Leaf from a Gradual incorporating musical notation and text with a gymnastic initial 'S' depicting a dragon with interlacing scrolls on parti-coloured red and blue ground; written in Gothic Book Script (textualis); Northern European, possibly German; late 12th century.

Leaf of parchment or vellum ruled to accommodate 12 lines of text with accompanying musical notation in ruled staves above each line. The text is Gothic Book Script (textualis) and written in brown ink. The musical notation is in black ink. The ruling lines are in either brown or red ink. Prickings down the right edge of the leaf correspond with the distance between the ruled lines.

One large gymnastic initial (a gymnastic initial is an initial composed of a lively, acrobatic human and/or animal figures and was particularly characteristic of the Romanesque period) 'S' occurs at the top left of the page. This initial is enclosed within a plain double-lined ink border and the whole is equivalent in height to five lines of text with accompanying musical notation. The letter 'S' is made of the elongated body of a dragon and interlaced scrolls incorporating foliate motifs which spill out of the letter's border from the tail of the letter 'S' into the left-hand margin of the page. The background of the letter is blocked in with either blue or red ink or left as blank parchment/vellum. The letter itself has a brown ink outline with some additions in black ink. The overspilling foliate scrolls are outlined in brown and red ink.

The main body of text incorporates three minor initials (two 'A''s and a 'U', the 'A's being different in appearance) denoted in red ink which are equivalent in height to one line of text with its accompanying musical notation and in two instances are preceded by rubrics. Some other, even smaller, initials in the text are embellished with tiny additions in red ink.

A note in a different hand to that of the scribe appears in a gap on the left side of the 4th line of text up from the bottom of the page. Two further additions occur in a hand closer to the scribe but could still be different. These are found in the left margin next to the large initial 'S' (partly trimmed away) and on the left of the bottom margin.

Purchased from J. and S. Goldschmidt as part of three portfolios (now Museum nos 234-296) designated as a 'Illuminations: a collection of 338 specimens, pages and cuttings' for the total sum of £100.0.0, received on 15 October 1872; passed on for Register in April 1874 (see Register of Drawings).
A duplicate number MS.15 was assigned to this object in error and was subsequently cancelled.

Historical significance: Manufacturing Techniques

This leaf is a good example of medieval working practices. Before either the script or the decoration could be added to a manuscript, the pages had to be ruled. In order to achieve consistency between the ruling of each page it was common practice to measure out the first page of a quire (‘quire’ is the name used for the 'gatherings' or 'booklets' of which a codex/book is formed) or the first and last page together if the quire was laid open. The person undertaking the work would then follow the lines with a rule to the extreme edge of the page and there prick very hard through the whole stack of leaves. Once this was done, the pages could be opened and the prickings joined up to create a ruling pattern duplicated exactly from page to page. The row of prickings down the right hand edge of this particular leaf marrys up with the ruled lines of the page and is therefore an example of the pricking technique.

Prickings are not always visible on the pages of manuscripts as they were often cut off when the codex was trimmed during binding. If they are evident on the inner margin of a page, the quire must have been folded, rather than laid open, when it was pricked. In the case of this individual leaf it is impossible to say whether it was on the left (i.e. verso – the back of the folio) when the book was bound and laid open or on the right (i.e. recto – the front of the folio) and as such we cannot say whether it was part of a manuscript ruled with its quires open or closed.

Script

The script used on this leaf is Gothic Book Script (textualis) which, according to Michelle P. Brown (The British Library Guide to Writing and Scripts: History and Techniques, London, 1998) was introduced around 1200 and continued to be used until about 1600. However, there are some examples of manuscripts on the British Library's on-line catalogue of medieval manuscripts (e.g. Arundel 222) which employ this text and are dated to the last quarter of the twelfth century. As such, it is possible that this leaf dates to just before, rather than just after, 1200.

Decoration

Medieval books had no contents page or index and as such decorative initials (and sometimes miniatures) were used as a means of signalling key divisions in the text or, in this case, music. There was a hierarchy to the decoration – the important/major initials might be historiated (that is, with a figurative picture) or elaborately decorated while the lesser/minor initials might be made of coloured letters on coloured or gold grounds, often with flourishing in ink of a contrasting colour or even simply a letter slightly larger than the main body of text and picked out in a contrasting colour (e.g. red or blue).

The scrolling interlace forming the zoomorphic, gymnast initial 'S' derives from the interlace motifs of insular art of the 6th to10th centuries, which went on to influence Carolingian and Romanesque styles. The curved elements of the letter shape represent the elongated body of a dragon, including, most noticeably its wings. Spiralling stems of this kind were frequently associated with a dragon, a decorative device used throughout Europe. The red and blue ink forming the parti-coloured ground of the ‘S’ is typical of book illustration during the twelfth century (as was green but this colour is not present on the leaf in question) and its plain, block-like application is especially representative of the second half of that century.

Function

Without a lengthy analysis of the text it is difficult to say for certain which sort of music manuscript this leaf came from. However, it is most likely to have come from a Gradual, the principal choir-book used in the celebration of Mass.

Background to Music and Christian Liturgy

Music was incorporated into the Christian Liturgy early on and had been influenced by the use of music in the synagogue. Plainchant (unison singing, originally unaccompanied) was the traditional music of the western Church and from about 1000, vocal polyphony (music with two or more melodically independent parts) was being practiced. Polyphony made certain chants of the Mass longer and more complex.

The notation of liturgical music initially appears in the form of neumes - graphic symbols written above the text and indicating the rise and fall of melodic movement or repetitions of the same pitch. From the 11th century they were commonly written on a four-line staff. Two hundred years later, eastern European music manuscripts adopted Gothic notation, produced with a thick, square-cut nib, with the points and curves of neumes being replaced by broader, more angular forms. A similar development in the Île de France gave rise to the use of square notation in the late twelfth century, especially in France and Italy.


Different Types of Liturgical Music Manuscripts

Liturgical manuscripts with musical components were either used in the celebration of the Mass or the Divine Office and included the following:

MASS
(With the Divine Office the Mass forms the basis of Christian Liturgy. It centres on the Eucharist and was attended daily by those in religious orders, the clergy and, with varying frequency, by members of the laity)

Gradual - the principal choir book used in the mass.

Kyriale - the portion of a Gradual containing the ordinary chants of the Mass (i.e. the chants whose text remain unchanged throughout the ecclesiastical year)

Sequentiary - book (or portion of a Gradual or Troper) containing sequences (extended melodies) sung by a soloist between the alleluia and the Gospel lesson at Mass.

Troper - book containing tropes: musical and textual additions to the chants of the mass or divine office.

Missal - Service book containing the texts necessary for the performance of the Mass together with ceremonial directions (merged the Sacramentary, Gradual, Evangelary and for the performance of high or solemn mass the Epistolary).


DIVINE OFFICE
(With the Mass forms basis of Christian Liturgy. Cycle of daily devotions - the prayers of the canonical hours - performed by members of religious orders and the clergy)

Antiphonal (also called an antiphoner or antiphonary) - contains the sung portion of the Divine Office . It was often large in format so that it could be used by a choir.

Hymnal (also called a hymnary) - containing metrical hymns sung in the Divine Office and arranged according to the liturgical year. Could be included in a Psalter or Antiphonal as a separate section. Its contents were eventually incorporated into the Breviary.

Breviary - service book combining the various volumes used during the Divine Office (Psalter, Antiphonal, Lectionary, Colectar, Martyrology, Hymnal and others). Used from the 11th century onwards.


[A Choir Book is the generic term for a service book containing the parts of the Mass or the Divine Office sung by the Choir.]


The above is adapted from Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms by Michelle P. Brown (London, 1995)

This manuscript leaf was probably cut from a Gradual, the principal choir-book used in the celebration of Mass. Medieval books had no contents page or index and as such decorative initials were used as a means of signalling key divisions in the text or, in this case, music. There was a hierarchy to the decoration – the important/major initials might be historiated (that is, they contained identifiable scenes or figures) or elaborately decorated. The lesser/minor initials might be made of coloured letters on coloured or gold grounds. Sometimes they were simply a letter slightly larger than the main body of text, picked out in a contrasting colour (e.g. red or blue).

The letter ‘S’ on this particular leaf can be described as a zoomorphic, gymnast initial because it is made up of an animal – a dragon – assuming a lively, acrobatic pose. The way the elements forming the initial weave in and out of each other derive from the interlace motifs used in insular art of the 6th to 10th centuries.

244:1