Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 July 2009
Codex MS Urbinas latinus 602 – henceforth ‘Urb 602’ – was brought to the Vatican Library in 1657 with the rest of the library of the Dukes of Urbino. How this carefully written troper-processional was acquired for the Urbino collection is not known. The manuscript is a very small handbook for a soloist, about 15.9 × 9.4 cm., with a writing area about 10 × 5.5 cm. The classical original Beneventana is almost entirely free of mis-spellings and other errors. The abbreviations ĩ (for in), ẽ (for est), nõ (for non), petores (for peccatores), and no (for noster) are found regularly and suggest a date after 1060. The original neumatic notation is precisely diastematic but without added lines or clefs. Liquescents are extensively used, but the quilisma has almost entirely disappeared. Initial letters are coloured simply but handsomely in red, blue, and yellow; and rubrics are tinged with blue. No illuminations de luxe appear: the manuscript was meant for use and shows signs of wear.