London, Great Britain, British Library, MS Additional 5465, All folios
Physical description
Material: parchment and paper (mixed)
Number of leaves: vi + 124 + xi
Format: upright
Page dimensions: 297 x 215
Quire structure: Text version
Index / Table of Contents: No index, except for note on f. 1r listing (with one error) piece numbers of Fayrfax works in manuscript.
Colophon: f. 1r: 'E libris Rad. Thoresby Leodiensis'; 'Robertus Fayrfax Doctor in Musicus iacet sepultus in ecclesia monasteriali Sancti Albani' (with Fayrfax's crest)
Other devices: 1. Original numbering of pieces in red ink, i-li (organ piece not numbered; #vii and #xvii now missing).
2. Two systems of modern pencil foliation: first system, 1-145 (crossed out by hand which added second system), includes some modern flyleaves and all inserted paper folios; second system, 1-124, includes only original folios.
Page details (zoom):
Preparation and Copying
All foliosPreparation
Disposition of Voice Parts Key
Pricking |
normally,
often visible in the upper and lower margins for the justification lines |
Ruled grid |
always,
singe line to left and right; top line of top stave all across the page as frame-line; normally corresponding line across the bottom of the page (below stave and text) as well |
Ruling pattern | highly irregular |
Staves omitted from grid | often |
Incomplete staves |
never,
any incomplete staves are added during the copying of the music (i.e. 'partial additional staves') |
Medium and colour of grid | Frequency | Folios | Note |
---|---|---|---|
brown ink | always | same ink as used for stave-ruling | |
Colour of staves | Frequency | Folios | Note |
brown | always | ||
Ruling medium | Frequency | Folios | Note |
straightedge | always | ||
Indentation for initials | Frequency | Folios | Note |
single | often | first stave of each voice part, for the first opening of each song | |
none | often | No indentation after the first opening of each song. | |
Extra space between voice parts | Frequency | Folios | Note |
empty ruled staves on grid | occasionally | ||
variable space, not on grid | normally | ||
Space provided for separate text | Frequency | Folios | Note |
no separate text | always | ||
Adhoc adaptation | Frequency | Folios | Note |
partial additional staves | rarely | 34r, 36r, 59v, 66r, 76r, 82v, 96r, 105r, 109v | |
made for complete additional staves | rarely | 110r, 111r, 112r, 113r, 114r, 115r | |
notation extended into margin | often | ||
notation and staves extended into margin | sometimes | ||
staveline added | sometimes | Often the extra stave line spans the full stave, making it a six-line stave, e.g. 5r, 6r-v, 23v, 32v-33r, etc. |
Copying of text and music
Language(s) | English |
---|---|
Order of Copying |
mixed
always |
Presence/absence of text | Voice part | Frequency | Folios | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|
fully texted with one text | all voice parts | always |
Music
Colour(s) of notation | black red |
Type(s) of notation | full mensural |
Type of notation note | round noteheads |
Monophonic notation | absent |
Level of calligraphy | fair |
Non verbal performance instructions | Folios | Note |
---|---|---|
signes-de-renvoi | 109v | pair of matching symbols |
signa congruentiae | present | |
end symbol | double or triple barline, combined with decorative long | |
Later changes | Folios | |
extra stave with notation added, seemingly unrelated to song | 5v | |
organ piece added on f. 1r (c. 1540?) | 2r |
Text
Types of script | cursive (Anglicana) |
Level of calligraphy | fair |
Colour(s) of text | black red red used for some liminary text (e.g. composer attributions, 'verte', 'ut supra') |
Multiple texts | no |
Text repetitions | fairly many |
Abbreviations | few |
Non underlaid vocal text | none |
Liminary text | Composer attributions in lower margin (two-voice songs) or between voices (songs with three or more voices) on the verso or recto. 'verte (folium)', 'ut supra', 'secunda pars', 'bassus ad placitum' |
Decoration
Level of Decoration | fair |
Decoration initial type | Frequency | Folios | Initial type(s) | Size position | Description | Discrepancies |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
penned initials | rarely | 118v-119r | plain initials | start of Discantus and Bassus, one stave high, staves and notation indented | very simple initials drawn in black ink | |
initials planned | rarely | 118v, 122v | one stave high 118v: notation indented on stave 122v: no indentation | cue letter visible, first letter missing | ||
painted initials | normally | flourished, plain initials | at the start of each voice at the start of each song, one stave high, stave and notation indented | simple blue initials slightly decorative in form, with red flourishing crest of Fayrfax found in M initial (26v) drawn in dark brown ink over the red flourishing (crest also drawn on f. 1r) | ||
Other decoration frequency | Folios | Other decoration type(s) | Size position | Description | Discrepancies | |
normally | decorative final long | In each voice at the end of each song | 'checkerboard' long - expanded vertically and horizontally; touched with red |