Breviary Electronic version according to TEI P5.1 Fragmentarium - Digital Research Laboratory for Medieval Manuscript Fragments

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 Odense Syddansk Universitetsbibliotek RARA K 255 Breviary 1201-1300 Germany? Front cover r Latin Commemoration for St Walburga Front cover r Latin Chants and readings for the apostles Philipp and James minor Parchment 1 partial leaf195 x 344 mm

The better part of a leaf survives, with some loss of text in column B due to how the parchment is folded around the host volume's boards. The portion of the fragment that covers the host volume's spine is much lighter than the other parts, probably due to exposure to light.

Fairly wide margins.

 Brown ink, two-column layout with partial musical notation

Bold, compact Northern Textualis. Short ascenders and descenders, tall s and f on the baseline. Both round and straight-backed d appear, the former more frequently. Round r only after o. No biting, but the letters are overall fairly close together. 

 Red rubrics and lombards. Neumes on four-line staves.  Hope points out that St Walburga was venerated especially in the German-speaking area, so a German origin is likely. In Helmstedt, where the host volume was printed, a church was dedicated to her in the 13th century. However, since she only appears in a commemoration in this fragment, it is likely from a place where the translation of her relics and canonisation was not celebrated as a major feast. She also appears in liturgical books from all over Western and Central Europe, including in the missals printed in the early 16th century for Copenhagen and Lund (Danish at the time). Nonetheless, the type of musical notation points away from Scandinavia, where square notation on red staves is more commonly found. A Northern German origin is plausible, but somewhat speculative. Germany? Description by: Charlotte Epple, Fragmentarium, 2026 Holck, Jakob Povl. Den Gamle Verdens Magi: Bogsamlingen Fra Herlufsholm På Syddansk Universitetsbibliotek. Syddansk Universitetsbibliotek, 2015. Hope, Steffen. Samlet oversigt over rapporter, tabeller og metadata samlet i perioden 01.11.17-28.02.18. Unpublished report for the University Library of Southern Denmark.