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

MS. Lat. liturg. d. 20

Summary Catalogue no.: Not in SC (late accession)

Contents

The Worcester Fragments

Fifteen leaves of polyphonic music recovered from bindings of MSS. Auct. F. inf. 1. 3 (SC 2747), Bodl. 862 (SC 2730), and Hatton 30 (SC 4076). Interspersed with photostats of other fragments in Worcester Cathedral Library MS. Add. 68 and Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 25031. The MS. is fully described with facsimiles and a concordance of new with old foliations by L. A. Dittmer, The Worcester Fragments, Musicological Studies and Documents 2, Amer. Inst. of Musicology, 1957, and Publications of Medieval Music Manuscripts, no.6, Inst. of Med. Music, New York, 1960. The following list aims to clarify the sometimes confusing relationship between the original leaves and the modern reprocuctions in the volume, and between the various foliations. In addition to the foliations mentioned in the literature, the reproductions of fragments at Worcester have another modern pencil foliation, now erased: this was perhaps used temporarily, before the volume was bound.

(fols. i-ii)

Typescript letter from Anselm Hughes to H. H. E. Craster, asking for the flyleaves of MS. Auct. F. I. 3 and Magdalen College, MS. 100, to be removed from their bindings, and for photographs to be deposited at Worcester; dated 23 September 1924.

(fol. iii)

Typescript letter from Anselm Hughes to H. H. E. Craster, thanking the latter for supplying him with rotographs; dated 30 August 1927

(fol. iv b)

Typescript letter from Luther A. Dittmer to R. W. Hunt, supplying a concordance of the 'Present (Hughes)' foliation and the 'Future' foliation which Dittmer intended to use in his 'forthcoming publication'; dated 22 August 1952.

(fol. v)

Brief notes on the contents and foliation, in the hand of Edgar Lobel

(fol. 1r-v; medieval VI)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. X.

(fol. 2r-v; medieval VII)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. X

(fol. 3r-v; medieval XIII)

Rotograph of BL, Add. MS. 25031

(fol. 4r-v; medieval XIIII)

Rotograph of BL, Add. MS. 25031

(fol. 5r-v)

Rotograph of BL, Add. MS. 25031 (no medieval foliation visible)

(fol. 6r-v; formerly 3ar and 3av)

Positive of BL, Add. MS. 25031 (small fragment; no medieval foliation visible).

(fol. 7r-v; formerly 10r-v)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XXXI (no medieval foliation visible)

(fol. 8r-v; formerly 6r-v; medieval LXXIIII)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XXVIIIa.

(fol. 9r-v; formerly 7r-v; medieval LXXVI)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XXVIIIb.

(fol. 10r-v; formerly 8r-v; medieval LXXVII)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XXVIIIc.

(fol. 11r-v; formerly 9r-v; medieval LXXIX)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XXVIIId

(fols. 12r-13v; formerly 11r-12v; medieval LXXXIII and LXXXVIII)

Incomplete bifolium; removed from Bodleian, MS. Auct. F. I. 3.

(fols. 14r-19v; formerly 13r-18v; medieval LXXXXII - LXXXXIIII and LXXXIX - CI)

Incomplete bifolia; lacking the two innermost, and perhaps also the outermost, bifolia of the quire.

(fol. 20r-v; formerly 19r-v; medieval CXXXVI)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XI.

(fol. 21r-v; formerly 20r-v)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XI (no medieval foliation visible).

(fol. 22r-v)

Formerly MS. Hatton 30, fol. 1r-v

(fol. 23r-v; formerly 21r-v)

Formerly MS. Bodl. 862, fol. ii r-v

(fol. 24r-v; formerly 22r-v)

Formerly MS. Bodl. 862, fol. vi v-r [sic]

(fol. 25r-v; formerly 23r-v)

Formerly MS. Bodl. 862, fol. iii r-v

(fol. 26r-v; formerly 24r-v)

Formerly Magdalen College, MS. 100, fol. 1r-v

(fol. 27r-v; formerly 37r-v)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. IX.

(fol. 27ar-v)

Reversed rotograph of the offsets on the inner faces of the boards of MS. Bodl. 862 (lower board=recto; upper board=verso)

(fol. 28r-v; formerly 25r-v; and MS. Bodl. 862, fol. iv r-v).
(fol. 29r-v; formerly 28r-v; and Magdalen College, MS. 100, fol. 'c' r-v).

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XXXV.

(fol. 30r-v; formerly 26r-v; and Magdalen College, MS. 100, fol. 'a' r-v).

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XXXV

(fol. 31r; formerly 30r; and Magdalen College, MS. 100, fol. 'e' r)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XXXV.

(fol. 32r-v; formerly 29r-v; and Magdalen College, MS. 100, fol. 'd' r-v)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XXXV

(fol. 33r-v; formerly 27r-v; and Magdalen College, MS. 100, fol. 'b' r-v)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XXXV

(fol. 34r-v; formerly 31r-v; and MS. Bodl. 862)

A narrow strip from the outer edge of a leaf, pasted to what is now the gutter edge (formerly the outer edge) of the present fol. 35

(fol. 35r-v; formerly 32r-v; and a pastedown in MS. Bodl. 862)

The present recto is the original verso, and should face the present fol. 34r.

(fol. 36r-v; formerly 34r-v)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XIII pp. 3–4.

(fol. 37r-v; formerly 35r-v)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XIII pp. 5–6 (also numbered 'IV b' and 'Nº. XIII b' on the verso).

(fol. 38r-v; formerly 36r-v)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XIII pp. 7–8

(fol. 39r-v; formerly 33r-v)

Rotograph of Worcester Chapter Library, MS. Add. 68, no. XIII pp. 1–2 (also numbered 'IV b' and 'Nº. XIII' on the recto).

(fol. 40r-v; formerly 38r-v)

Blank modern paper flyleaf.

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: 15 leaves, with 25 photostats = vi + 40 leaves
Dimensions (leaf): 270 × 200 mm.
Much mutilated by binders; dimensions variable.
Foliation: Medieval foliation in red ink upper-case roman numerals survives in the earlier part of the volume; at least two modern pencil foliations are present throughout (see under Text).

Collation

The leaves do not necessarily come from a single original volume; there are too many lacunae to reconstruct the collation with any confidence, but it seems that quires of about ten leaves were common in the section with medieval foliation: the first quire must have been of 10 leaves, since fols. VI-VII in the medieval foliation are a bifolium; the quire including medieval fols. LXXXII-CI was probably also of 10; and that containing LXXIX-LXXXVIII was presumably of 12 leaves.

Layout

Long lines

Musical Notation:

8–10 staves of 5 red lines

Decoration

Red and blue initials, a few with flourishing.

Binding

Bodleian guardbook, c.1925; repaired in 1964.

History

Origin: 13th century, late - 14th century, early ; English, Worcester

Provenance and Acquisition

Worcester, Benedictine cathedral priory

Photostats given by the dean and chapter of Worcester and others, 1925

Record Sources

Typescript description by Bodleian Library staff, revised by Peter Kidd, late 1990s.

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (29 images from 35mm slides)

Bibliography

Last Substantive Revision

2017-07-01: First online publication.