Remains of a Medieval Italian Antiphonal INTRODUCTION

The John Hay Library of Brown University is in possession of a set of eighteen illuminated parchment leaves held since March 20th, 1957 as part of the Ann Mary Brown Collection. They were a gift of Thérese Lownes Noble; other than an accession number of A28904, the library has no call number, information or provenance records whatsoever on the leaves. It appears as if they were at some unknown point cut out of a single massive book, re-numbered, and used for display purposes. This maiming of precious medieval texts was a common practice in recent centuries and still continues today, though now strictly discouraged. In order to restore some kind of identity and history to these beautiful fragments, I have closely examined their text, chant, and illuminations, researching their historical context so that the leaves can be given an accurate description and record. While they survive as just a small fraction of a previous artifact, the eighteen leaves offer enough information to place their creation at some point in the fourteenth century, produced by a scriptorium located in Italy, and most likely Northern Italy. Thorough comparison based on script and illumination style with other dated and described liturgical books reveals these parameters as a reliable guide for further research on these leaves.

Image Source: Decorated initial 'I' from folio 15^r.

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