MS 378 ('The Book of Orts')

A boxed miscellany of manuscript and printed fragments, many of which have either been removed from bindings or were formerly wrappers for items that have been rebound. The collection was initiated by York Powell in 1901, and it was he who gave it the informal name of 'The Book of Orts'. It includes the following items, which are here given summary descriptions only. For further details, see the Christ Church online Catalogue of Western Manuscripts, at the following address:

http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/images/stories/downloads/Library/ms%20378.pdf

MS 378 (2): a bifolium (non-adjacent leaves) from a fifteenth-century Sarum gradual or noted missal, written with two columns to the page. Leaf 1: Trinity Sunday (conclusion) and Corpus Christi (principally the hymn 'Salve festa dies'); leaf 2: first and second Sundays after Trinity. Apparently formerly used as a wrapper for a slim volume, the identity of which was not recorded at the time of removal. Minimally trimmed; leaf dimensions c. 363 x 233 mm.

MS 378 (3): a leaf from a fifteenth-century Sarum sequentiary, containing portions of two sequences for the feast of the Assumption and its Octave ('Ave Maria domine mei' and 'Post partum virgo'; the latter includes the versicle 'Tellus flumina' as set by Christopher Tye, which survives uniquely in Mus. 45, item 27). The leaf has been slightly trimmed; stave-length c. 145 mm. Removed from e.3.56, a tract volume donated to Christ Church in March 1579 by William Watkinson (an alumnus of the college, who took his M.A. the previous year). The book was bound in Oxford probably in the late 16th century; see Neil R. Ker, Fragments of Medieval Manuscripts used as Pastedowns in Oxford Bindings, with a Survey of Oxford Binding c. 1515-1620, Oxford Bibliographical Society, Third Series, IV (Oxford, 2004), p. 110, no. 1182.

MS 378 (11): a leaf from a Sarum sequentiary of the 12th or 13th century, containing portions of two sequences ('Ave virgo virginum' and 'Mater patris, mati nata'). Formerly used as a wrapper for a volume shelved at Wn.6.33; this shelfmark is now unused, and the host volume has not been traced. The leaf itself is lightly trimmed, with minimal loss of text or music.

MS 378 (12): part of a bifolium from a 15th-century German antiphoner, using Gothic music notation. Formerly the binding of WC.7.20, a collection of pamphlets printed in Wittenberg and Tübingen between 1617 and 1623. The binding, which has been removed in its entirety, comprises the bifolium wrapped around boards, lined on the inside with printed material, and with headbands and Wake's bookplate still present.

MS 378 (16-18): formerly the wrappers for two of the partbooks at Mus. 1083-4 (q.v.).

MS 378 (19 and 21-22): formerly the wrappers for the partbooks at Mus. 342-5 (q.v.).

MS 378 (62, 62a, 62b): two bifolia and a single leaf (all paper) from an unidentified mid 16th-century legal document in Latin, subsequently used as wrappers for partbooks labelled 'Cantus Primus' and 'Cantus Secundus'; upright format, 300 x 200 mm. The wrappers have not been matched definitively with any items in the Mus. sequence at Christ Church; however, they could formerly have served as wrappers for partbooks from the set now at Mus. 754-9. The legal document is represented by ff. 164/175 (bifolium), 187/188 (bifolium) and 189 (single leaf), and features two different hands; its text includes repeated mention of 'William Fothergill', 'Richard Bird' and others.

Follow this link for a list of other sources of plainchant at Christ Church.