Hymnals
Music--Manuscripts
Manuscripts, Latin--New York (State)--Buffalo
Parchment?; f. 1; 10 lines of text and of 5-line staves for the music. Written in a squared gothic book hand. Music in Hufnagelschrift with a custos at the end of each set of staves. Initials in alternating red or blue occupying the height of one line of text and one set of staves. The initial on the recto that opens the hymn to Cyprian is blue with a small reserved white decoration. Rubrics in red.
Written in Germany during the 15th century; it bears remembering that the head of St. Anne was held in the Stiftskirche St. Stephan in Mainz until 1510, when it was stolen and taken to D en in north Rhine-Westphalia (the church that housed this relic was completely destroyed in Allied bombing in 1944). 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; initials BECPL stamped in lower margin of the recto. This leaf was n. 19 in the Elson collection; that information in the small ovel label on the uppermost corner of the recto: "No. 19, Elson Collection."
Bibliography: De Ricci. Census, p. 1210, no. 14
Hymn dedicated to St. Anne (possibly for her feast on 7 March; end of the hymn that begins "Gaude mater anna gaude mater omni digna mater tante filie / Anne recte nuncuparis") and a hymn dedicated to St. Cyriacus (16 March; beginning of the hymn).
Formerly classified as RBR MSS. C33G74 1300Z
Catholic Church
Rare Book Room of B&ECPL (repository)
Elson, Louis Charles, 1848-1920
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
Missals
Manuscripts, Latin--15th century
Parchment; formal gothic book hand in two sizes of script; 2 columns of 30 lines, ruled in lead (?). 2-line initials within the text area (except for the letter I, which is placed outside of the text area, and is equivalent to ca. 5 lines in height), alternating gold with dark blue (or black) flourishing, or blue with red flourishing. Rubrics in red. Foliation in red roman numerals in the center upper margin of the recto: CCXXII; what may be modern foliation is in pencil in the lower outer corner of the recto, "130."
Written in France during the first half of the 15th century. This manuscript uses the word "officium" to designate the introit of the mass; such usage is common to books 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; initials BECPL stamped in lower margin of the recto. This leaf was n. 20 in the Elson collection; that information in the small ovel label on the uppermost corner of the recto: "No. 20, Elson Collection."
Bibliography: De Ricci. Census, p. 1211, no. 15
Missal, with the mass for the feast of The Chains of Peter (1 August) from its introit through the beginning of its post-communion prayer.
Graduals (Chants)
Manuscripts, Latin--Specimens
Parchment; the lower portion of one leaf, including a very large empty bottom margin. 3 lines of text and 2 lines of superscript red 4-line staves (the topmost set of staves is cut away); written in a formal gothic book hand; music in square notation on 4-line red staves, with a custos at the end of each set of staves. 1-line initials in red with purple flourishing, or in blue with red flourishing. Rubrics in red. The cut-off upper portion may have contained a very nice initial.
Written in Italy during the second half of the 15th century. 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 fragment was n. 31 in the Elson collection.
Bibliography: De Ricci. Census, p. 1211, no. 19
Illumination of books and manuscripts--Specimens
Parchment; ; f. 1; 5 lines of text and music, with the text copied in a formal gothic hand and the music in black square notation on 4-line red staves. Initial S of the height of one line of text and one of music, in dusty rose, infilled with stacked aroid flowers in petals of dark blue, red, green and gray, the whole set on a very spiked gold ground, with a leafy extension in rose and blue; a gold ball in the margin. The initials E and G, the height of one line of text and two (of the four lines of the staves) in white-decorated blue or red, set against a ground of negatively-designed leaves on grounds red and blue or blue alone; the letters X, L, and A (directly following the decorated initials) in elaborate gothic format against a ground of negatively patterned leaves in the ink of the text. On the recto, in the center of the outer margin, the folio number in red roman numerals, "CL." Small round label in the upper innermost corner of the verso, "Elson n. 17."
Written towards the end of the 15th century in Italy, and most likely in Lombardy given the spiky gold ground around the major initial; the rayed gold ball above that initial also occurs in the northern parts of Italy. 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 fragment was n. 17 in the Elson collection.
Bibliography: De Ricci. Census, p. 1212, no. 24
Gradual with the end of the sung parts of a mass for many martyrs, and the introit for another mass for many martyrs.
Antiphonaries
Parchment; ; f. 1; 7 lines of text and music, the text copied in a highly fractured gothic book hand, and the music in Hufnagelschrift on 5-line red staves, with a custos at the end of each set of staves, with text and music placed within "tram lines" that border the written area on both vertical sides. The opening initial corresponding to the height of 2 lines of text and their corresponding 2 sets of staves in an initial formed of scrolling green leaves, set on a punched gold ground, and enclosed withing a frame of pieces of "wood" in alternating red and blue sections; growing out of the initial, and running the length of the page in its far left border is an extended scroll of multicolored acanthus leaves and gold dots, the entire spray of leaves is roughly trimmed on the left by the knife of the person who removed this leaf from its binding. In the lower margin, an equivalent spray of acanthus leaves, flowers and gold dots, enclosed within a narrow silver frame. On the verso, a calligraphic initial (equivalent to 1 line of text and its music) in the ink of the text. In upper right area of the recto of the leaf, the foliation in red roman numerals, "ccxi."
Written in Austria during the time at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century. Although the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library states that the leaf was part of the collection of Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920), there are no round / oval stickers on the leaf that assert Elson's ownership of the leaf, nor is that assertion of provenance in the record by S. De Ricci. Formerly in 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.
Bibliography: De Ricci. Census, p. 1212, no. 25
Antiphonal with the very end of the service for the feast of the Decollation of John the Baptist (29 August) and the beginning of the service for the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin (8 September).
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
Leaves conjugate but not consecutive; 1st leaf (5 lines) with musical notation; 2nd leaf (15 lines) with text only.
Parchment; one bifolium, i.e. ff. 2, non-consecutive, with the leaves pasted together at the gutter; On f. 1: 5 lines of text and music, the text written in a formal gothic script, the music in square notation on red 4-line staves with a custos at the end of each set of lines; added tones for the antiphons are noted in the margins: 3rd tone on the recto; 5th tone on the verso. Rubrics in red. In the uppermost right corner of the recto, the folio number: 12. On f. 2: 15 lines of text; formal gothic script. In the uppermost right corner of the recto, the folio number: 19. The folio numbers on these two leaves and the basic knowledge that in books of Italian origin and at this date the standard quire size is of ten leaves point to this set of leaves as being the second bifolium in the second quire. On both leaves: 1-line initials (i.e. the height of slightly over one line of text) either in red with purple flourishing, or in blue with dark red flourishing; the painted blue initial on the first recto was originally written as a letter N that was then partially erased to give a majuscule letter I; 4 initials in black ink, with Elefantenr sel.
Written in Italy, probably towards the end of the 15th century; this late date is suggested by the presence of a comma (!) in the text on f. 1 recto. According to De Ricci, the library acquired these leaves from Henkels, in December 1931, and there is a note in pencil in the lower margin of f. 1 reporting this fact: "Henkels 12-8-31 [signed:] E."
Bibliography: De Ricci. Census, p. 1212, no. 27
Office for the Purification of the Virgin (2 February), in part, but with musical notation showing the importance of this feast. -- Office for the feast of Agatha (5 February), at matins, including here the end of the second nocturn and the beginning of the third.
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (Publisher of digital)
Parchment; ff. 2, not consecutive nor attached to one another; with a very deep lower border (as if in anticipation of an eventual need to add notes to the page?); 9 lines of text, each preceded by its row of staves; pricking along both the outer and the inner margins that ties in groups of 5 holes to the 1 text line plus 4 stave lines. Formal gothic minuscule that includes both the curled line ("ricciolo") and the small waved line ("ondina") abbreviation marks for, respectively, the preconsonantal "r" and the prevocalic "r"; see Andrea Bocchi, "Riccioli e ondine. L'abbreviazione per vibrante preconsonantica e prevocalica nella gotica italiana dei secoli xiii e xiv," Scriptorium 61 n. 2 (2007) 430-437 and images on pl. 52; at the end of the article, Bocchi places use of these marks in central Italy, and he dates them to the time span of the 13th century and into the early years of the 15th. Music in square notation on 4-line red staves with a custos at the end of the set of staves. Initials of somewhat more than 1-line height (they extend into the staves' second line from the bottom) in plain alternating red with simplistic blue flourishing, and blue with red flourishing; the letter following the decorated initial and occasional other initials throughout the text are touched in red. Rubrics in red that are copied above (not before) the beginning of the relevant piece of text. Early modern pagination in ink in the uppermost outer corner of each side of the leaf.
Written in Italy during the early years of the 15th century. On p. 202, in the center lower margin, the pencilled note: "Mr. Charles D[avenport ?] Champlin, 3-2-36 D" presumably representing the person from whom these two leaves were acquired, and the date of acquisition, March 2, 1936; the initial "D" may represent the librarian. In-house library files cite the name of Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920) but probably incorrectly.
Bibliography: De Ricci. Census, p. 1212, no. 28
Antiphonal, with responsories 2 through 6, and their accompanying versicles, for Quinquagesima Sunday. -- Antiphonal, with responsories 1 through 5, and their accompanying versicles, for Passion Sunday.
Buffalo and Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
Manuscript missel on vellum of the XV century [Book of hours]
Liturgy and rituals
Hours
Obsecro te prayer, with masculine forms: . . . [f. 20:] . . . in quibus ego sum facturus, locuturus aut cogitaturus . . . et michi famulo tuo impetres . . . -- 4. ff. 22-38v (in vol. 1) and ff. 39-72 (in vol. 2); f. 72v blank, Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome.
Contains 9 illuminations within decorative borders, and 4 illuminated initials.
Parchment; ff. 72, bound in two volumes with the break between the two between f. 38v and f. 39, which opens lauds with a miniature of the Visitation; 155 x 105 (90 x 63) mm; after the 12 leaves of the calendar, the quires are regularly of 8 leaves, with the catchwords written vertically along the text's inner bounding line; the final gathering retains only 4 leaves. 16 long lines ruled in ink for the text; the calendar in 17 ruled lines. Written in a spikey gothic book hand.
Nine major miniatures, above 3 lines of text, and with slightly rounded tops; full border of acanthus and colored leaves and flowers: f. 13 (gospel of John), John the Evangelist seated on the island of Patmos, inscribing his gospel onto a roll which reads "[I]n Pri[ncipio]," while his eagle looks on; f. 22 (matins of the Hours of the Virgin), Annunciation to the Virgin, in an elaborate Renaissance room with column and sculpted balustrade and a gold-embroidered red bedcurtain, as the Virgin turns towards the kneeling angel, and the Holy Spirit descends to her; f. 39 (lauds), Visitation showing Mary and her cousin, Elizabeth; f. 50 (prime), Nativity with the baby Jesus lying on the extended hem of the Virgin's dress, as Joseph, holding a candle (?), enters the foreground; f. 54 (terce), Annunciation to the shepherds; f. 58 (sext), Adoration of the Three Kings, one of them old, one middle-aged and one young; f. 61 (none), Presentation in the temple, as Simeon, his hands covered with a cloth, reaches out to hold the baby Jesus, with Mary holding him and Joseph waiting; f. 64 (vespers), Flight into Egypt; with Joseph leading the donkey that carries the Virgin and the baby Jesus f. 69 (compline), Coronation of the Virgin as she kneels before Jesus, enthroned, who crowns her as blue angels hover behind.
Four large miniatures, 6 lines in height. When the miniature is on a recto: narrow gold bar along the left border of the text, holding in place sprays of acanthus leaves and colored flowers in the upper and lower margins; when the miniature is on a verso: a wide bar border the length of the text of acanthus leaves and colored flowers or strawberries: f. 14v (gospel pericope of Luke), Luke, seat on a wooden chest, inscribing his gospel on a roll, as his ox reclines quietly beside him; f. 15v (gospel pericope of Matthew), Matthew holding up his pen and looking upwards to God, and his angel kneels behind him; f. 17 (gospel pericope of Mark), Mark, seated on a stool, inscribing his gospel on a roll, as his lion reclines quietly beside him; f. 18 (Obsecro te), the enthroned Virgin holding the baby Jesus.
Major initials to open each of the hours of the Virgin, 3-line height, in blue against deep red grounds, decorated in liquid gold; 2-line and 1-line initials in painted gold against deep red or blue grounds, decorated in gold; line fillers in gold-decorated bands of deep red or dark blue. Rubrics in red. Bound in two volumes, the first of 38 leaves, the second of 34 leaves (foliated as ff. 39-72); binding is modern red morocco; each volume with the same statement of provenance lettered on the front cover: at the top: "Manuscript Missel [sic] on Vellum of the XV Century" and at the bottom: "Presented by James Fraser Gluck to the Buffalo Library A.D. 1886."
Written in France during the second half of the 15th century; the calendar includes the feast of the Dominican, Vincent Ferrer who was canonized in 1455. In addition, the dark colors in the backgrounds of the painted initials is typical of work done at the end of the century. A slip from an auction catalogue is glued to the front pastedown of the first volume: it presumably was retained here because it represents this present manuscript, although the book of hours described on the slip is said to have 164 leaves (as opposed to the present ff. 72), with "14 beautifully painted miniatures" (there are 9 in the book as it now stands); in addition, this slip labels the manuscript it describes as n. 959 in its catalogue, suggesting a very large sale; the slip is assumed to come from an auction catalogue (rather than a sales catalogue) because there is no price associated with it (and the very top of the following entry is just barely visible at the bottom of the slip). The manuscript as it now stands, of 72 leaves, belonged to James Fraser Gluck (1852-1897); he had the book bound in its present red morocco, had the inscriptions placed on the front covers, and donated the now-two volumes (along with a large collection of materials relating to British and American authors) to the Buffalo Public Library in 1886, which is a very early date for interest in medieval manuscripts in the United States.
Calendar in red and black--V. 1, leaves [1-12].
Identified in De Ricci as Horae, Roman use, written in France.
Gluck, James Fraser, 1852-1897
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.
Latin
[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).
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.
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.
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.
Map of downtown Buffalo and vicinity showing abandoned canals and slips
Cities and towns--New York (State)--Buffalo--Maps
When the Erie Canal opened in 1825, Buffalo quickly became the 8th-largest city in the U.S. As the railroad industry grew, the Canal's usefulness was surpassed by the efficiency of steam-powered trains. By the early 20th century, local waterways in the area now known as Canalside sat unused, relics of the hotbed of commercial activity and bustling tourism once conducted on the Erie Canal.
Chamber of Commerce
Grosvenor Room of B&ECPL (repository)
eng
Les Cercles de l'Armee. But: Créer au front et à l'arrière des milliers de cercles, avec bibliothèques, revues, jeux, etc…. À la demande du grand quartier général. 300 cercles sont déjà ouverts.
Chavamioz
Rare Book Room of the B&ECPL (repository)
Digital image copyright 2017 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.
Early Twentieth Century (1900-1925)
The Entrance of the German and French Roman Catholic Cemetery at Pine Hill, Buffalo, N.Y.
Postcards--New York (State)--Buffalo.
Photographic postcards.
Cemeteries--New York (State)--Buffalo.
Catholic Church--United States.
Photographic postcard of the entrance monument of the German and French Roman Catholic Cemetery with people posing out front.
Chilion Company, Phila, Pa., U.S.A.
Chilion Company, Phila, Pa., U.S.A. (publisher of orginal)
Buffalo and & Erie County Public Library (Publisher of Digital)
Digital image copyright 2025 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
First evening meeting of the Chromatic Club
Concert programs -- New York (State) -- Buffalo.
Established in 1898, the Chromatic Club of Buffalo still exists today, and is our oldest active music organization. This event in 1903 was attended by Mary Seaton Kleinhans, an accomplished pianist and vocalist, and wife of the owner of Kleinhan's clothing store.
Chromatic Club (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Buffalo Theater and Music Program Collection
Nichols, Edith Sterling
Tupper, Florence C.
Kleinhans, Mary Seaton
Chase, Florice
Choate, Evelyn
Digital image copyright 2019 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.
Recruits wanted for the Scottish Regiments. This is the life for a Scotsman
Clark, C.
Buffalo (N.Y.)--Buildings, structures, etc.
Religious organizations--United States.
Church buildings--New York (State)--Buffalo.
Episcopal Church--United States.
Photographic postcard of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Buffalo N.Y., with a message from Miss Eugenia [illegible].
Clawson & Wilson, Buffalo, N.Y.
Clawson & Wilson, Buffalo, N.Y. (publisher of orginal)
Milly (author)
Buffalo Savings Bank.
Banks and banking--New York (State)--Buffalo.
Picture postcard of the Buffalo Savings Bank, with people milling in the road in the foreground. With a message written out to Mrs. Waller B. Fargo.
Clawson and Wilson, Buffalo, N.Y.
Clawson and Wilson, Buffalo, N.Y. (Publisher of Orginal)
[Blarnclre?] (author)