Mus. 1246

Manuscript. Second tenor partbook from a set of probably eight or ten partbooks. Principal layer: presumably copied in Oxford for use at Christ Church Cathedral, c. 1670-77. Subsequent additions were made by members of Christ Church Cathedral choir during the later 17th and early 18th centuries, partly on pages left blank during previous stages of copying, and otherwise at the end of the volume. Many of the copyists who contributed to Mus. 1246 also wrote music into Mus. 1220-4. (For a full list of surviving music-books from Christ Church Cathedral from the Restoration to the early 19th century, follow this link.)

Copyists as follows:

• Main hand (unidentified): items 1-2, 7-23, 25-32, 35-40, 54-6. This scribe was also responsible for copying Mus. 1012.
• Edward Lowe: items 3 (probably), 24, 33-4, 41-52, 57-8, 61-2, 64-5, 69, 73. (This is one of the many music manuscripts at Christ Church copied by Edward Lowe.)
• Sampson Estwick: items 4, 68. (For a list of other items at Christ Church associated with Sampson Estwick, see the entry for Mus. 1142b (f. 51).)
• Charles Husbands Jr: item 5. (For a list of other music manuscripts at Christ Church copied or partially copied by Charles Husbands Jr, see the entry for Mus. 11.)
• William Husbands: items 53, 59. (For a list of other manuscripts at Christ Church copied or partially copied by William Husbands, see the entry for Mus. 10.)
• Henry Aldrich: items 60, 63. (This is one of the many music manuscripts at Christ Church copied by Henry Aldrich.)
• Francis Withy: item 66. (For a list of other items at Christ Church copied by Francis Withy, see the entry for Mus. 337.)
• Edward Hull: items 70-71. (For a list of other items at Christ Church copied by Edward Hull, see the entry for Mus. 39.)
• Francis Smith: probably item 72. (For a list of other music manuscripts at Christ Church copied or partially copied by Smith, see the entry for Mus. 53.)
• Richard Goodson Jr: item 6.
• Hewis Kelway: item 74. Kelway also copied music into Mus. 1220-4.
• Unidentified copyists: items 67, 75.

Upright format, 305 x 200 mm. 84 surviving folios. Breaks in and additions to the pagination system suggest that the volume was dismantled and physically altered at least once; and at least two leaves have been excised from the front of the volume. Item 75 (Creighton's Service in E flat) is copied on different paper, and is clearly a later insertion. Collation unclear on account of the tightness of the binding. Pagination (various hands) follows the following sequence: [1-2 excised,] 3-20, 20a-d, 21-126, [127-42 absent,] 143-70, [171-3 absent,] 174-7, 177a, 178-86. Pages of unused ruled staves on pp. 116, 174, 182, 185-6. The music pages are preceded by three leaves used for indexes, paginated 'a-c' on their rectos. The first index (p. 'a') is of services, and is in the hand of Hewis Kelway (who also copied item 74). The other two indexes ('b' and 'c') are of full and verse anthems respectively, and were begun by the unidentified main copyist, with additions by later copyists. Early 18th-century binding of rough brown calf over boards, blind-tooled, with scraps of calf pasted to the spine and edges as strengthenings. Outside upper cover stamped '2' in gold. Outside lower cover annotated '2. T. 1748' in black ink. No early bookplate.

Provenance: transferred from the library of Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford, probably in the early 20th century.

Microfilm: manuscript music, reel 45.

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