Mus. 990

Manuscript. Alessandro Scarlatti, Gerone tiranno di Siracusa (opera in 3 acts, first performed 1692). Copied by two unidentified Italian scribes; according to the titlepage, the volume was 'Scritta [copied in] 1693'.

Oblong format, 280 x 213 mm. 134 folios, unfoliated. The first copyist has partly paginated Acts 1 and 2, in separate numerical sequences. Collation not ascertained because of the tightness of the binding. Late 17th-century binding of mottled brown leather over boards, with inset panels of smooth light-brown leather on the upper and lower covers, blind-tooled with fillets and small ornaments. Bookplate 2. Annotation by Burney in Act III, Scene XIV, p. 2: 'Arne's "Wd you taste the noontide aire" in Comus is manifestly stoln from this Air. C.B.' 19th-century shelfmark: G.2.

Provenance unknown. The earliest 18th-century catalogue in which Mus. 990 is explicily mentioned is Malchair (1787), where its position is listed as Press H, item 'Q'. The latter reference implies that Mus. 990 once belonged to a group of manuscripts collectively listed by Hind (in Dowding) as '18 Vols. of Musick, chiefly M.S. mark'd on the Backs, A. B. C. C.2. D. D.2. E. E.2. F. H. I. K. L. M. M.2. N. O. P. Q. T.'; however, no trace of the letter 'Q' is present in Mus. 990 itself, and in any case Hind's catalogue entries are of no help in determining provenance. Clearly the volume was handled by Burney (see comments above), but nowhere does he make any mention of the item's provenance.

Microfilm: manuscript music, reel 56.