5 fragments with St Gall Neumes | Germany and Northern Italy | 10th-11th century

This lot includes 5 leaves (4 single leaves and one bifolium)

Leaf 1, 10th-century Missal, a partial leaf, c.182 x 130mm, 22 lines written in brown ink in Carolingian minuscule, ruled in blind, 3 lines of early linear staffless St Gall neumes (Early German neumes), rubrics and 3 large capitals in red (stained and worn, text faded, especially on verso, red initials darkened, a few wormholes). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery.

Leaf 2, first half 11th-century Antiphonal, a bifolium, c.222 x 158mm, blind-ruled for 25 lines written in a regular Caroline minuscule, ruled space c.170 x 100mm, initials in red, psalm tone differential musical cues in the margins, St Gall (Early German) linear, staffless neumes (formerly used as a pastedown, slight darkening of the margins, the margins slightly trimmed, with the loss of parts of marginalia, some creasing).

Leaf 3, mid-11th-century Psalter, c.269 x 165mm, 24 lines written in brown ink in a late German Carolingian minuscule, ruled space: c.200 x 120mm, 24 lines of early staffless adiastematic (unheightened) St Gall neumes (Early German neumes), rubrics and large initials in red, early foliation 'xlxii' (small cut in the upper part of the leaf with small loss to text and music, a little darkened). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery.

Leaf 4, second half 11th-century Breviary, c.270 x 210mm, 33 lines written in dark brown ink in a late Carolingian minuscule of 2 sizes, ruled space: c.260 x 170mm, stylised St Gall neumes in transitional form, rubrics and initials in red (a few stains). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery.

Leaf 5, second half 11th century Breviary, c.292 x 193mm, a single leaf, 29 lines written in brown ink in a regular Romanesque book script in two sizes, ruled space: c.240 x 150mm, staffless adiastematic (unheightened) St Gall neumes (Early German neumes) above lines, rubrics and three 2-line initials in red (recovered from use as a pastedown, verso consequently almost entirely scrubbed, some darkening to the margins, some cuts, creases and fading). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery.

AN INTRIGUING COLLECTION OF EARLY LEAVES

PROVENANCE

Leaf 1

1. Antiquariat J. Voerster, Stuttgart.

2. Bernard Quaritch, acquired in 1993 by:

3. Schøyen Collection, MS 1663.

Leaf 2

1. Internationaal Antiquariaat Menno Hertzberger, Amsterdam 22 June 1966, lot 1126, purchased by:

2. Ludwig Rosenthal Antiquariaat, Hilversum, Netherlands.

3. Bernard Rosenthal, his ‘I/203’ (1966-1987).

4. Bernard Quaritch, Bookhands of the Middle Ages, III, cat. 1088 (1988), no 35.

5. Schøyen Collection, MS 98.

Leaf 3

1. Antiquariat J. Voerster Collection, Stuttgart.

2. Bernard Quaritch, acquired in 1993 by:

3. Schøyen Collection, MS 1667.

Leaf 4

1. Walter Goldwater (1907-1985), American antiquarian bookseller and founder of University Place Book Shop, New York. Acquired from him in January 1967 by:

2. Bernard Rosenthal, his ‘I/206’.

3. Bernard Quaritch, Bookhands V, cat. 1147 (1991), no 34, acquired in 1990 by:

4. Schøyen Collection, MS 641.

Leaf 5

1. Robert Babcock, New Haven.

2. Bernard Quaritch, acquired in 1993 by:

3. Schøyen Collection, MS 1769.

COMMENTARY

This lot brings together 5 leaves containing St Gall Neumes, ranging from the 10^th century to the second half of the 11^th century. The leaves form a fascinating collection, offering insight into the use of neumes in the context of St Gall Abbey and its liturgical and musical practices. Encompassed are a leaf from a 10^th-century Missal, an 11^th-century Antiphonal, an 11^th-century Psalter leaf, as well as two leaves from two different 11^th-century Breviaries. This selection of leaves reveals the breadth of liturgical manuscripts in demand and use during the 10^th and 11^th centuries – an important time for the refinement of musical practice during mass.

Neumes in their basic form provided an aide-memoire by means of a specialised notation for chants sung during mass and for Gregorian chants. These chants are still renowned for creating harmony out of chaos, shaping and elevating the individual voice to fashion an otherworldly melody that cannot be simply detangled by the listener. The practice of music and singing were central parts of daily life in religious foundations. Some of the earliest examples of neumes can be traced back to 9^th-century St Gall, Metz, and Laon, which were important monastic foundations that would produce some of the leading medieval scholars, such as Notker Balbulus, Adalbero I of Metz, and Anselm of Laon.

St Gall neumes are seen as particularly distinguished for their time, as the monastery had a strong tradition of creating elaborate musical manuscripts from the 9^th century onwards. In their earliest incarnation, a single neume could stand for a tone or a melodic pattern. Staffless neumes, such as in leaf 1 and 2 were called cheironimic neumes. This earliest notational system provided information about pitch changes and the relative duration of a sung syllable, acting as a mnemonic device for how the melody was sung, but not offering enough contextual information to reconstruct the melody.

The musical manuscripts of St Gall formed some of the earliest traces of Western Christian musical practice, with a clear artistic ambition and vision which is captured in the leaves at hand. In their differing approach to musical notation, the leaves show the refinement and development of the use of neumes in St Gall, from the early 10^th to the late 11^th century, ranging from early staffless examples to the stylised forms of musical notation typical in the second half of the 11^th century.

TEXT AND MUSIC

Leaf 1, Missal, a partial leaf with St Gall Neumes, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, 10th-century]

The fragment contains the text for the mass for the Monday after the 3^rd Sunday in Lent, beginning at the end of the postcommunion for the 3^rd Sunday in Lent: 'A cunctis nos, Domine, reatibus & periculis [...]' followed by the sung mass 'In Deo laudabo'; the Psalm ('Miserere mei'); the prayer 'Cordibus nostris' and the reading 'In diebus illis'.

The script is a regular 10th-century minuscule, with open bow on 'g', dotted Caroline 'y', rounded 's'. The sung portions are written in a smaller script, with early linear staffless neumes. Neumes of this period from the East Frankish territories convey many nuances and small details of inflections for the singer, without giving precise details of pitch.

Leaf 2, Antiphonal fragment with St Gall Neumes, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, first half of the 11th century]

A table listing the incipits of chant texts for offices of saints, with marginal notes showing the modal formulae associated with each antiphon supplied with primitive German neumes.

The text is non-consecutive and contains a table of Sanctoral offices, from St Paul the Apostle (30 June) to St Pantaleon (7 July), and St Maurice (22 September) to All Saints (1 November).

Linear, staffless neumes represent the most primitive stage of notation, without any cue to the pitch of each neume, making performance fully dependent on oral tradition.

Leaf 3, A leaf from a Gradual with St Gall Neumes, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, mid-11th century]

The text of the fragment is the Masses for the Vigil of Sts Peter and Paul, the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, with versicles, gradual, offertory and communion, from '[Nimis con]fortatus est principatus eorum' to 'Qui operatus est Petro in apostolatu [operatus est]'.

This is a clear and neat example of German Carolingian script and St Gall notation: the virga is slightly curved and on a slant; the pes, clivis, and torculus are rounded. The script is made up of accent neumes, with the signs aligned horizontally above the words and not diastematic. Already in the 11th century we see a slight thickening of the cursive penwork.

Leaf 4, A leaf from a Breviary with St Gall Neumes, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, second half 11th century]

The leaf contains the end of the Feast of St Michael (29 September) and the beginning of the Feast of Sts Remigius, Germanus and Vedastus (1 October) from '[principem Persarum contradicen]tem tuis precibus et meae legationi verumtamen Michahel archangelus [...] to the rubric: 'In nativitate Sanctorum Remigii Germani Vedasti [confessorum?]'.

The script, written in dark brown ink in a thick, bold hand, can be compared to Bernhard Bischoff, Kalligraphie in Bayern, 1981, no 9, p.27, also from the second half of the 11th century, and a leaf from a Gregorian Sacramentary sold at Christie's, The History of Western Script, Important Antiquities and Manuscripts from the Schøyen Collection, 10 July 2019, lot 434. The St Gall notation here is slightly stylised, with Psalm tone differential musical cues in the margins.

Leaf 5, A leaf from a Breviary with St Gall Neumes, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Northern Italy, second half 11th century]

The leaf contains readings for the Feasts of Staints Sixtus (August 6/7) Cyriacus (August 8) and Lawrence (August 10), beginning: 'Beatus Syxtus episcopus respondit: Ego semper sacrificavi [...]'.

Notation is added to some but not all of the chant texts, in a contemporary hand.

LITERATURE

Unpublished.

FURTHER READING

Eccardus (Sangallensis): St. Galler Klostergeschichten/Ekkehard IV. transl. by Hans F. Haefele, 3 ed., Darmstadt 1991.

Töne für die Seele Musik in St. Galler Handschriften Sommerausstellung 29. April bis 9. November 2025 Franziska Schnoor, Basel 2025.