University of Virginia Library

Diverse Styles in the Same Edition

Most of the above examples have started from what was by far the most
common pattern, that of a sequential alphabet, followed through all the
gatherings of each partbook. Among the possible alternatives, two were
frequently used: one involved using some form of conventional sign for
each book (as is to be found in the work of Susato, or of Sengenwald in
Jena);[20] the other involved different forms of the alphabetical sequence,
with each book starting with some form of "A":

• 34. Arcadelt: III Madrigali à 4. Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1539.

  RISM A1374=153923. Copy at Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.

  Quarto: [C:] A-F4; [T:] a-f 4; [A:] AA-FF4; [B:] aa-ff 4.

A number of other editions printed by Scotto in his early years follow
a similar practice. An interesting example can be found in his 1540 edition
of masses by Morales, Gombert and Jachet:[21]

• 35. Morales, Gombert and Jachet, Missae cum quatuor vocibus. Venice:
  Girolamo Scotto, 1540.

  RISM G2973=M3576=15404.

  Quarto: [C:] A1 B-F4; [T:] a1 b-f 4; [A:] AA1 BB-FF4; [B:] aa1 bb-ff 4.

  Note. Here, the first folio is separate from the rest of the book, and the
  foliation of each part runs [1] VII-XXVI. Evidently, as Bernstein
  argues, there was originally music for a six-folio first gathering,
  which was abandoned. It is reasonable to assume that the deleted
  music was by Morales and Gombert, who are poorly represented
  beside the three works of Jachet.[22]

This pattern of roman and italic letters was employed in Scotto's house
with fair consistency—and a number of exceptions—for two years, after
which a different pattern, in which the Cantus used lower-case letters in
italic or gothic characters (as in RISM G269=15434), was adopted alongside
it.

Other possibilities involved using a mix of roman and italic initials,
capitals and lower case letters, or capitals of different sizes in the same
signature:

• 36. Quattro Libri delle Villotte alla Napolitana à 3. Venice: Girolamo Scotto,
  1565.

  RISM 156511. Copy at Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.

  Octavo: [C:] A-E 8; [T:] AA-EE8; [B:] AAa-EEe8.

• 37. Musica Spirituale I di canzon à 5. Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1563.

  RISM 1563.7 Copies at Bologna, Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale;
  Valladolid, Cathedral; and Verona, Accademia Filarmonica.

  Quarto: [C:] A-C4 [using large capitals]; [T:] A-C4 [using small capitals];
  [A:] a-d 4; [B:] aa-cc 4; [5:] Aa-Cc4 Dd2.

Scotto was by no means the only printer to do this on a regular basis:
others did similar things, often simply increasing the number of initials from
one part to the next.

• 38. Cifra: V Motecta à 2-4, Op. 11. Rome: Giovanni Battista Robletti, 1612.

  RISM C2190. Copy at Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.

  Quarto: [C1:] A-C4 D2; [C2:] Aa-Cc4 Dd2; [Bassus ad Organum:] Aaa-Bbb4.

  Note. Almost identical instances can be found in many other books from
  the same press, such as Bernardi's Motecta à 2-4—RISM B2043—of
  1610.)

• 39. Floridus Modulorum Hortus. Rome: Andrea Fei, 1647.

  RISM 16472. Copy at Bologna, Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale.

  Quarto: [C:] A-F4; [T:] aa-dd4; [A:] Aa-Ff4; [B:] aaa-ddd4 eee8; [Organum:]
  a-f4 g2.

• 40. Garulli: Modulationum à 5, Liber Primus. Venice: Girolamo Scotto, 1562.

  RISM G447. Copy at London, British Library.

  Quarto: [C:] A-B4 C2; [T:] Aa-Bb 4 Cc 2; [A:] Aaa-Bbb 4 Ccc 2; [B:] Aaaa-
  

  ---

  214

  
  
  
  Bbbb 4 Cccc 2; [5:] Aaaaa-Bbbbb 4 Ccccc 2. (Bassus A2 is signed aaaa 2;
  Quintus B1-2 are signed with Bbbb.)

Here is one place where the musical bibliographer needs to modify the
practices proposed by Bowers: his general recommendation is that, whenever
letters are doubled or tripled (AA or AAA), the bibliographer should
use the formulation 2A or 3A to indicate the pattern. Yet clearly such a
habit cannot distinguish between the signatures of the Tenor and Altus of
Example 39, or indicate the style of letters used in the volume of Villotte
(Example 36). To write "2a" in Example 37 may not raise the question of
whether one is referring to the Bassus or the Quintus, but to write "2A"
certainly does. It seems to me that there is no choice but to spell out all the
sequences as they appear in the book, and as I have done above. At the same
time, and for the same reason, the collation should normally distinguish
between signature letters in roman or italic or boldface, just as it does
between capitals and lower-case letters.

Similar patterns of change can occur in a single partbook, particularly
when each book was assigned only one letter:

• 41. Bandiera: Psalmi Vespertini. Rome: Giacomo Fei, 1663.

  RISM B851. Copy at Bologna, Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale.

  Quarto: [C:] A8 a4; [A:] B8 b4; [T:] C8 c4; [B:] D8 d4; [Organum:] E6 e2.

  Note. We can assume that the pattern of one signature per part was
  already settled before typesetting began. The subsequent need for
  more than one gathering to a part led to the use of a different
  form of the same letter for the final sheet. We cannot tell whether
  this need was the result of a miscalculation on the part of the printer,
  or of the addition of more material received from the composer.

Sometimes, the mix of letters and letter styles seems to be no more than
a product of caprice on the part of the typesetter:

• 42. Mazzocchi: Sacrae Concertationes. Rome: Giacomo Fei, 1664.

  RISM M1678. Copy at Lucca, Seminario Arcivescovile.

  Quarto:

           

  [C:] [A]4 B-F4	[II C/B:] π4 A-E4
  [T:] [A]4 B4 D4 E2 Ff4	[II A/T:] π4 A 4 B-D4
  [A:] [AA]4 BB4 Cc4 Dd 4 Ee4 Ff2	[B:] π4 A-B 4 C4
  [5:] A4 Aa4 Bb*4 C4 Cc*4 Dd2	[Organo 2:] π4 A 4 B-F4 G2
  [Organo 1:] [Aa]4 Bb4 CC-GG4 HH2

There is little else that can be done here, but list the signatures as they
actually appear. Not surprisingly, there are also errors in the signing of this
edition: for example, the second folio of gathering B of the Tenor has the
signature "Cc*2", presumably left in the forme after the Quintus was completed.