Collation

Description and Contents

The manuscript has 23 quires grouped in four units, each corresponding to a major text section. Most quires (16) consist of four bifolios (quaternions). Four quires are ternions, consisting of three bifolios each: quires 1 and 2 provided the twelve Calendar leaves at the beginning of the volume; quires 21 and 23 accommodated short sections of prayers. Quires 3, 13 and 19 are quinions, consisting of five bifolios each. They completed three units in the book: the introductory section focusing on the Passion of Christ, the Hours of the Virgin and the Office of the Dead. The three singletons (fols. 13, 24, 157) accommodated the volume’s three full-page miniatures; a fourth singleton, now lost, probably contained another full-page miniature before fol. 36. The structure reveals the careful planning of contents and design from the start.