Connecticut, Private collections, D:0yp1h (fragment)

Cantus Siglum

Cantus D:0yp1h (fragment)

Holding Institution

Connecticut, Private collections

Manuscript/Printed

Manuscript

Summary

Six parchment fragments from an antiphoner leaf used in the spine of an 18th-century book binding, probably from the early-thirteenth century, with square notation on grey/black four-line staves. Cistercian.

Liturgical Occasions

Feast of St. Benedict

Description

Six binding fragments used for a series of volumes of the "Histoire Ecclesiastique pour servir de continuation à celle de Monsieur l'Abbé Fleury" (Paris, Pierre-Jean Mariette, 1720-30). This group of fragments was part of the spine for vols. 6, 11, and 19. They measure approximately 203 x 152 mm; the present shape is not rectangular, but rather composed of several "comb" shaped pieces which formerly overlapped in the book's spine. The current shape preserves much of the original page height and width, however; it likely measured some 400x300mm in its original state. A roundel reads "xxi" in the lower margin (perhaps a page number or quire number.)

Text hand is praegothica (likely s.13, first half), with curved feet and occasional S and T ligatures (even when the letters are physically separated, the curve is present.) Musical notation is square on a grey/black, four-line staff. Staff height between 12.5 and 14.5 mm. Most notes have a rightward lean, with a stem poking up on the upper right of the note. Connected neumes often have a somewhat curved oblique stroke, with varying thickness. B-flat is present, with a fork in the stem. Both f and c clefs are used, depending on the mode of the chant. The scandicus is sometimes stacked four high. The climacus sometimes has a stem on the left.

The notation suggests a Cistercian provenance, which is corroborated by the contents--a monastic office for St. Benedict using a typically Cistercian ordering and textual variants. However, nothing is known about the provenance prior to its use as a binding fragment.


The fragments from the Ridgefield Project are:

Group A (Gradual): https://cantusdatabase.org/source/1000008

Group B (Antiphoner): https://cantusdatabase.org/source/1000006

Group C (Antiphoner): https://cantusdatabase.org/source/1000007

Group D (Antiphoner): https://cantusdatabase.org/source/1000009

Group E (Antiphoner): https://cantusdatabase.org/source/1000010

Group F (Antiphoner): https://cantusdatabase.org/source/714555

Group G (Antiphoner): https://cantusdatabase.org/source/1000027

Group H (Antiphoner): https://cantusdatabase.org/source/1000028

Group I (Antiphoner): https://cantusdatabase.org/source/1000029

Group J (Antiphoner): (No chant contents)

Group K (Antiphoner): https://cantusdatabase.org/source/1000030

Groups L-O, from the Gradual, are yet to be published on Fragmentarium.

In addition, several other fragments possibly pertaining to the same institution(s) were part of the same bindings. https://fragmentarium.ms/view/page/F-036q appears to be a 17th century table of contents or reading, while the many fragments of https://fragmentarium.ms/view/page/F-rv55 have not yet been identified.

Selected Bibliography

Fragmentarium: Cistercian antiphoner (Fragment), Ridgefield, CT, Private collection (https://fragmentarium.ms/overview/F-yp1h)

Notes on the Inventory

The fragments in Connecticut USA, Private collections, D-0yp1h were inventoried by Anna de Bakker (Dalhousie University) and proofread by Debra Lacoste (Dalhousie University). This item was contributed by the Ridgefield Fragments Project, a private collection of over 100 pieces of musical and textual manuscript recovered during restoration from the spines of 25 18th-century French books. The owner, who may be contacted via email at RidgefieldFragments@gmail.com, expresses his thanks for the support of the DACT team and wider academic community.

Full Texts Entered by

Anna de Bakker

Full/Partial Inventory

Full Inventory

Complete Source/Fragment

Fragment

Fragment ID

F-yp1h

DACT ID

D:0yp1h