Contains: A (f. 2-25) : mainly an exposition of the mass and a Latin version of the Book of Tobit (10th century, from Cornwall) ; B (f. 26-40) : letters by St. Augustine (10th century, from Wales or Cornwall except for the Winchester paschal tables on f. 40v) ; C (f. 41-50) : a Latin conversation lesson (f. 41v-47) (10th century) ; antiphons, responsories and verses for a burial office in a Benedictine house with neumes of Winchester type of the early 11th century (f. 47v-48) (see EBM III, pl. xiv) ; various entries of the late 11th or early 12th century (f. 49v) ; D (f. 51 to 106v): principal contents are the Penitential of Cummeanus (f. 51-83) and a sermon by St. Pirminius (f. 91-106v) (late 9th century, from France). The contents of f. 49v are : (a) a strophe on St. Augustine, (b) the two-part verse Ut tuo propitiatus to the Respond Sancte dei pretiose, (c) a Benedicamus with neumes, (d) a four-line rhymed antiphon without neumes for a bishop, (e) a prose for the dedication of a church with neumes. Presented to the Bodleian in 1606 by Ralph Barlow.

Light brown leather over pulp boards; 19th century. The paper flyleaves belong to this binding

a-p alphabetical notation. B flat is shown by a sloping i

foliated at t.r.r. in modern pencil

49v

i paper + 106 parchment + i paper

RISM B/IV 1: A 9th-12th century parchment manuscript meas. 249 x 152 mm. and containing i + 107 folios, of which f. i and 107 (foliated at t.r.r. in modern pencil) are blank paper flyleaves belonging to the 19th century binding of light brown leather over pulp boards. The covers are ornamented with simple blind tooling, and the gilt title on the spine reads: MISSAE || EXPOSITIO. Fol. 1-106 are foliated by G. Langbaine at t.r.r. in 17th century ink. The codex was presented to the Bodleian in 1606 by Ralph Barlow. It is made up of four main parts, of which A-C were in Welsh territory in the 10th century, and B-C (probably with A) came into English hands before 1000. The Winchester character of the script and neumes on f. 47-49 and the Winchester origin of the paschal tables on f. 40v are worth noting. The tables may date from the year 981, while the music dates from the 11th century at the earliest. From Winchester, B-C went to St. Augustine's, Canterbury, probably in the late 11th or early 12th century. A is recorded as no. 129 in the library of St. Augustine's in the 15th century. The contents of the ms are as follows : A (f. 2-25) : mainly an exposition of the mass and a Latin version of the Book of Tobit (10th century, from Cornwall) ; B (f. 26-40) : letters by St. Augustine (10th century, from Wales or Cornwall except for the Winchester paschal tables on f. 40v) ; C (f. 41-50) : a Latin conversation lesson (f. 41v-47) (10th century) ; antiphons, responsories and verses for a burial office in a Benedictine house with neumes of Winchester type of the early 11th century (f. 47v-48) (see EBM III, pl. xiv) ; various entries of the late 11th or early 12th century (f. 49v) ; D (f. 51 to 106v) : principal contents are the Penitential of Cummeanus (f. 51-83) and a sermon by St. Pirminius (f. 91-106v) (late 9th century, from France). The contents of f. 49v are : (a) a strophe on St. Augustine, (b) the two-part verse Ut tuo propitiatus to the Respond Sancte dei pretiose, (c) a Benedicamus with neumes, (d) a four-line rhymed antiphon without neumes for a bishop, (e) a prose for the dedication of a church with neumes. The two-part work in alphabetical notation employs the letters a-p with one or two unusual signs. What appears to be a z is actually an i, and what looks a medieval 5, here rendered by a j, is in fact an indication that the preceding note is to be repeated. Dots presumably double the value of a preceding note. The intervals used in this note-against-note organum include every degree from 1-8.

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