Skip to main content

Illuminated Sacred Music Manuscript Collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS 510
Finding aid note: Stored onsite at the Woodson Research Center.

Scope and Contents

Thirteen individual leaves of rare 15th and 16th century original music manuscripts depicting portions Catholic masses and prayers in Latin, hand drawn and beautifully illustrated with brilliant tempera paints on large vellum sheets.

Each of these individual leaves originally formed part of various larger missals, or bound volumes containing all the words either said or sung in Catholic mass during the entire year, and including the ordinary, proper, and common votive masses and supplementary prayers and masses for certain localities or orders.

Being individual leaves taken from bound volumes, the specific location and date of their original creation and use is very difficult to determine. It appears that most are Southern European (Italian and Spanish), but one may be Central or South American, as noted in the more detailed description below. Dates range from 15th to 16th century, based on evaluation of the style of musical notation, illuminations, and formation of the letters, use of punctuation and abbreviations.

Descriptions include translations of the original Latin when possible and an indication of the placement of the manuscript within the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar.

Titles of materials as listed here are taken from the first line of text on the item itself.

Dates

  • 15th-16th century

Creator

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research. It is the property of the Brown Fine Arts Library (part of the Fondren Library), but is accessed through the secure reading room at the Woodson Research Center.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored onsite at the Woodson Research Center.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish from the Illuminated Sacred Music Manuscript Collection, MS 510, must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Extent

3 Linear Feet ( (13 leaves))

1.64 Gigabytes (Nearline access: MS0510aip_001 )

Language of Materials

Latin

Additional Description

Abstract:

Thirteen individual leaves of rare 15th and 16th century original music manuscripts depicting portions Catholic masses and prayers in Latin, hand drawn and beautifully illustrated with brilliant tempera paints on large vellum sheets. A podcast by Rice University features this material online: "Sing the Glory: an illuminated manuscript of adoration", available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDW5Op5Iwjs. The materials are available online at https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/13014.

Acquisition Information

This material belongs to the Brown Fine Arts Library (part of the Fondren Library) and is of mixed provenance, with some items having been donated to the library in 1949 by Paul Gottschalk, the 1950s by Stanley S. Slotkin and Mrs. Ralph D. Looney, and another donated by John Wright in the early 1990s. The leaves were donated as individual leaves, with no identifying information on the original volumes they were removed from, which part of the mass they represent, their dates or their countries of origin. See Sallyport magazine, August 1949 issue, p. 3, for information concerning the 1949 donation by Paul Gottschalk.

Alternate form available

Digitized versions of this material are available online through Rice University's institutional repository: http://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/13014

Related Materials

A podcast was created featuring one of these manuscripts, and is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDW5Op5Iwjs&t=3s.

The raw materials for the podcast are preserved in Woodson Research Center's nearline store, at identifier # MS0510aip_001. Please contact staff at woodson@rice.edu or 713-348-2586 for access.

Processing Assistance

Many thanks to Barbara Schreffler, M.L.S.; Dr. Michael H. Gelting of the Danish National Archives, and Dr. Snyder of University of Houston, and Keith Chapman, Fondren Library Cataloging, for their expertise in musicology and Medeival / Renaissance period manuscripts and their kind assistance in describing this material.

Thanks also to Dr. Diane Wolfthal (Art History) and the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University for the podcast featuring this material, "Sing the Glory: an illuminated manuscript of adoration", available online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDW5Op5Iwjs

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Creator

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Illuminated Sacred Music Manuscripts collection, ca. 1400-1600
Status
Completed
Date
January 11, 2005
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2012: Added digital objects and podcast link, 2012.

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

https://library.rice.edu/woodson
Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA

Broaden your search:
Texas Archival Resources Online - statewide search of archival finding aids
ArchiveGrid - international search of archival finding aids
Scholarship.rice.edu - Rice University digital content

© 2022 Woodson Research Center
Fondren Library, Rice University
Physical Address: 6100 Main, Houston, Texas 77005-1827
Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892