With their large folios and rich ornament, choirbooks were highly prized by 19th-century collectors. Early in the Museum's history, probably before 1863, a large number of folios were acquired from a single German Antiphonal. One of the leaves is inscribed '149[-]'. Sets of such choirbooks were often produced over a period of years, and the date may represent a local tradition for some event with which the books were associated. The ornament is difficult to assign to a particular centre as it is found over a wide area, but the attribution to the region of Mainz may be correct. The text and music are for the Divine Office of several feasts and saints' days.

This leaf shows St James of Compostela, identified by his pilgrim's badge, and St James the Less, with whom he shares a feast. The latter's emblem (the fuller's staff, used for beating cloth to cleanse it) is given prominence and so may suggest some link with a cloth-making centre. Feasts for St Benedict perhaps indicate that the choirbook was made for a monastery.