MS. Selden Supra 27
Summary Catalogue no.: 3415
Sequentiary and Proser, Troper, in Latin (with a few added words in German); south-east Germany (?Heidenheim), 10th century, second half or 11th century, first half
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Inserted notes signed and dated by ‘H.M.Bannister | Sep. 3. [18]98’, with initialled addenda and corrigenda by him dated August 1901 and September 1918.
Added (13th century) verses for the procession of the Holy Innocents (cf. fol. 88v).
Sequentiary and Proser
The proses with the notation of the Alleluia sequences in the outer margins, mostly also with added interlinear neums.
Introductory letter of Notker Balbulus (imperfect at the end)
Temporale, from Christmas to the octave of Pentecost
Including saints’ feasts in Christmastide, from St Stephen, and as late as St Agnes (26 Dec. – 21 Jan.); and with St Walburga (fols. 29r–30r), without notation, between the octave of Easter and Ascension.
Sanctorale, from St John the Baptist to St Winibald (24 June – 18 Dec.)
Including St Willibald (fols. 37r–38v) and Winibald (fols. 53r–54r). The dedication of a church (fols. 47v–48v) is between the feasts of St Gall (16 Oct.) and All Saints (1 Nov.).
Common of saints
The Trinity
Without marginal notation, and the added interlinear neumes in a more grey ink than the brown neumes added elsewhere.
Proper Tropes, mostly for introit and communion, with interlinear neumes.
Temporale, from Christmas Eve to Pentecost (lacking the first leaf).
Sanctorale, from John the Baptist to Martin (24 June – 11 Nov.)
The Dedication of a church
Common of the saints. Many Saints is followed by St Gall, referring to him as ‘sanctissimi patroni nostri Galli’.
Alleluia prosula for St Willibald, Easter, and Sundays
Tropes for the Ordinary of the Mass
Kyrie (fols. 82r–84v), Gloria (fols. 84v–89r), Sanctus (fols. 89r–90r) and Agnus dei (fol. 90r–v).
12th- & 13th-century additions:
Holy Innocents (cf. fol. 1r)
St Bartholomew
St John the Evangelist
Ite missa est
There are occasional marginal variant readings and glosses in Latin and (apparently, fol. 58r) German, and a note in German on fol. 46v (see Provenance).
The textual and musical contents of the volume are described and analysed in much greater detail in the introduction to a published facsimile: Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Selden Supra 27: Prosaire-Tropaire de Heidenheim, Publications des manuscrits musicaux du moyen âge, 33, ed. Dujka Smoje (Ottawa: Institute of Mediaeval Music, 2006).
Fols. 3r-59r, 90v, 91v are inventoried by Calvin Bowers for the Cantus Database.
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
Blind-ruled for 15 lines of text per page, allowing a wide fore-edge margin for music. The ruled area for the text is c. 115 × 80 mm. ; the ruled area including the space left for notation is 115 × 115 mm. (the dimensions in Smoje, p. 9, are incorrect).
Hand(s)
Written in Caroline minuscule, said by Smoje to be very close to that of St Gall; she identifies three main scribes (fols. 1v-50r; fols. 50r5–59v; fols. 60r-62, 63r5–90v), three lesser ones, and additions by five more (Smoje, 2006, pp. 2, 10).
‘[N]otated in staffless neumes, which are based on the Saint-Gall tradition’ (Smoje, 2006, p. vii).
Decoration
With enlarged foliated initials drawn in red ink for the feasts of Christmas (fols. 3r, 61v), Easter (fol. 19v, 70r), Ascension (fol. 30r), Pentecost (fols. 32v, 72v), and the Kyries and Glorias (fols. 82r, 84v).
Other 1-, 2-, and 3-line initials in plain red.
Binding
Sewn on three (medieval alum-tawed?) bands and bound in quarter vellum and marbled paper over pasteboards (not ‘en bois’ as stated by Smoje, 2006, p. 5), without pastedowns; 18th century (?). Rebacked; the former spine with the number ‘27’ twice, now stuck to the inner face of the front board.
Fol. 1r is far more worn than 1v, suggesting that the book existed without a binding for a significant length of time.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Hartmut Hoffmann (reported in Stiftsbibliothek Sankt Gallen Codices 484 & 381, ed. Wulf Arlt and Susan Rankin (1996) I.112) dated the manuscript 'at the latest the last quarter of the tenth century'. Smoje, p. 13 suggested the middle of the 11th century. Van Dijk, followed by Pächt and Alexander, earlier suggested the second half of the 11th century.
Apparently written for use in the diocese of Eichstätt, probably for St Wunibald's, Heidenheim, as suggested by the importance accorded to Sts Willibald, Winibald, and Walburga: Willibald was first bishop of Eichstätt; his brother Winibald founded the double monastery at Heidenheim (about 50km to the south-west of Eichstätt, and within its diocese) and was its first abbot; their sister Walburga was first abbess. The two main parts seem to have been copied from different (St Gall?) models, but as the second starts in the same quire as that in which the firsts ends, they were demonstrably written as a single volume. Smoje suggests that it was owned by a succession of cantors of Heidenheim; additions were made in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Inscribed in German ‘do hutt ich un(de) gotefrit’, 13th(?) century (fol. 46v, upper margin).
Acquired by the Bodleian in 1659 from his executors. Former Bodleian shelfmarks: ‘MS. Supra. Seld. 27.’ in 17th-/18th-century ink and ‘[kept as Arch. F.e.10]’ in 20th-century pencil (fol. iir). To judge by the various foliations, some leaves have been rearranged at least once since acquisition by the Library.
Record Sources
Availability
To ensure its preservation, access to this item is restricted, and readers are asked to work from reproductions and published descriptions as far as possible. If you wish to apply to see the original, please click the request button above. When your request is received, you will be asked to contact the relevant curator outlining the subject of your research, the importance of this item to that research, and the resources you have already consulted.
Digital Images
Digital Bodleian (full digital facsimile)
Bibliography
Online resources:
Printed descriptions:
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2021-03-25: Revised description for Polonsky German digitization projecct.