Pontifical, the Order for the Dedication of a Church, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, first half of the twelfth century]

provenance

From a cluster of at least 8 leaves bought in 1956 by Bernard Rosenthal from Hans Koch, then owner of the firm of Jacques Rosenthal in Munich; Quaritch, Bookhands III, cat.1088 (1988), no.40; Schøyen MS 185.

text

From a portable Pontifical, for the private use of a bishop. The first leaf is headed "Ordo in dedicacione ecclesie" and opens with nearly two pages of instructions on the transfer of relics to a shrine in the new church, on visiting the new church the day before, on the lighting of 12 candles around the entrance, and so on; the second leaf is part of the service of dedication itself (cf. Z. Obertynski, The Cracow Pontifical, 1977, p.38, nos.37-39). An adjacent bifolium from the same gathering belonged to Mark Lansburgh, and was sold in these rooms, 22 June 1999, lot 20. The manuscript was in gatherings of 8 leaves each, since the corrector on fol.2v refers to "ultima pagina precedentis quaternionis". The script is of a remarkably high quality, appropriate for a bishop. The lines of music show a very early example of stave-lines and F clefs, almost unknown before the thirteenth century.