This antiphoner was possibly written for use by the female abbey of Saint Mechtern in Cologne, renamed Saint Apern in 1477.
An inscription was added to the cover page of the manuscript when it was acquired by the archiepiscopal seminary in Köln. It reads as follows: "Antiphonarium Romanum Coloniense Ordinis Cisterciensis pars hiemalis / e saeculo 12 vel initio saeculi 13 / e monasterio SS Bartholomaaeeii et Apri, moniatium ordinis Cistertiensis Coloniae olim florente. / pertinent ad bibliothecam Seminarii Archiepiscopalis Coloniensis."
Manuscript is written on parchment. Parchment from other manuscripts was reused for endpapers in the binding. The manuscript includes red, gold, blue, and green illuminated letters on ff. 1r, 18r. Folios are numbered in Roman numerals in the outer margin of each folio recto.
Differentiae are indicated by their last note and an arbitrarily-assigned number within each mode.