The Production and Notation of Dominican Manuscripts in Thirteenth-Century Paris

Abstract

This thesis examines the making and notating of Dominican liturgical manuscripts in Paris. While book-making in Paris has been the subject of numerous studies, little research has been carried out on musical notations used for chant in France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, despite much scholarly activity surrounding the notation of polyphonic music. My research uses a study of three large Dominican manuscripts to explore the process of notating books within the context of book-making more generally.
Numerous notated Dominican manuscripts survive from the first century of the Order’s existence, particularly from the period following the revision of the Dominican liturgy in the mid-thirteenth century. To disseminate the new revised liturgy, several large ‘exemplar’ manuscripts were made, each containing a compendium of liturgical books. The three extant exemplars form the focus of this study. These are: Rome, Santa Sabina, XIV L 1 (Sabina L1); London, British Library, Additional 23935 (Additional 23935); and Salamanca, San Esteban, SAL.–CL.01 (Esteban 01). Sabina L1 and Additional 23935 have each been the subject of significant study in their own right; Esteban 01 has received less attention, and the three have not been examined as a group.
From a study of contemporary writings on the organisation of Dominican book-making, it becomes apparent that hiring professional scribes was standard practice. Within this context, the three manuscripts are examined codicologically and palaeographically in an attempt to reveal traces and habits of the different artisans involved in their making, most importantly the notators. From this study, similarities and differences in book-making practices are explored between the three books. A sizeable number of artisans were involved with the making of the manuscripts, with little overlap of artisans between manuscripts: only one music notator and one text scribe appear in both Sabina L1 and Additional 23935.
In studying chant palaeographically, it was possible to develop a new methodology by which scribes writing musical notation in square notes can be identified and distinguished; beyond this thesis this methodology could be used more widely. The wider implication of this detailed study of the Dominican exemplars is that there were a number of professional notators readily available in Paris, who were independent from, but collaborated with, text scribes and other book-making artisans.

Date of Award	Feb 2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Cambridge
Supervisor	Susan Rankin (Supervisor)