Central Italian neumes
A bifolium from an Antiphonal, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Italy, possibly Emilia?, first half 12th century]
A complete bifolium from a southern Italian monastic Antiphonal.

c.367 x 260mm (the leaf), a bifolium, two columns of 14 lines written in black ink in a late rounded Carolingian minuscule, 14 lines of stylised Central Italian neumes, rubrics and initials in red, one large ornamental initial in red (recovered from use as a wrapper and with consequent creases, a few wormholes, but else in excellent condition). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery.

Provenance:
(1) The bifolium was used as wrappers for what may have been a 16th?-century Italian notarial document: an inscription on f.1v reads 'Lucas Iac. not[arius] [...]' and '239' is scrawled across the bottom of f.2.

(2) Otto Haas (1872-1960), purchased from him by:

(3) Bernard Rosenthal, his I/100.

(4) Bernard Quaritch, Medieval Manuscript Leaves, cat. 1147 (1991), no 39, acquired in 1990 by:

(5) Schøyen Collection, MS 638.

Text:
The text of the bifolium is consecutive and begins in the Office for the 4th Sunday of Advent, ending with some 'ad libitum' Office responsories to be used during the ferial days preceding the Vigil of Christmas: '[Non discedimus ad te vivificabis nos domine] et nomen tuum invocabimus ostende nobis faciem tuam' to 'Et elevabitur super omnes colles et fluent ad eum omnes [gentes].'

Script and music:
A handsome example of late Italian Carolingian minuscule. In a note for Bernard Rosenthal, John Emerson, of the Department of Music at the University of California, Berkeley, dated this leaf to the first half of the 12th century, locating it to 'southern Italy, without doubt' (although Giulio Minniti points out this is more likely Emilia). Emerson noted that 'the liturgy, musical melodies and notation are very familiar, but there are interesting paleographical additions'. The neumes are arranged here on a single red-line staff with F-, A-, and C-clefs. There is some academic disagreement on the matter, but whereas older scholarship tended to group together this type of notation, which was certainly more widely used than the script hand, as Beneventan, more accurate current scholarship distinguishes between notation appearing on manuscripts written in southern Italy in Beneventan script, and similar notation used elsewhere.

Christie's would like to thank Dr Giulio Minniti for bringing to our attention the latest scholarship on Beneventan notation.