Rate of Survival

So far: It is important to consider the rate of survival of the leaves and their distribution among the various sections of the manuscript. Only one third of the manuscript has been located so far, and so these numbers must be taken with a grain of salt and an acknowledgement of the vagaries of manuscript survival. Even so, the emerging patterns do suggest certain hypotheses. Nearly half of the surviving leaves come from the sanctorale. That section may have been longer than the others, or had more initials per leaf than the music-filled Commons, so that in itself is not particularly significant. However, when we look at the distribution of leaves within the sanctorale itself, then we find something interesting. Hardly any leaves have surfaced from the beginning and end of the sanctorale, and a very large number survive from the middle, July and August to be exact. Even more startling, if we look at the sanctorale leaves known to be associated with Ege, that is, known to have been part or still to be part of a portfolio or known to have been sold or given by him, they are all from July and August. This suggests that along with scattered leaves from other sections of the manuscript, Duschnes passed on to Ege entire chunks of the codex, perhaps complete quires, from this central section.

Lingering Questions: These results will be revised as necessary as more leaves come to light.