Italian manuscript music in various inks on laid paper. Sketchbook with the signature "Marcantonio Croce" on the title, not dated, probably northern Italy (Modena or Bologna?), around 1625/30. 8vo. (10.7 x 21 cm). 49 nn. folios. 6 five-line music lines each, drawn by hand and regulated on the sides.  Full vellum, stained, rubbed and bumped; ink occasionally smudged, slightly stained and browned; some leaves excised at some point, but otherwise internally mostly very fine throughout. 

A highly interesting and enigmatic little music book, whose first owner made most of the entries in the first third of the 17th century. Deciphering the title ("Quando il sol nel orizonte...") is already problematic, as it has to be read word for word, albeit with irregular syllable connections, from the back, to then result in the Italian: "When the sun (sets on the horizon), love remains everywhere the victory". However, this decryption fails with a five-line poem below, whose letters and words are arranged according to a different system. Above it, in lighter ink, as was also used in many parts of the manuscript, is the name "Marcantonio Croce". Since this is unlikely to be the bishop of Tivoli of the same name from the first half of the 16th century, he can probably be identified as the Minorite brother Antonio Croci, a musician born in Modena. In 1633 he became organist of S. Francesco in Bologna and in 1642 "maestro dei novizi e di cappella" of the cathedral there.

The manuscript appears to have been a secretly kept sketchbook (hence the encryption in the title, to which the author only added his name later), since it only contains songs with secular texts, mostly love songs. Among them are also pieces by colleagues, such as Giovanni Giacomo Arigoni (1597-1675), who is the only one mentioned by name. The text "Se per l'oro d'un crine" is known from a cantata by Alessandro Grandi, published in Venice in 1626. Whether only the words or also the music are the same remains to be determined. Alessandro Grandi could in turn have been a student of Giovanni Croce, who was certainly a relative of Antonio. The text of another vocal piece, "Ah Clori", is known from a setting by Antonio Rigatti (Madrigal, Venice, 1636). These few selected examples show that Croce (or Croci) was well acquainted with the genre of love songs. Croce also wrote a work on music theory, "Geminato compendio" (Venice 1642). The contributions of a later owner probably date from the early or middle of the 18th century, some in thick black writing, some in very hasty sketches. These include a "Spagnoletta", dance pieces, some minuets, and a small piece entitled "Ponte rotto" (probably referring to the ancient bridge in Rome) to a children's song melody.

The manuscript is written from the front and back, with the back section only comprising 12 leaves and the music ruling (lines) were evidently done all at one point throughout. Between the two sections, approximately 10 leaves were removed at some point, which may have been left blank. The laid paper has a watermark, a circle with a standing angel figure, a trefoil above it, and a countermark, which cannot be precisely identified. The closest is No. AT3800-PO-21415 (WZ Information System, Piccard Collection, Trento, around 1590). An extremely interesting manuscript from this period of upheaval in northern Italian vocal music and worthy of great research.