Manuscript: London, Great Britain, British Library, MS Additional 31922

Manuscript type: chansonnier

RISM siglum: GB-Lbl Add. 31922

DIAMM Source Key: 1238

Image repositories: DIAMM

Folio(s): All folios

Date: c. 1510-20

Location of origin: London, Great Britain

Provenance

C. 1510-20 (MB). Probably copied in London, as an anthology of repertory of court of King Henry VIII. Stevens 1952 suggests book was presentation or "library" copy for a noble amateur associated with court, perhaps Sir Henry Guildford (1489-1532) of Benenden, Kent, Controller of the Royal Household; several names scribbled on back flyleaves refer to Benenden. Later owners include Thomas Fuller, M.D. (1654-1734), of Sevenoaks, Kent (bookplate); Stephen Fuller of London (inscription, dated 1762); Archibald, 11th Earl of Eglinton (1726-96); and Sir Charles Montolieu Lamb (d. 1860), of Beauport Park, East Sussex. Purchased by British Museum from Lamb family through firm of Quaritch in 1882.

London, Great Britain, British Library, MS Additional 31922, All folios

Physical description

Material: parchment (with paper)

Number of leaves: v + 128 + iii

Format: upright

Page dimensions: 317 x 214

Quire structure: Text version

Index / Table of Contents: Original index on ff. 2v-3r lists only pieces with original ink numbering (inaccurate after #49).

Colophon: Numerous references to King Henry VIII (The Kinge H VIII, The Kyng H VIII, etc.) in the upper margins.

Other devices: 1. Original ink numbering of pieces, i-lxxii, generally includes only texted works.
2. Quires marks on front recto; numbers 9 and 11 unnumbered, 10th quire is 'viiii', quires 12 and 13 truncated, making quire number illegible. Some alphanumeric quire numbering also visible, truncated, in the lower right recto corner.
3. Modern pencil pagination, 1-250, with errors, crossed out and replaced by modern pencil foliation, 1-130.

Page details (zoom):

Preparation and Copying

All folios

Preparation

Disposition of Voice Parts Key

Pricking	normally, pricking visible in upper and lower margins for justification lines; when additional (non underlaid text) is copied, pricking visible in outer margin for text lines (e.g. ff. 46, 73)
Ruled grid	normally, Horizontal bounding lines of the top line of the top stave of each voice extend all the way across the page. Vertical bounding lines don't always extend to the upper and lower limits of the page
Ruling pattern	fairly irregular
Staves omitted from grid	often
Incomplete staves	rarely, 16v

Medium and colour of grid	Frequency	Folios	Note
lead point and brown ink	always		lead point for the vertical justification lines and for the text lines where drawn; brown ink for the first stave line of each voice part, which extends horizontally into the margins
Colour of staves	Frequency	Folios	Note
black	always
Ruling medium	Frequency	Folios	Note
straightedge	always
Indentation for initials	Frequency	Folios	Note
single	often		stave indented for the start of each voice
none	often
Extra space between voice parts	Frequency	Folios	Note
empty ruled staves on grid	sometimes
left between voice parts as part of grid	sometimes
Space provided for separate text	Frequency	Folios	Note
provided, in dedicated space	normally		space from unruled staves
Adhoc adaptation	Frequency	Folios	Note
partial additional staves	rarely	106r
notation and staves extended into margin	occasionally

Copying of text and music

Language(s)	English, French, Latin
Order of Copying	text first normally

Presence/absence of text	Voice part	Frequency	Folios
untexted	all voice parts	sometimes
provided with single incipit	all voice parts	rarely	4v-7r, 21v, 41v-42r, 46v-47r, 49v-50r, 98r
fully texted with one or two texts	all voice parts	often
partially texted with one text	all voice parts	rarely	25v
provided with single incipit	bassus	rarely	38v-39r, 40v-41r, 90v-91r, 99v-100r
untexted	all except bassus	rarely	38v-39r, 90v-91r
provided with single incipit	discantus	rarely	40v-41r, 86v-87r, 88v-89r, 99v-100r
untexted	all except discantus	rarely	86v-87r, 88v-89r
untexted	all except discantus and bassus	rarely	40v-41r, 99v-100r
fully texted with one text	all except tenor	rarely	73v-74r
untexted	all except tenor	rarely	82v-83r
provided with single incipit	tenor	rarely	60v-61r, 73v-74r, 82v-83r
fully texted with one text	tenor primus	rarely	60v-61r
partially texted with one text	tenor tertius	rarely	60v-61r

Music

Colour(s) of notation	black
Type(s) of notation	void mensural
Type of notation note	teardrop-shaped noteheads
Monophonic notation	absent
Level of calligraphy	high

Non verbal performance instructions	Folios	Note
signa congruentiae		some present, not common
Later changes	Folios
two notes erased at the end of the 6th stave, found at the beginning of the 7th stave: duplication	11r

Text

Types of script	cursive (Anglicana)
Types of script size position	vocal and liminary text
Types of script note	varies between a stylised formata script and a less formal currens script
Level of calligraphy	high
Colour(s) of text	black
Multiple texts	yes 87v-88r, 107v-108r, 109v-110r, 111v-112r
Text repetitions	fairly many
Abbreviations	fairly few
Non underlaid vocal text	additional 15r, 29r, 31r, 33r, 35r, 36r, 38r, 39r, 40r, 46r, 49r, 52r, 55r, 56r, 66r, 69r, 71r, 72r, 73r-v, 85r, 88r, 95r, 96r, 97r, 107r, 111v, in blank spaces where staves have been omitted from the grid prickings and rulings visible for non-underlaid vocal text usually below final voice, on recto, except ff. 72r, 73r, 111v where it falls between the two voices
Liminary text	Title ascriptions; composer attributions (in lower part of the page, often in stave lines after end of bassus part); 'The King/Kyng/Kinge (etc.) H VIII' at the top of many of the versos, 'ut supra', canon instructions, tenor inscriptions.

Decoration

Level of Decoration	fair

Decoration miniature frequency		Folios		Size position	Description	Discrepancies
never
Decoration border frequency	Border type	Folios	Size	Position	Description	Discrepancies
never	None		None
Decoration initial type	Frequency	Folios	Initial type(s)	Size position	Description	Discrepancies
painted initials	rarely	19r	decorated, plain initials	one stave high, start of bassus part (stave indented)	Illuminated H on a red and blue painted background
painted initials	often		flourished, plain initials	Either: one stave tall, at the start of each voice (stave indented), or slightly larger than the normal text script, at the start of the underlaid text (stave not indented)	Gold (illuminated) initial with black pen flourishing, or red initial with black pen flourishing, or blue initial with red pen flourishing. Not all songs begin with a decorative initial, some begin with a simple majuscule.	41v (and passim) no flourishing
initials planned	rarely	86v, 106v			First letter missing; cue letter present on f. 106v.
Other decoration frequency		Folios	Other decoration type(s)	Size position	Description	Discrepancies
never

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