PRoMs - The Production and Reading of Music Sources

Mise-en-page in manuscripts and printed books containing polyphonic music, 1480—1530

Manuscript: London, Great Britain, British Library, MS Royal 20 A. xvi

Manuscript type: choirbook

RISM siglum: GB-Lbl Royal 20.a.xvi

DIAMM Source Key: 2099

Image repositories: British Library

Folio(s): All folios

Date: c. 1480-90

Location of origin: Bourges, France

Provenance

1. A member of the Robertet family of Montbrison, Forez: black wings on gold ground refer to the Robertet arms: azure on a bend or a pennart sable between three mullet or (ff. 1v-2r); 2. Henry VIII (b. 1491, d. 1547), King of England: included in the English Royal library; moved to the Upper Library at Westminster during the amalgamation of manuscripts after the death of Henry VIII; includes the 'high' Westminster inventory number: no 1281 (see Carley 2000); and the Royal library shelfmark '20 A XVI' with a page number ,'p. 302', referring to David Casley's 1734 catalogue (f. 1r); 4. Donated to the British Museum in 1757 by George II with the entire Royal collection of manuscripts.

Artists/Scribes

Person: Colombe (workshop), Jean
Person type: artist
Location of origin: Bourges, France
Note: Miniatures and borders (ff. 1v, 2r, 3v) attributed by Janet Backhouse (see <a href="/bibliography/#entry672" data-tooltip="" class="has-tip tip-top reference" data-placement="top" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="" title="Litterick, Louise, ‘The Manuscript Royal 20. A. XVI of the British Library’ (Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1976) "><i class="fa fa-book"></i>Litterick 1976</a>) to Jean Colombe (c. 1435-c. 1493), illuminator active at Bourges, or his workshop.

Bibliography

Warner/Gilson 1921, II, 357; Hughes 1953, II, 127-8; III, 368; Picker 1960, I, 360-361; Lerner 1961–70, IV, xix-xx; V, v, 3-11, 23-24, 26-27, 50-51; Hewitt 1967, 13, 80, 82; Kellman 1970; Atlas 1975–6, I, 56; Litterick 1976; Litterick 1979, 29, 30, 33; Litterick 1980, 474-485; Gutiérrez-Denhoff 1984, 123, 132, 145, 146; Brown 1987; Census-Catalogue 1979-1988, II, 105 and IV, 433; Brown 1988; Urkevich 1997; Carley 2000; Dumitrescu 2004,  122-123; Sewright 2008, 123-125; Alden 2010, xviii, 72, 121, 127, 128; Urkevich 2012, 91-113.

Basis for description: original

London, Great Britain, British Library, MS Royal 20 A. xvi, All folios

Physical description

Material: parchment

Number of leaves: iii + 46 + iii

Format: upright

Page dimensions: 232 x 165

Quire structure: Text version

Other devices: 1. Leaf signatures: 'a.i.' (f. 1r); 'a iii' (f. 3r).
2. Catchwords: 'despi[ta]n[t]' (f. 3r); 'vous voulez' (f. 5v); 'il ..st..na[n]t' ? (f. 8v); traces of trimmed catchwords (ff. 1r, 4v, 5r, 6r).
3. Earlier foliation pencil recto top right, 20-C6 (including 10 blank folios after f. 36), crossed out.
4. Modern foliation pencil recto top right, 1-36 (followed here)

Page details (zoom):

Preparation and Copying

1r-22r

Preparation

Disposition of Voice Parts Key

Pricking normally,
Pricking holes indicate the position of the underlying text although the ruling lines were never inserted.
Ruled grid always,
Justification lines only; the text lines are indicated by pricking but not drawn.
Ruling pattern highly regular
Staves omitted from grid never
Incomplete staves never
Medium and colour of grid Frequency Folios Note
brown ink sometimes 9r-22r Justification lines only (quires ii and iii).
lead point sometimes 1r-8v Justification lines only (quire i).
Colour of staves Frequency Folios Note
brown always
Ruling medium Frequency Folios Note
single rastrum always
Indentation for initials Frequency Folios Note
single normally 1r, 2r-22r
quintuple rarely 1v
Extra space between voice parts Frequency Folios Note
empty ruled staves on grid often 1v, 3v, 4v, 5r, 5v, 6v, 7r, 7v, 8v, 9v, 10r, 10v, 11v, 12v, 13v, 14v, 15v, 17v, 18r, 18v 19v, 20v, 21v Mostly below D on verso pages
Space provided for separate text Frequency Folios Note
provided, in dedicated space normally 3v, 7v, 8v, 10v, 11v, 13v, 14v, 15v, 16v, 18v, 19v, 20v, 21v Additional stanzas are written in the space which was left unruled below discantus staves.
Adhoc adaptation Frequency Folios Note
notation extended into margin occasionally 1v, 4r, 7r, 21r
notation and staves extended into margin occasionally 12r, 14v, 16r, 17r
staveline added occasionally 5r, 14r, 20v, 21r, 22r

Copying of text and music

Language(s) French, Latin
Order of Copying music first
always
Presence/absence of text Voice part Frequency Folios Note
fully texted with one text discantus normally
fully texted with two texts discantus sometimes ff. 2v, 4v, 9v, 17v In residua only.
provided with single incipit all except discantus normally
provided with multiple incipits all except discantus rarely f. 5r
Music
Colour(s) of notation brown
Type(s) of notation void mensural
Type of notation note rhomboid shaped notation
Monophonic notation absent
Level of calligraphy very high
Non verbal performance instructions Folios Note
repeat signs 17v, 18r
Text
Types of script cursive (bastarda)
Level of calligraphy high
Colour(s) of text brown
Multiple texts yes
4v, 5r, 9v, 17v,
Multiple verses in formes fixes
Text repetitions none
Abbreviations fairly few
Non underlaid vocal text additional
3v, 7v, 8v, 10v, 11v, 13v, 14v, 15v, 16v, 18v, 19v, 20v, 21v
Liminary text Performance instructions: 'verte folium' (f. 3v); 'residuum' (f. 16v) ,
3v, 16v

Decoration

Level of Decoration fair
Decoration miniature frequency Folios Size position Description Discrepancies
rarely 1v 118 x 83 mm A man wearing a gold and black striped garments is depicted on a bed under a canopy in a pose associated with melancholy (his head reposed on his arm). The bed is covered with black sheet decorated with golden flames or tear-drops; the canopy repeats the stripped gold and black pattern of the man's cloths. A sheep and a spear lye by the bed.
rarely 3v 95 x 150 mm In a walled garden, a woman plays the dulcimer, behind her stands a winged personification of Fortune in a striped dress. A man approches the woman from the right carring a heart in his hand. Both the man and the woman wear similar anchor-shaped badges pinned to their head gears.
Decoration border frequency Border type Folios Size Position Description Discrepancies
rarely decorated 1v, 2r full borders Black border scattered with golden wings and flames or tears-drops (f. 1v) with the colours reversed on f. 2r.
rarely decorated 3v partial borders: two-sided outer margin, upper margin Red border scattered with initials 'a' and 'A' in gold tied with a cordelière.
Decoration initial type Frequency Folios Initial type(s) Size position Description Discrepancies
painted initials normally decorated Beginning of voice parts; 16-18 x 16-20 mm Initials alternately red on blue or blue on red square grounds, decorated with flamboyant stylized foliage, spiral banderoles wrapping the stem or shaded in shell gold. The grounds are decorated in shell gold with either stylized flowers and leaves or a delicate filiform pattern.
initials planned rarely 8r, 8v Beginning of voice parts.
22v-36r

Preparation

Disposition of Voice Parts Key

Pricking rarely,
ff. 23-24 were pricked according to the rulling pattern of ff. 1-22. Holes on ff. 26 and 27 also indicate the text ruling lines, but were made with a use of a different medium.
Ruled grid always
Ruling pattern fairly regular
Staves omitted from grid never
Incomplete staves never
Medium and colour of grid Frequency Folios Note
brown ink always
Colour of staves Frequency Folios Note
brown always
Ruling medium Frequency Folios Note
single rastrum always
Indentation for initials Frequency Folios Note
single normally
none occasionally 23v, 24v, 25v, 31r, 34v, 36r
Extra space between voice parts Frequency Folios Note
empty ruled staves on grid often 22v, 23v, 24r, 26r, 26v, 27v, 28r, 28v, 29v, 30v, 31r, 31v, 32r, 32v, 33r, 33v, 34r, 35v.
Space provided for separate text Frequency Folios Note
provided, in dedicated space rarely 22v, 23v A dedicated space for additional stanzas is only provided on pages ruled according to the pattern of ff. 1r-22r.
not in dedicated space normally 27v, 28v, 29v, 30v, 31v, 32v, 33v, 34v, 35v Inscribed over ruled staves.
Adhoc adaptation Frequency Folios Note
notation and staves extended into margin often 22v, 23r, 25r, 26v, 29r, 32v, 33r, 34r, 35r
made for complete additional staves occasionally 23r, 23v, 27r
notation extended into margin often 26r, 27r, 30r, 30v, 31v, 33r, 34v, 35v, 36r
staveline added occasionally 25v, 31v, 32r, 33r, 34v

Copying of text and music

Language(s) French
Order of Copying music first
always
Presence/absence of text Voice part Frequency Folios Note
fully texted with one text all voice parts normally
fully texted with two texts all voice parts sometimes 25v, 26r, 30v, 31r In residua only.
Music
Colour(s) of notation brown
Type(s) of notation void mensural
Type of notation note rhomboid shaped notation
Monophonic notation absent
Level of calligraphy high
Non verbal performance instructions Folios Note
signa congruentiae 25v-26r
repeat signs 25v, 26r, 30v
Text
Types of script cursive (bastarda)
Level of calligraphy high
Colour(s) of text brown
Multiple texts yes
25v, 26r, 30v, 31r,
In residua only.
Text repetitions none
Abbreviations fairly few
Non underlaid vocal text additional
22v, 23v, 27v, 28v, 29v, 30v, 31v, 32v, 33v, 34v, 35v
Liminary text Names of composers: 'Heyne' (ff. 22v, 27v,); Bonnel (or Bouvel) (f. 28v); Crespieres (f. 29v); Josquin (f. 30v). Performance instruction: 'verte folium' (ff. 31v, 32r).,
22v, 27v, 28v, 29v, 30v, 31v, 32r

Decoration

Level of Decoration very poor
Decoration initial type Frequency Folios Initial type(s) Size position Description Discrepancies
penned initials rarely 25r plain initials 20 x 15-25 mm Outline preparatory drawing in ink for two initials, 'T'(enor) and 'B'(assus).
initials planned normally 20 x 15-25 mm Space left for initials at the beginning of voice parts (often with guide letters).