TEXT IN LATIN.

A MEDIEVAL VELLUM MANUSCRIPT LEAF FROM A CHOIR BOOK, RECOVERED FROM A BINDING.

(Germany: 15th century). 237 x 176 (9 1/4 x 6 7/8"). Single column, seven lines of text with four-line staves, in a gothic hand.

Staves and several large initials in red. Paper spine labels, shelf mark in blue pencil on verso. Recovered from a binding and thus with some soiling to vellum, one line partially obscured by later labels, one side covered with thin paper (but the lines still visible beneath it), and the side that was later the outer portion of the binding completely legible and in excellent condition.

This specimen presents an excellent opportunity to examine how Medieval manuscripts were used in the construction of later bindings. The two preserved spine labels tell us that, after its first life in the 15th century, the leaf was recycled to cover a copy of a legal work titled "De jurisdictione et poteitate judicis," dealing with the jurisdiction and power of judges. The manuscript leaf originally comes from an Antiphonary or Gradual, containing the sung parts of the Divine Office or Mass. The musical notation is a typical example of German Hufnagel notes, resembling the appearance of square-headed horseshoe nails (from which the term derives). (ST19350-058)

Price: $550.00