Single leaf from a gradual, thought to have been purchased around 1940-1945 at the Portobello market in London. Currently framed and only one side is visible. Some fading/deterioration of ink has occurred through storage. Foliated CXLVIII on upper right.
Measures 510x355 mm, with a written area of 430x280 mm.
Musical notation:
9 staves per page. Each staff is four red lines. F clefs are three oblong marks with a long "descender"; c-clefs occasionally also appear, and are formed of two narrow, slightly angled rectangles. Square neumes, quite large, frequently touching.
Script/decoration:
A red-and-blue I "puzzle initial" with considerable red filigree, two staff-lines in height, begins the introit. A 'ribbon-like' initial in black begins the introit verse. Text is written in a Gothic script with very few hairlines and a few distinguishing characteristics: long s lacks feet or a spur, g has a small lower loop and a connecting 'hook'. Although the text is narrow and angular, the ascender on d is horizontal (usually a southern feature), and the a is open. Dating and provenance is thus difficult to establish.
Usage:
There is evidence of some correction of the manuscript: two page references for incipits were erased and changed (lxviii to lxxviii) and the numbering of the relevant Sunday apparently changed (from xx?) to "x9", with "19" in the margin. This suggests the changes were made fairly late, when Arabic numerals had become the norm; it may also point to the rite used, as the chants are more typically for the 21st and not the 19th Sunday after Pentecost.
