Antiphonal, Latin. Northern Italy (perhaps Bologna), early fourteenth century

Single leaf. 555 by 380mm. Single column, 7 lines each of music on a 4-line red stave and text in two sizes of a gothic hand, ruled in leadpoint, written space 373 by 263mm.

Text: Part of the Office of Matins for Christmas Day.
Decoration: Small initials in red or blue with simple contrasting penwork; large historiated initial ‘H’ showing the nativity of Christ (verso). Along with the large historiated inital, the manuscript has small initials in red or blue with simple contrasting penwork.
Provenance: Purchased from the Folio Society in May 1964.
References: Manion, Vines, de Hamel no. 81; Reed Early Bibles no. 36; The Medieval Imagination: Illuminated Manuscripts from Cambridge, Australia and New Zealand edited by Bronwyn Stocks and Nigel Morgan (South Yarra, Victoria: Macmillan Art Publishing, 2008), no. 30.
Shelfmark: RMM Fragment 18.

Description reproduced from Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in New Zealand Collections (London, 1989) by permission of the authors (Christopher de Hamel, Margaret Manion, and the family of Vera F. Vines).