Untitled

Now that’s a book!  This beautiful manuscript antiphonary, or liturgical choir book, measures over two feet from head to tail, and weighs nearly 50 pounds.   Pencil (and hand) included for scale.

95 vellum leaves; containing Advent and Christmas Antiphons for Daily Hours (first part); Introits, Offertories and Graduals for Advent and Christmas Masses (second part).

Text included with the manuscript give some more details about the work and its possible provenance:

The antiphonale (or antiphonary) was transferred from the MSU Museum to the MSU Libraries in 1974.  It appears from some marginal notations that it belonged to a monastery in Spain for some time.  Estimates on its age have varied from 14th Century fo a 17th Century reproduction.  The cover is made of boards, with metal corners and a worn leather outer covering; five studs on the front and four on the back are impressive.  Nails, nail holes and worm holes are evident on both front and back covers.  

These volumes were used simultaneously by a number of singers, hence the large size; this fact also means it was almost certainly produced for a monastery or other large organization and not for an individual patron.

http://catalog.lib.msu.edu/record=b4805328~S39a

Snow-Covered Roofs in Paris

1878, oil on canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. I had the chance to see this painting last year in Paris. Gorgeous! 

"Society women in France, 1909."

The Rare Book and Manuscript Library has finished processing an archival collection of French opera autographs donated by Illinois alumnus and operatic sound recording producer Robert Zarbock (’52). The Robert Zarbock collection of opera autographs [Post-1650 MS 0657] is largely composed of letters written by opera singers famous on the Parisian stage in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Also included are photographs, lithographs, and newspaper clippings, representing 47 opera personalities in total. The collection is open to researchers.

Today we highlight three well-known performers: Emma Albani (Canadian soprano, 1847-1930), Emma Calvé (French soprano, 1858-1942), and Emma Eames (American soprano, 1865-1952). EM