Item Summary

Gradual produced for a Dominican convent. 1-1412, 1512-5? (lacks seemingly 5 leaves, with a gap between 2 and 3, and one after 7). The Litany and the Common of the Saints includes a number of saints that were particularly venerated by the Dominicans such as St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Alexandria, while others were added by a later hand including saints canonized only in the 15th century and later, providing evidence that the manuscript was constantly in use throughout the centuries. Fol. 102v has an addition in the lower margin in a contemporary hand, referring to the feast of "Corpus Christi", which gives us a likely terminus ante quem for the production of the manuscript.

Descriptive Information

Title
[Gradual : Dominican use]
Call Number
Princeton MS. 245
Identifier
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/pr76f7357
Publisher
[between 1250 and 1300]
Language
No linguistic content
Date Created
1250-1300
Format
Musical score
Extent
173 leaves : parchment ; 347 x 245 (250 x 160) mm bound to 363 x 260 mm.
Provenance
Intermediate provenance unknown. Owned by Allan Heywood Bright who added his bookplate (upper pastedown). Auctioned by his grandchildren. Sold at Christie's London on 16 July 2014. In 2017, the Princeton University Library purchased the manuscript from Sokol Rare Books, London.
Source Acquisition
Purchase, 2017. AM 2017-146.
Rights Statement
No Known Copyright
Contents
1. fol. [i]r-2v: [Gloria patri and Asperges].
2. fol. 2v-122v: [Temporal, from Advent]. Ends with the dedication of a church.
3. fol. 122v-151r: [Sanctoral, from St. Andrew to St. Catharine].
4. fol. 151r-173v: [Common of the Saints, ending with the Common of a Confessor. Proper of the Mass of St. Catherine of Alexandria; Psalm 118: 78, 80)].
Notes
Incipit: [Gloria patri] "Gloria Patri et filio et spiritui sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in secula seculorum amen ..." -- [Temporal] "Dictum in aduentum dominicum officium. Ad te leuaui animam meam ..." -- [Sanctoral] "In uigilia andree apostoli officium. Dominus secus mare galile ..." -- [Common of the Saints] "In communi vnius, uel plurimorum apostolorum. Mihi autem nimis honorati sunt amici tui deus nimis ..."
Ms. codex.
Annotations in the margins ranging from 14th- to 17th- or even 18th-century additions, including occasional guide letters. Accompanied by a letter of 10 January 1915 from Edward Samuel Dewick (1844-1917) to Henry Yates Thompson (1838-1928) identifying the manuscript; Dewick's brief description; and a letter from Thompson to Allan Heywood Bright to pass along Dewick's opinions.
Collation: Parchment ; fol. ii (ms. begins on iir) + 173 + i ; foliation in ink (fol. 141 repeated).
Layout: 9 lines of of 4-line staves in red, with square neumes and accompanying text.
Decoration: 10 large illuminated initials (2-3 staves each) in gold (shell), blue, rose, green, and other colors. Rubrics in red, calligraphic versals touched in red, alternating flourished 1-line penwork initials in red and blue, most with penwork extensions spanning the height of the page in the margins. The initials are on diapered backgrounds with tendriled vine and ivy foliage, often incorporating images of dragons.
Origin: Originally produced for a Dominican convent in northern France or the southern Low Countries in the second half of the 13th century.
Binding Note
Later binding. England, circa 1915. Parchment over wooden boards. Gold-stamped framing, with crescent-and-star motif on the spine. Multi-colored endbands.

Discovery Information

Subject
Graduals (Chants)
Gregorian chants

Physical Characteristics

File Count
358

Institutional Information

Collection
Medieval and Renaissance Mediterranean Manuscripts
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/aa41d61e-32d2-4937-95b3-f9452d792ef9/manifest