MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT CHOIRBOOK BIFOLIUM (TWO LEAVES) SPAIN c 1475, NICENE CREED

Description

Original Manuscript Gregorian Chant from a GRADUAL,
SPAIN, c 1475-1500
NICENE CREED:
"
...
His kingdom will have no end
..."
(IM-12933)
Original continuous bifolium leaves (
two leaves – four pages
) from a large manuscript Spanish
Gradual
on animal parchment. The open bifolium measures an impressive 21 inches high by 29 inches wide.
(Each Leaf: 533 x 370mm – 21 x 14.5”)
The chant is written in Latin in a beautiful bold rounded Gothic script
by hand in black ink on both sides of each of the leaves, consisting of 5 lines of music on  five-line staves.
It was
executed
over 500 years ago in the 15
th
century!!!  Spain, c. 1475-1500.
These leaves contain a major portion of the
Nicene Creed –
: “
Iudicare vivos
…” (to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the Prophets. And I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen).
This is an original, more than 500 years old, not a reproduction, and is in excellent condition with bold calligraphy as seen in the photos.
I
t comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Graduals contain the musical chants for the proper of the Mass: introits, graduals, tracts, alleluia, offertory and communion verses, and sequences for special feasts.
They were used by priests, monks and nuns in churches and religious enclaves. The large size allowed them to be seen by multiple members of a choral section.
They may also include chants for the ordinary of the Mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and for the introductory ‘asperges’ rite.
As is usual with Medieval and Renaissance parchment, the hair side of the leaf is darker than the flesh side, but may take ink somewhat better.  The differences in tone caused scribes to arrange their quires so that the hair side of one sheet faced the hair side of the next, and the flesh side faced the flesh side.
We have been full-time dealers in Illuminated Manuscripts, Maps, Prints and Antiquities since 1980.