Rome, Italy, Biblioteca Casanatense, MS 2856 (olim O.V. 208), All folios
Physical description
Material: parchment
Number of leaves: ii + 164 + ii
Format: upright
Page dimensions: 270 x 202
Quire structure: Text version
Title page / Frontispiece: on front pastedown (pasted in from earlier flyleaf of pastedown): "O. V. 208. in cc. Musica | Cod. 2856", further below: "Ex dono Baini"
Index / Table of Contents: Original index on ff. 2r-2v groups pieces alphabetically by first letter of text or title, with subgrouping under each letter by order of appearance. Index now incomplete (A-M pieces only) due to lost folio following new f. 2.
Colophon:
Other devices: 1. Original numbering of pieces, ink recto top right, 1-101 (ff. 3-131), 102-111 (ff. 147v-164r); ff. 131v-146r interpolated after first two sections completed.
2. Modern stamped foliation recto bottom right, 1-164, includes paper flyleaf preceding first parchment folio.
Page details (zoom):
Preparation and Copying
All foliosPreparation
Disposition of Voice Parts Key
Signe de renvoi
| Pricking |
often,
for vertical bounding lines, top and bottom, very often trimmed off. None visible for staves in outer margins |
| Ruled grid |
always,
single line to left and right, lines for text added ad hoc of present at all |
| Ruling pattern |
highly regular
7 pentagrams, very parallel and even |
| Staves omitted from grid | never |
| Incomplete staves | never |
| Medium and colour of grid | Frequency | Folios | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| brown ink and hard point | always | ||
| Colour of staves | Frequency | Folios | Note |
| reddish brown | always | ||
| Ruling medium | Frequency | Folios | Note |
| single rastrum | always | ||
| Indentation for initials | Frequency | Folios | Note |
| none | always | no indentation of notation, initials where present in left margin | |
| 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 | ||
| Adhoc adaptation | Frequency | Folios | Note |
| notation and staves extended into margin | occasionally | ||
| notation extended into margin | sometimes |
Copying of text and music
| Language(s) | French, Latin |
|---|---|
| Order of Copying |
music first
always |
| Presence/absence of text | Voice part | Frequency | Folios | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| provided with single incipit | all voice parts | normally | ||
| untexted | all voice parts | occasionally |
Music
| Colour(s) of notation | black |
| Type(s) of notation | void mensural |
| Type of notation note | rhomboid shaped notation, very large noteheads, stems drawn separately |
| Monophonic notation | absent |
| Level of calligraphy | high |
| Non verbal performance instructions | Folios | Note |
|---|---|---|
| signes-de-renvoi | ornamental and flamboyant signes-de-renvoi from verso to recto on many pages (in red/brown ink, with birds, floral motifs etc.) | |
| Line fillers | Folios | Note |
| often | repeated custodes |
Text
| Types of script | humanistic |
| Level of calligraphy | high |
| Colour(s) of text | brown |
| Multiple texts | no |
| Text repetitions | n/a |
| Abbreviations | some |
| Non underlaid vocal text | none |
| Liminary text | Composer names, normally; voice designations, as initials except D, initials and fully written out afterwards below stave |
Decoration
| Level of Decoration | fair |
| Decoration border frequency | Border type | Folios | Size | Position | Description | Discrepancies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rarely | decorated | 3v | partial borders: two-sided | lower margin, outer margin | Vine and floral motifs, filigree work, and circular discs, in white and gold on deep blue ground decorated with light green, crimson, gold, silver, and black; combined coats of arms of Este and Gonzaga families incorporated into bottom border | |
| Decoration initial type | Frequency | Folios | Initial type(s) | Size position | Description | Discrepancies |
| penned initials | normally | plain initials | Plain block style initials in red, blue, and gold | |||
| Other decoration frequency | Folios | Other decoration type(s) | Size position | Description | Discrepancies | |
| often | signes-de-renvoi | ornamental and flamboyant signes-de-renvoi from verso to recto on many pages (in red/brown ink, with birds, floral motifs etc.) | ||||