Provenance

By 1472 at latest, manuscript given to Lucca Cathedral by Giovanni Arnolfini, a Lucca merchant doing business in Bruges. Used by cathedral's maestro di cappella, John Hothby; several pieces added, along with some texts and notes. Original manuscript disassembled in early 17th century; folios used as binding material. In 1963-4, Reinhard Strohm recovered 56 folios from bindings of archival registers in the Archivio di Stato at Lucca, and an additional bifolio at the Biblioteca Arcivescovile at Pisa. In 1976, Agostino Ziino and Strohm recovered, respectively, three and two additional folios at the Archivio di Stato in Lucca. (DIAMM)

Lucca, Italy, Archivio di Stato, MS 238, All folios

Physical description

Material: parchment

Number of leaves: 61

Format: upright

Page dimensions: 470 x 345

Quire structure: Text version

Title page / Frontispiece: Various inscriptions relating to the later use of the bifolia as binding material for archival volumes. None for the music volume as such.

Other devices: Modern (1976) foliation by Reinhard Strohm: 1-24; 24bis; 24ter; 25-30; 30bis; 31-40; 42-43; 45-46; 46bis; 47-48; 48bis; 49-58.

Page details (zoom):

Preparation and Copying

All folios

Preparation

Pricking	always, top and bottom for vertical bounding lines; none visible for ruled staves
Ruled grid	always, single line to left and right, sometimes single line added for text
Ruling pattern	highly regular
Staves omitted from grid	never
Incomplete staves	never

Medium and colour of grid	Frequency	Folios	Note
hard point	always
Colour of staves	Frequency	Folios	Note
black	always
Ruling medium	Frequency	Folios	Note
single rastrum	always
Indentation for initials	Frequency	Folios	Note
single	often		Stave 1 only; for lower voices (and often for top voices as well) music and text indented over ruled staves to accommodate initial
double	rarely	17v, 21v
triple	rarely	1v
quadruple	rarely	11v
Extra space between voice parts	Frequency	Folios	Note
empty ruled staves on grid	often
Space provided for separate text	Frequency	Folios	Note
no separate text	always

Copying of text and music

Language(s)	Latin
Order of Copying	music first always

Presence/absence of text	Voice part	Frequency	Folios	Note
fully texted with one text	all voice parts	normally

Music

Colour(s) of notation	black
Type(s) of notation	void mensural
Type of notation note	rhomboid shaped notation. One main hand (Strohm's scribe A), with additions by four more scribes
Monophonic notation	absent
Level of calligraphy	high

Text

Types of script	cursive (bastarda)
Types of script note	One main hand (Strohm's scribe A), with additions by four more scribes
Level of calligraphy	high
Colour(s) of text	black
Multiple texts	yes occasionally
Text repetitions	few
Abbreviations	some
Non underlaid vocal text	none
Liminary text	Verte instructions, 'Duo' indications
Later changes	some text added by later hands

Decoration

Level of Decoration	high

Decoration border frequency	Border type	Folios	Size	Position	Description	Discrepancies
rarely	decorated	1v	partial borders: one-sided	lower margin	only a fragment remains
Decoration initial type	Frequency	Folios	Initial type(s)	Size position	Description	Discrepancies
painted initials	sometimes		decorated, historiated	At the beginning of larger works and sections	Multicoloured initials with elaborate floral designs, sometimes on gold ground. Often multicoloured floral penwork around the initials extending into the margins	Some later excised
penned initials	often		calligraphic	For subsections and smaller pieces

PRoMs - The Production and Reading of Music Sources