A catalogue of Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries and selected Oxford colleges

MS. D'Orville 145

Summary Catalogue no.: 17023

Contents

1. (fol. 1)
Hyginus, Astronomica

With glosses

Not divided into books, but with the preface 'Hyginus M. Fabio plurimam salutem'

Language(s): Latin
2. (fol. 56)
Verses on the Zodiac
Incipit: Ad Boreae partes

Twelve verses on the signs of the zodiac. The first three lines have neumes (added slightly later) above them. E. W. B. Nicholson notes that it is possible that the lines with these neumes were meant to be sung four times (Introduction to the Study of Some of the Oldest Latin Musical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford [1913], vol. 3, p. lxxix)

Language(s): Latin
3. (fol. 57)
Ps.-Seneca, Prouerbia
Rubric: Proverbia .A. Senecae
Incipit: Alienum est omne

Presented in alphabetical order

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: i + 67 leaves
Dimensions (binding): 6.875 × 6.125 in.
Musical Notation:

Nicholson notes that the neumes on fol. 56 are in a lighter ink than the main text and that an ink of the same colour was used by a corrector on fol. 44v who seems to be roughly contemporary with the main scribe. The similarity in the colour of the ink leads Nicholson to speculate that it may have been the corrector who added the neumes. Nicholson reports H. M. Bannister's opinion that the neumes are from Metz, with Bannister noting the similarity with those found in a 12th century antiphon in honour of the Belgian saint Lambert on fol. 155 of MS. Auct. T. 2. 23. Bannister compares MS. D'Orville 145 to Vatican MS. Reg. lat. 1987, fol. 1r, also from St Peter's, Ghent, which has the same lines and similar neumes but repeated throughout the poem (Some of the Oldest Latin Musical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library [1913], vol. 3, p. lxxix). See also Henry Marriott Bannister, Monumenti vaticani di paleografia musicale latina (Lipsia, 1913), p. 101, note 2

Decoration

With coloured capitals

History

Origin: 11th century (?) or the beginning of the 12th

Provenance and Acquisition

'Liber Sancti Petri Gandavensis ecclesie. Seruanti benedictio. Tollenti maledictio. Qui folium ex eo tulerit, uel cretauerit, anahema sit.' (12th century)

Jacques Phillippe D'Orville of Amsterdam (1690–1751)

Jean D'Orville, b. 1734, his son, by descent

Jean D'Orville, son of Jean, by descent

Sold to the Rev. John Cleaver Banks (1765/1766–1845): purchased from him by the Bodleian

Acquired by the Bodleian in 1804

Record Sources

Description adapted (July 2024) by Stewart J. Brookes from the Summary Catalogue (1897), with additional reference to published literature as cited

Last Substantive Revision

2024-07-31: Description revised to incorporate all the information in the Summary Catalogue (1897)