| Go directly to the manuscript database query | Go directly to the notation database query |
Monumenti vaticani di paleografia musicale latina by Henry Marriott Bannister (Codices e vaticanis selecti, phototypice expressi vol. 12, Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz 1913, reprint Farnborough: Gregg 1969) offers still unmatched resources for comparing chant notations. The on-line adaptation makes available the complete text and facsimiles, with links which enable comparisons of notations to be made and Bannister's information on the sources to be accessed.
1. Bannister's "Prefazione and Introduzione" and "Indice degli`Incipit" are made available in PDF-format.
2. The option "Manuscript database search" opens options for searching the list of sources, by shelfmark, type of book (in Latin), provenance, date (century in Arabic), etc. Clicking on database underneath the template of search options opens the complete list of sources.
3. In the list of sources, clicking on the number of the source ("Numero", left) brings up Bannister's description in PDF-format. Clicking on the number of the plate ("Tavola", second left) brings up the reproduction of the source. (Not all sources are illustrated by Bannister.)
4. The option "Notation database search" opens pages with individual notation forms from all the sources illustrated. Clicking on the name "pes", "torculus" etc. brings up the forms of this sign: A1, A2, A3, etc. Clicking on an individual sign brings up a larger reproduction. Double clicking brings up the index in which all sources with this sign are listed: Pes, A1, A2, etc. Bannister gives first the date in Roman numerals, then the number of the manuscript.
It was not possible to build links to the tens of thousands of source references. Note the number of the source in which Pes A1, A2, etc. is to be found, then .....
At the top of the page you will see a window "source". Here you can enter Bannister's number for the source in which is found the sign you are interested in. This brings you into the index of manuscripts, and from there you can go to Bannister's description or to an illustration of the manuscript as in 3. above.
Some of Bannister's nomenclature (sistematico) has been regularized, and place names have mostly been changed from Italian into the language of the country concerned.
Download Bannister's Vol. II. "Tavole" as pdf file.