Sydney, University of Sydney Fisher Library, Rare Books & Special Collections, Add.Ms. 376

The manuscript includes eight liturgical sections, beginning with what appears to be the original volume (ff. 1r-48r) and followed by an assemblage from other related manuscripts. The first section is dedicated by a devotee of Mary to a female religious house. Given the reverence for Mary stated in the dedication, it is not surprising that this first section primarily includes chants for Mary, with further feasts for John the Baptist (41r) and Jerome (46v). Examination of the contents suggests three feasts worthy of attention given the rarity of either the feast itself or the chants therein: Expectationis BVM, Presentatio Mariae, and Mariae ad Nives, each found in less than ten percent of Cantus sources. Because this first section of the manuscript reflects the original volume, this is the only section currently indexed in Cantus (June 2018).

Although the subsequent (unindexed) sections of the manuscript are unnumbered and comprise an unusual assortment of liturgical occasions, there is a recurring emphasis on Jerome amid various other chants: Matins Responsories for Jerome (Sept 30); Sundays 15-20 after Pentecost; Holy Week; Paula the widow (January 26); a Kyriale with four complete mass ordinary cycles; Apparition of James (May 23); and a final section for Jerome with more office chants. Of these seven sections, three bear a connection to Jerome, considering that the manuscript identifies Paula the widow as a follower of Jerome in the rubric for her feast. Among these feasts connected to Jerome, the office for Paula the widow (Vespers, Lauds, 10 chants in total) appears to be rare. There are, at the time of indexing, no other offices for her in Cantus, and only a few of the chants occur in other sources within the context of other feasts (see “Surrexerunt filii”, Can 205661, for St. Anne and “Domine dilexi decorem", Can 2341, for the Dedication of a Church). The Mass for the Apparition of James also appears unique within Cantus sources, although this bears revisiting given that the indexing of Mass chants in Cantus is relatively recent.

A further unifying feature of the compendium is the use of two related manuscripts (seemingly by the same scribe) to begin and end the volume. Both the first Marian section and final Jerome section exhibit the same scribal hand, but the final section is clearly from a smaller volume, with smaller folio size and only six (rather than seven) systems per folio. Although the other sections of the manuscript show different degrees of scribal variance, these also imitate, in part, the original section of the manuscript, using similarly shaped, sized, and coloured letter forms to begin certain chants.