Harley MS 4951, ff 119-301

Contents:

ff. 120r-301v: Gradual of Saint-Etienne of Toulouse with neumes, and including a tonary on ff. 295v-301v, beginning ‘Autentus protus ad sonales . Tonum .I.’.

This part contains a number of later (11^th- and 12^th-century) additions:

f. 119r: A latin text in the upper margin, faded and unidentified.

f. 119r: A letter from Richard (1101–1115), bishop of Albano, to Amelius Raymond du Puy, Bishop of Toulouse (r. 1105-1139), ‘R[a]icardus Albanensis epsicopus ecclesiae qualis cumque minister et ecclesiae romanae licet indignus servus et legatus Amelio Tolosano episcopo salutem’.

f. 119r: A litany of saints (faded).

f. 119v: A document from Alfonso Jordan or Alfons I (b. 1103, d. 1148), Count of Toulouse (1112–48), dated 1128 or 1138, ‘In nomine domini nostri ihesu Christi · Ego ildefonsus per dei gratiam comes tolosanus dux narbone et marchio provincie’.

f. 119v: A hymn for the feast of the Virgin Mary.

f. 121r: A letter addressed ‘filio Arnoldo tholosane ecclesie sancti stephani’ written by ‘Johannis scriniarii’, dated 1105.

Marginal annotations on ff. 229r, 248v, 275v, 276r (‘Alleluia Sanctissime apostole iacobe’ with neumes on a staff).

Decoration:

1 large unframed miniature of the Crucifixion, coloured in a palette of red, yellow, purple and green, on f. 208v.

5 unframed miniatures of men and women, coloured in a palette of green, purple, red and yellow, in spaces left for initials. The subjects of the miniatures are as follows:

f. 295v: A harp player.

f. 297v: A fiddler.

f. 298v: A juggler.

f. 299v: A bell player.

f. 300v: A dancing woman.

3 historiated initials in colours. The subjects of these are as follows:

f. 123r: Christ in Majesty with the symbols of the four Evangelists.

f. 215r: Mary Magdalene encountering the angel at the tomb of Christ after the Resurrection.

f. 251r: A man harvesting with a sickle.

29 large yellow initials containing knot-work with red fillers in frames with backgrounds containing multiple fields in different colours: blue, green, purple, yellow or red (ff. 121v, 124v, 126r, 123r, 133r, 135r, 136v, 138r, 141r, 141v, 144r, 151v, 157r, 158r, 159r, 162v, 171r, 176r, 197v, 215r, 224r, 241v, 245v, 248v, 250v, 251r, 267v, 286v) or no colour (f. 135r); some with foliate decoration and anthropomorphic heads, or zoomorphic (dogs and birds) and hybrid heads and figures (e.g. f. 138r: 2 griffons); 1 large initial comprised of two zoomorphic figures (dogs) and foliate decoration in colours against a background of blue and green (f. 148r). Large initials in red, black, red and black, or in a red- or brown-ink outline, some with minor foliate pen-work or knot-work decoration, throughout the manuscript. Small red initials, rubrics, red lines connecting syllables and words throughout the manuscript.