Beinecke MS 707
Italy, s. XVI 1
Partial Missal for the use of a bishop, unfinished

1. ff. 1r-34v	In Nativitate Domini [25 Dec.] in prima missa. Statio ad Sanctam Mariam 
Maiorem ad Presepe. Introitus. Dominus dixit ad me: filius meus es tu ... ; [f. 6v:] In secunda 
missa. Statio ad Sanctam Anastasiam. Introitus. Lux fulgebit hodie super nos ... ; [f. 10r:] Ad 
missam maiorem. Statio ad Sanctam Mariam Maiorem. Introitus. Puer natus est nobis ... ; [f. 
16r:] In sancti Stephani prothomartyris [26 Dec.]. Statio ad Sanctum Stephanum in Celio monte. 
Introitus. Etenim sederunt principes ... ; [f. 21v:] In octava sancti Stephani [2 Jan.]. Oratio. 
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui primitias martyrum ... ; [f. 22r:] In sancti Iohannis apostoli et 
evangeliste [27 Dec.]. Statio ad Sanctam Mariam Maiorem. Introitus. In medio ecclesie aperuit os 
eius ... ; [f. 26v, Circumcision, 1 Jan.:] Puer natus est nobis ... ; [f. 29r:] In Epiphania Domini [6 
Jan.]. Statio ad Sanctum Petrum. Introitus.  Ecce advenit dominator Dominus ...

Masses for the main feasts of the Temporale from Christmas to Epiphany.

2. ff. 35r-71r	In Purificatione beate Marie virginis [2 Febr.]. Introitus. Suscepimus, Deus, 
misericordiam tuam ...

Full text (Ordinary and Sanctorale) of the mass for Candlemas. The rubrics prove that the 
manuscript is for the use of a bishop (Postea pontifex sollemniter cantet; Deinde pontifex dicat; 
Postea pontifex dicat hanc orationem, etc.). The space for music staves in Gloria (1 line), Preface, 
Lord's Prayer and Peace has remained blank.


Parchment (goat), ff. I + 71 + II, 390 x 275 mm.The outer quire side is flesh side.

I-VI10 (ff. 1-60), VII10 (ff. 61-70 + the singleton 71). Short horizontal catchword in the middle of 
the lower margin on f. 30v (end of quire III) only; a few remnants of signatures of the type "a1"-
"a5" (visible in quire IV = "d").

Double ruling (rake ruling) in light brown ink for one column of 12 lines (24 traced lines),231 x 
158 mm. Ruling type 11. Three pricks: one in the outer margin close to the lower edge of the text 
area, and two in the inner margin at the very top and bottom of the leaf. Pages intended to 
contain text with musical notation have four lines of text.

Copied by one hand in very large Southern Gothica Textualis Formata (Rotunda). The following 
texts are in a smaller size of the same script: Introit, Gradual, Tract, Offertory and Communion. 
It was the intention to trace the 4-line music staves (width c. 30 mm., not executed) over the lines 
of the ruling.

Rubrics in red. The high-quality decoration is unfinished and totally missing in the last quire (ff. 
61-71). Many majuscules have elaborate penwork in black and yellow on ff. 1r-6r; this decoration 
is missing further on. 1-line initials and 1-line crosses for the benedictions in gold on a square 
background in red, blue and green decorated with white and yellow penwork, in the text of art. 
2. 2-line initials decorated in Renaissance style with flowers and leaves in red, blue and green on 
a rectangular background in gold with short sprays in the margins. 4- or 5-line initials in the same 
style at the beginning of the main sections: in art. 1 on ff. 1r (unfinished), 6v, 10r; they are 
missing on ff. 16r (3 lines), 22r, 26v, 29r; in art. 2 such an initial is found on f. 35r; the 5-line 
initial on f. 52r  ("Te igitur") is historiated: the Cross on Calvary with the Lance and the Rod 
with the Sponge. All pages where the large initials have been executed have full framed 
decorative flowery borders in Renaissance style; on f. 35r only there is an unframed three-
margins-left border; in its lower section there is a medallion containing the erased coat of arms of 
a cardinal. Similar but empty medallions occur in the lower sections of the borders on ff. 1r (here 
the border is unfinished like the initial) and 52r. 

Binding s. XVII/XVIII: limp parchment, with marks of two pairs of ties. The endleaves, added 
by the dealer Laurence Witten, are two leaves placed transversally and taken from two different 
antiphonaries: (1) Italy, s. XIV. Contains part of the liturgy for Ascension: the responsory "Post 
passionem suam per dies quinquaginta apparens eis ..." (CAO 7403) and "In primo Nocturno 
antiphona. Elevata est magnificentia tua super celos ..." (CAO 2634). Parchment, 550 x 385 mm. 
Double ruling in brown ink for one column of 7 lines of script and 7 red 4-line staves (width 28 
mm.) traced over the ruling lines (together 42 traced lines, 388 x 240 mm., ruling type 11). 
Copied in Southern Gothica Textualis Formata (Rotunda); square notation. 2-line flourished 
initials and one 11-line littera duplex with extensive penwork and long marginal extensions, all in 
red and blue. 
(2) Italy, s. XVI 1. Contains part of the hymn "Rosa vernans caritatis, lilium ..." (RH 32993-
32994), the Psalm "Memento, Domine, David et omnis mansuetudinis eius ..." (Ps. 131) and the 
antiphon "Iuravit Dominus ..." (CAO 3522). Parchment, 550 x 390 mm. Double ruling in light 
brown ink for one column of 5 lines of script and 5 red 4-line staves (width 38 mm.) traced over 
the ruling lines (together 30 traced lines, 382 x c. 250 mm., ruling type 31 with an additional 
vertical line at both sides within the writing area). Copied in highly calligraphic Southern Gothica 
Textualis Formata (Rotunda); square notation. 3-line flourished initials, blue with rred and red 
wwith purple penwork; the "o" of "Rosa" , in black, treated as a disk decorated with an Arabic 
calligraphic pattern. 

It is not clear whether this curious manuscript, containing a very selective set of masses for 
Christmas time and the full mass for Candlemas, was intended to contain more masses. The 
presence of settings for three coats of arms, of which only one has been executed, is surprising. 
The book was anyhow made for a cardinal, who may have died before the music notation was 
added and the illumination was finished. According to the dealer Laurence Witten it was 
produced in Florence. Purchased on the Edwin J. Beinecke Fund in 1989?

Albert Derolez

R 20.02.09