Italy, 1185-1190

This intriguing manuscript brings with it a long and interesting history. Produced in a twelfth-century Italian Cistercian house, it was used by nuns in the fifteenth century--some of the added prayers are written in the feminine plural. The manuscript was owned in the nineteenth century by author, artist, and social reformer John Ruskin, and passed from him to the great collector Major John R. Abbey. The marginal notations throughout the manuscript help to assign it a date of production. St. Thomas of Canterbury, added to the Cistercian liturgy in 1185, is included in the original text, while SS. Malachy and Martial, who became part of the Cistercian calendar in 1191, were later added in the margin. This indicates that the manuscript was produced no earlier than 1185, and probably before 1191. Shown here is the Preface to the Mass, which in this manuscript is recorded immediately before the Easter liturgy. The congregation's responses are indicated in red. The music is square notation on a three-line staff drawn in red, blue, and green.

Parchment, 134 folios, 359 x 240 (255 x 150) mm, 1 or 2 columns, 20 lines, in Latin, written in Gothic script.