P-VV (Vila Viçosa) Biblioteca do Palácio Real A.M. A-002

Archive
P-VV (Vila Viçosa) Biblioteca do Palácio Real
Shelfmark
A.M. A-002
Siglum

P-VV A.M. A-002

Source type
Polyphonic book
Subcategory of source
Choirbook
Category
polyphony
Completeness
complete or nearly complete
Document type
manuscript
Origin
Vila Viçosa, Capela Ducal
Main place of use
Vila Viçosa, Capela Ducal
Provenance
Vila Viçosa, Capela Ducal
Date
Early 18th century
Contents
Benedicamus Domino (1), Hymns (6), Psalms (19) (=26)
Type of notation
Mensural (white)
Decoration

Stencilled capitals in black

Inscriptions
Index of contents in same hand, fols. 120r-102v
Material
Paper
Condition of document

Good. Paper shows some damp stains, also some wearing of the fore-edge bottom corners due to use. Fragile folios reinforced with glued-on paper strips, most of them on the bottom edge. The binding, though robust and in good condition, shows signs of some wear on its surface, with occasional incisions, scratches, damp stains and leather deterioration

Page layout

Choirbook format. 431 x 290 mm

Foliation/Pagination

120 fols.

Gathering

60 gatherings of 2 folios each

Watermarks

‘S P’, 24x18 mm. Corner watermark composed of two ligated capital letters (“S” and “P”), recurring throughout the whole book. Probable Genoese origin, 18th-century (La Rue, 2001, 334). Watermark identical to the drawing in https://www.wasserzeichen-online.de/wzis/detailansicht.php?id=140440

Bindings

Brown calf leather over boards. Blind-tooled concentric outer and inner frames, with phytomorphic motifs. Small fleurons on the outer corners of the central panel. Furnished with unadorned metallic cornerpieces and centrepiece. Vestiges of clasps and their fittings, now lost

Remarks
Copied by a single hand. No apparent match with any other hand of the Vila Viçosa polyphonic choirbooks. Handwriting points to the early 18th century, a dating hypothesis also corroborated by the paper’s watermark
References
JOAQUIM, Manuel, Vinte livros de música polifónica do Paço Ducal de Vila Viçosa (Lisbon: Fundação da Casa de Bragança, 1953) [= Joaquim, Vinte livros, 1953], pp. 87-94 (Livro n.º 8) ALEGRIA, José Augusto, Biblioteca do Palácio Real de Vila Viçosa: Catálogo dos Fundos Musicales (Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1973) [= Alegria, Catálogo, 1989], pp. 11-13 (A. Livros de music religiosa manuscrita, no. 2) RYAN, Michael, ‘The Manuscript Vila Viçosa, Alegria 2 (Joaquim 8): An eighteenth century compilation in honour of João IV?’, Revista Portuguese de Musicologia 9 (1999), pp. 25-36 LA RUE, Jan. “Watermarks and Musicology.” The Journal of Musicology 18/2 (2001), 313-343 RYAN, Michael. Music in the Chapel of the Dukes of Bragança, Vila Viçosa. Tese de doutoramento, University of London, 2001 Museu-Biblioteca da Casa de Bragança, Vila Viçosa. Catálogo do Arquivo Musical (pdf), Secção A
Description author/s
Nuno de Mendonça Raimundo
Indexed by
Nuno de Mendonça Raimundo
Reviewed by
Bernadette Nelson