Characteristics of an Average Folio

MS. 1 folios have a total width of 28.6cm and a total length of 38.2cm

The recto sides have a left indent of 3.1cm, a right indent of 5.4cm, a top indent of 2.1cm, and a bottom indent of 8.6cm

The verso sides have the same measurements but the indentations are reversed. This is universal with some exceptions where the pages have been worn down.

Each line of chant is 20.1cm wide and 27.5cm in length.

The spacings are 2.5cm for the chant itself and 2.3cm for the musical notation

Description of the Page

The velum is yellowed, with the hair side being more so than the skin side.

It is flexible but crinkly--it makes a similar sound to dry leaves

The hair side is more inflexible than the skin side.

Some folios' ink bleeds through, particularly the rubrication.

Some folios suffer from ink fading away

A handful of the skin side folios are still bright white compared to other folios.

Folios at the beginning of MS.1 are more flexible than those in the middle or towards the end--possibly due to being handled more

Final Folios

The final folios of MS.1 (63r to 65v) show not only a departure from the average layout, but are different even from each other.

The variations are slight for the most part, usually only between 0.2 and 0.6cm difference, but these variations create a clear departure from the rest of MS.1. 

For example: 64r has a 1.9cm top indent, 9cm bottom indent, 2.8cm left indent, 5cm right indent. The total writing is 20.8cm wide and 27.9cm in length. The spacings are 2cm for the chant itself and 2.6cm for the musical notation. The page is 28.1cm in width and 37.8cm in length.

The velum also feels different, much thinner than the rest of the manuscript--meaning it was a higher quality velum.

One folio, 63 recto and verso, has slanted lines for the music. The slant is a 0.4cm difference from one end to the other, meaning it was either a sloppy reproduction or done much earlier when the lines were drawn individually.

This fits with the findings of the damage report, which may mean the folios at the end of MS.1 were created or taken from another manuscript to replace missing or damaged folios over time.