the manuscript during the period of its greatest development and influence. They have been taken from books written in various European scriptoria by Benedictine, Franciscan, Carthusian, Dominican, and other orders of monks. Many are enriched with handsome borders, initial letters, and line-endings rendered in color, and twenty-give are illuminated with burnished gold or silver. The texts include the Bible, various church service books, the writings of the Church Fathers, and some of the classics. Changes in book hands from the revived carolingian to the angular and round gothic, the batarde, and humanistic style of writing are illustrated. Tools, materials, and their use and preparation are described, and some methods of dating and allocating the provenance of the book from which the leaf was taken are pointed out on the label attached to each of the leaves. The leaves were accumulated and selected and all of the accompanying information was prepared by the late Otto F. Ege, Dean of the Cleveland Institute of Art and Lecturer on History of the Book at the School of Library Science, Western Reserve University."--from title page caption. Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Rare Book Room owns copy no. 11 of 40 numbered sets; gift of Mr. & Mrs. Franz T. Stone, 1964. Please note, when viewing the two-page spread: front of leaf displayed on left side, verso displayed on right side.
Ege, Otto F., compiler.
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (Publisher of digital)
Rare Book Room of the B&ECPL (repository)
Digital image copyright 2018 by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
eng
Miniature of the Annunciation; decorative border.
Parchment; f. 1; 9 lines of text and music, the text written in a formal and very spiky Germanic gothic book hand, and the music in square notation on 4-line staves, with a custos at the end of each line of staves; the vertical rules on either side of the written space are doubled.
A square miniature opens the feast of the Annunciation, the height of almost 2 lines of text and music: enclosed in a wooden frame, in a large and deep Renaissance-style bedroom, with a long hall reaching straight back to a garden, the archangel Gabriel approaches in flight from the upper left, with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove above the Virgin's head, as she turns backwards from her prayers to see the angel; a large vase with lilies sits in the center of the floor. For another pattern of the same miniature, see, for example, Glasgow, University Library, Hunter MS 25 (S. 2.15), the one full-page miniature in the book (there are nine smaller miniatures), in a breviary with pictures attributed to the Master of the First Prayer Book of Maximilian. This manuscript is discussed in Thomas Kren and Scot McKendrick, Illuminating the Renaissance: the Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe (Los Angeles: Getty Museum, 2003), in a section by Thomas Kren on pp. 317-318, n. 89, with a reproduction of the Hunterian manuscript's miniature of the Annunciation.
In the BECPL manuscript, on the recto, a 2-sided border of interconnecting triangles in red, dark blue, green and yellow, each one decorated with faint drawings; the blue triangle directly below the archangel Gabriel contains a coat of arms: quarterly, 1 and 4, [two or three objects?], 2 and 3, argent [?], two bars [azure?]. The R that opens the chants for the Annunciation is rendered as if a 3-dimensional wooden letter, with shadows, sitting on a gray ground; other initials: two are the height of one line of text and one set of staves, in red; another initial, of the same size, is in black Elefantenr sel with flourishes of curled acanthus leaves, touched in green. Rubrics in red. Foliation in black ink in the center of the outer margin of the recto, and with the same number in early modern foliation in the upper right corner of the leaf: "xciiii" (= 94).
Written probably in Austria during the turn from the 15th to the 16th century; the assigning of this leaf to Italy in De Ricci's Census proves that De Ricci himself had not seen this leaf. According to the BECPL inhouse website, the leaf belonged to Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920), although there is no comment to that effect in De Ricci, and there is no oval or round sticker with Elson's name on the leaf (as there is on the leaves in this library's collection that certainly belonged to Elson). We are very grateful to Peter Kidd, who proposed the similar pattern of the Annunciation in the manuscript held in Glasgow, and to his citation of relevant bibliography
"Formerly used as a wrapper for deeds."--De Ricci
Bibliography: De Ricci. Census, p. 1212, no. 26
Gradual, with the end of the gradual chant and then the communion chant for the feast of St. Benedict (21 March), followed by the introit for the feast of the Annunciation (25 March), with its versicle and the beginning of its gradual; references to other parts of what was once the book that contained this leaf are, on the recto between the rubric and the beginning of the text, "Vultum tuum, fo. 1" and on the verso before the present gradual chant, "Graduale, Diffusa est, [fo.] lii."
Previously classified as RBR MSS. C33G76 1500