Magdalen

DATE: c1605

Page measurements: Original dimensions are unobtainable due to cropping; f.61 now measures 218-9 x 186 mm; and f.62 measures 222-7 x 188-91 mm.

Teaching fragments, probably originally in upright folio format, though they may have been oblong folio if theywere ever bound, as in 31392. Two sheets, perhaps originally about twice their present size, and possibly from a larger manuscript source rather than only existing as single sheets. The reasoning behind this proposition is the fact that the music does not seem tobe consecutive either between the sheets, or between sides of the same sheet, and also that the music was not all copied in the same hand.The fragments were removed from the binding of a copy of Opuscula Medica (1639) where they were serving as endpapers, and are now bound up in a guard book. No other books in the library seem to contain other sheets that match these ones, leaving them tantalizingly difficult to assess. They could have originated as loose sheets, or may have been part of a larger book that was disboundfor use as rough paper.

Two of the fragments are clearly marked as fantasias,one by `Alfonso'--almost certainly Ferrabosco--but it has not yet been located among the known works of either of the two Ferraboscos. The music on 62-62v only requires a 6-course lute, but that on 61-61v is written for seven courses (the seventh unstopped), implying that it probably dates from before 1610. The presence of rests in the bottom line of the music on f.61 suggests thatthis was a duet or consort part. It is not certain that theother music is also not for a solo instrument. The handwriting suggests the period 1580-1610, having similarities with scribes that appear in complete lute manuscripts from that time. However, as this type of hand also appears in sources from the early part of the seventeenth century, some time around 1605may be the most reasonable date to propose given the paucityof other information. Fantasias were most common in the latter part of the sixteenth century in English sources, but nevertheless continue to appear throughout the seventeenth century. The hand on folios 61, 61v and 62v has several features in common with Richard Mynshall or one of the scribes in the Swarland book of lute songs,though they do not seem to be the same scribe. As the firstnotes of the pieces have been cropped it has been impossibleto compare an incipit with those of other fantasias. The lines were probably hand ruled, as each sheet shows slightly variable spacing.

The numbers written in the system on folio 62 are in a different hand and ink from those seen on the other sheets, and appear to have been added at a later date; theirmeaning is unknown.

Bibliography: Craig 1993

folio	original ascription	title	composer	cons. & cogs.
61		[n.t.]
61v	fantasia	Fantasia
62	Alpho[n]so fantas.	Fantasia	Alfonso Ferrabosco
62v		[n.t.]

60Magdalen f.61v -- Scribe A