Dijon, France, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 517, All folios

Physical description

Material: parchment

Number of leaves: 204

Format: upright

Page dimensions: 173 x 125

Quire structure: Text version

Index / Table of Contents: Original index, with pieces listed alphabetically by title, on ff. 1v-4v.

Other devices: 1. Original foliation brown ink top right, ii-vii, ix-cc (= 7-203).
2. Modern foliation ink top right, 1-10, 10bis-203.
3. Remnants of quire signatures, mostly trimmed off.

Page details (zoom):

Preparation and Copying

All folios

Preparation

Disposition of Voice Parts Key

Pricking	sometimes, Prick in outer margin for the bottom line of each stave
Ruled grid	always, Single bounding lines to left and right, no text lines
Ruling pattern	highly regular
Staves omitted from grid	never
Incomplete staves	never

Medium and colour of grid	Frequency	Folios	Note
red ink	always
Colour of staves	Frequency	Folios	Note
brown	always
Ruling medium	Frequency	Folios	Note
single rastrum	always		staves scored with rastrum, but lines inked individually
Indentation for initials	Frequency	Folios	Note
single	always		stave 1 of every pages
Extra space between voice parts	Frequency	Folios	Note
empty ruled staves on grid	always
Space provided for separate text	Frequency	Folios	Note
provided, in dedicated space	normally		bottom 2-4 staves on verso below D in three-voice pieces, notated with stavelines as text lines. More ad hoc in whatever space was left for four-voice pieces whre the T or C occupies this space. Space left blank for residua where no extra text is present.

Copying of text and music

Language(s)	French, Latin
Order of Copying	music first always

Presence/absence of text	Voice part	Frequency
fully texted with one text	all voice parts	occasionally
fully texted with one text	discantus	normally
provided with single incipit	tenor	normally
provided with single incipit	contratenor	often
untexted	contratenor	often
provided with two incipits	all except discantus	rarely
fully texted with one text	tenor	rarely
fully texted with one text	all except bassus	rarely
untexted	bassus	rarely
partially texted with one text	contratenor	rarely
provided with single incipit	bassus	rarely
partially texted with one text	bassus	rarely

Music

Colour(s) of notation	brown
Type(s) of notation	void mensural
Type of notation note	slim and pointed rhomboid shaped notation
Monophonic notation	absent
Level of calligraphy	very high

Later changes	Folios
Addition of brief treatise on notation on ff. 5r-6r (blank remaining pages of index quire)

Text

Types of script	cursive (bastarda)
Level of calligraphy	very high
Colour(s) of text	brown
Multiple texts	no
Text repetitions	none
Abbreviations	some
Non underlaid vocal text	additional normally below discantus on blank ruled staves, using the stavelines as text lines
Liminary text	Voice designations, almost always for T and C, written out below notation in normal text hand.

Decoration

Level of Decoration	fair

Decoration initial type	Frequency	Folios	Initial type(s)	Description
penned initials	sometimes		calligraphic , calligraphic with grotesque heads, zoomorphic initial	The calligraphic initials exhibit three stages of completion: unadorned; decorated with line drawings contained in a delimiting border; and fully decorated in pink, red, orange, blue, yellow, brown, occasional green, gray and white (Alden 2010)
penned initials	occasionally		plain initials	The calligraphic initials exhibit three stages of completion: unadorned; decorated with line drawings contained in a delimiting border; and fully decorated in pink, red, orange, blue, yellow, brown, occasional green, gray and white (Alden 2010)
initials planned	often	from f. 85v
painted initials	sometimes		calligraphic with decoration, decorated with grotesque heads, zoomorphic initial	The calligraphic initials exhibit three stages of completion: unadorned; decorated with line drawings contained in a delimiting border; and fully decorated in pink, red, orange, blue, yellow, brown, occasional green, gray and white. The designs in the initials include grotesque faces (with exaggerated noses, lips, and protruding chins, generally scowling); figures with bishops’ mitres; jesters; people in courtly attire; obscene figures defecating; hybrid creatures; various animals, birds, snails, fish, and insects; bagpipes; bells; flowers; and acanthus-leaf patterning (red and pink or gray and white). A yellow wash was used as background. (Alden 2010)

PRoMs - The Production and Reading of Music Sources

Provenance

Artists/Scribes

Bibliography