WHAT WE CAN LEARN

Whenever one is analyzing an object one always begins by asking questions like: Who, What, Where, When, and Why. 

Who created this manuscript? This could be a person, a group, a person for a group, a machine, etc.

What is this leaf?  What is it made of? What inks are used? Is it printed, typed, handwritten, etc.

Where did it come from? Was it part of something else?

When is it from?

And why was it created in the first palce? What purpose was it used for? Why did it end up here?

Initially we were able to make some general assumptions.

Who: Some manuscript leaves bear the signature of their creator, making it easier to identify its place of creation. We at WestConn were not so lucky and had to depend on other means to identify our leaf. It was at least safe to assume that we were dealing with something created by a Catholic scribe as opposed to Byzantine Rite.

What: We knew we had a piece of music.  After transcribing the Latin inscription, we turned to the internet, among other sources, for a quick search to see if we could find a similar text. We found that our piece is a psalm commonly used for the Feast of St. Michael and the Archangel, commonly known as Michaelmas. We could also tell it was made of skin and was hand written (a manuscript).

When: We could tell it was old.  One can gauge the age of a music manuscript leaf easily enough by looking at the staff lines. 5 line staffs didn't come into use until approximately the 15th century. Thus any leaf (like the WestConn leaf) that has a 5 line staff is most likely from the 15th century or later.

Where: We would have to compare it to similar documents online and in texts on the subject. It appeared to have been bound (maybe even rebound at some point as there is evidence of two rows of holes where it would have been sewn).  It appeared that the leaf had been cut and then torn out of its binding.  We knew that in the early 20th century, a collector, Otto Ege, had broken many medieval books and sold the individual leaves; maybe this was one. It had signs of wear in the corners consistent with it being part of a book whose pages were turned frequently.

Why: Our leaf was fairly large which suggested that it belonged to a gradual or antiphonal. Why WestConn had it, we did not know.