Item Summary

Descriptive Information

Title
Kyrie eleison : with prosulae.
Call Number
Princeton MS. 102
Identifier
ark:/88435/dc6t053v96q
Publisher
[Hereford?, England] : [producer not identified], [between 1200 and 1300]
Language
Middle English
Date Created
1200-1300
Extent
1 volume (iii, 8, iii leaves) : parchment, illustrations ; 15 cm
Provenance
Princeton MS. 102 is probably from Hereford, although early and intermediate provenance is unknown. The bookplate of George Dunn (1864-1912), of Woolley Hall, near Maidenhead, Berkshire, is on the front pastedown, but without his initials and price code in Greek letters. Dunn's bookplate was added from a former binding after the manuscript was rebound for Wilfred Merton (1888-1957). Merton added his own bookplate to the front pastedown, and on fol. ii recto is the inscription, “Wilfred Merton Richmond, Surrey, MS. 4.” After Merton's death, the manuscript was offered for sale by the London antiquarian bookseller Martin Breslauer. In 1961 the American antiquarian bookseller Bernard M. Rosenthal sold the manuscript to the Princeton University Library, which purchased it with funds provided by William H. Scheide, Class of 1936 (Acc. no. AM 17757).
Source Acquisition
Gift; William H. Scheide, 1961.
References
Medieval & Renaissance manuscripts in the Princeton University Library, volume 2, pages 322-323.
Rights Statement
Copyright Not Evaluated
Contents
[1]. fol. 1r-v, “Pater creator omnium tu theos ymon nostri pie eleyson ...”
[2]. fols. 1v-2r, “Cunctipotens genitor, deus omni creator eleyson ...”
[3]. fols. 2r-3r, “Kyrie fons bonitatis, pater ingenite a quo bona cuncta procedunt eleyson ...”
[4]. fol. 3r-v, “Lux et origo lucis summe deus eleyson ...”
[5]. fols. 3v-4r, “Summe deus qui cuncta creas eleyson ...”
[6]. fol. 4r-v, “Orbis factor rex eterne eleyson ...”
[7]. fols. 4v-5v, “Rex uirginum amator deus marie decus eleyson ...”
[8]. fols. 5v-6r, “Kyrie rex genitor ingenite uera essencia eleyson ...”
[9]. fols. 6r-7r, “Kyrie rex saeculorum consolator mestorum susceptor contritorum et sola spes merencium eleyson ...”
[10]. fols. 7v-8r, “O rex clemens rex omnipotens eleyson ...”
[11]. fol. 8r-v, “Kyrie genitor eleyson ...”
[12]. fol. 8v, “Kyrie omnipotens pater ingenite nobis benigne eleyson ...”
Notes
The manuscript is a troped or farced Kyrie, a form developed since the 10th and 11th centuries in which additional texts based on attributes (e.g., “Kyrie lux et origo”) provided sufficient syllables to set the plainchant melodies.
Script: Textualis libraria.
Decoration: The first Kyrie (fol. 1r) begins with a zoömorphic initial P extending two-thirds of the way down the inner margin. The P is painted pale blue and red, and it is interlaced with vines and two winged creatures. Subsequent Kyries begin with red, green, or red and green Romanesque initials. Within each Kyrie, verses begin with alternating red and green initials.
Binding Note
England, 20th century. Brown morocco over paste-board. Gilt design on front and back covers, depicting a barrel (with the letter W) floating in the sea; i.e., mere (sea) plus tun (barrel), referring to the surname of the owner Wilfred Merton.

Discovery Information

Subject
Kyrie eleison—Early works to 1800
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)—England
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)—New Jersey—Princeton
Illumination of books and manuscripts

Physical Characteristics

File Count
32

Institutional Information

Collection
Medieval and Renaissance Mediterranean Manuscripts
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/cee8ad3c-6c14-49de-b480-4aa0e4ed62ed/manifest