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Adapted for Xavier University with credit to the University of North Florida.
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Antiphonal (Full text)
Catholic Church
A sixteenth-century, Spanish antiphonal, Sanctoral. This codex suffered damage at some point in its past, and numerous folios have been repaired through sewing or by pasting other pieces of parchment onto missing sections of the original folios. Some of these repairs were made with scraps from other manuscripts, as seen on fols. 69, 80, 83, 86, and 92 which are palimpsests. On fol. 92v, one side of the original leaf from a fifteenth century liturgical manuscript has not been fully erased and can be seen clearly. Folios 1r-2v, 82r-v, and 90r-92v are late sixteenth-century additions to the manuscript. From fols. 93r to 114v, a new layout and foliation system are used (beginning at fol. 67), suggesting that these later folios were once part of a separate codex. The inner front cover uses a bifolium from a late fifteenth- / sixteenth-century Spanish antiphonal as a pastedown and front flyleaf. The inner back cover uses another leaf, likely from the same antiphonal, as a pastedown.
Antiphonal appears to have contemporary binding over beveled wooden boards, blind-stamped with heavy metal corner pieces, and five large metal bosses on each cover with elaborate pierced surrounds, nails, and remnants of leather clasps with metal catches. One clasp remains intact. Spine has remains of a handwritten paper label. Extensive physical evidence remains of past damage including wormholes, stains, and cockling, as well as repairs, such as adhesive residue and sewn tears.
Rubrics and calligraphic initials in red, blue, black and green. Some initials are geometrically patterned or filled with yellow and black. Some large initials are elaborately decorated with red margin pen flourishes. Antiphons written on end papers and glued to cover boards. Original vellum thumb tags.
Provenance: A Cincinnati Post article published on January 26, 1933 suggests that this codex was donated to Xavier University by an alumnus. De Ricci's Census indicates that this codex was obtained in Paris by an alumnus of Xavier (unnamed) from an unknown source. This alumnus donated it to Xavier University around 1926.
