Description
Provenance: Unknown; some parts possibly associated with the Roussel family (see below).
Description: A manuscript collection consisting of multiple different fascicles in different hands which were clearly copied at different times. As noted in Sheveloff 1970, ‘it is clear that much of what was intended to be included in this book is now lost … On folio 120 recto and verso appears a thematic catalog of keyboard pieces falling somewhere in this folio’s general neighborhood (between folios 73 and 186)’. However, of the Scarlatti pieces listed, K10, K33b, K2, K24 or K39, K65, and K83 ‘never appear in the volume. On the other hand, [K9, K11, and K66] do appear in the manuscript though they are not listed in the thematic index’.
Rastrum: A description of the rastra used is provided in Pedrero-Encabo 2019.
Watermarks: A description of the various watermarks present is provided in Pedrero-Encabo 2019.
Titles: Scarlatti is usually referred to by name, with his first name either spelled ‘Domenico’ or ‘Dominico’. Two interesting exceptions are worth highlighting here: the copyist of the second appearance of K17 gives Scarlatti’s name as ‘D.n Domingo Scarlatti 1735’, while the same copyist gives his name as ‘D.n Domingo Escarlati’ in K4. As Sheveloff already noted, 1735 is ‘the earliest date in any source we have; the worth of this date is very difficult to determine’. The 1735 does not necessarily indicate the copying date of Paris Arsenal but possibly an annotation present in the exemplar which was copied verbatim (this exemplar has not survived). The names ‘Domingo’ and ‘Escarlati’ may indicate that the exemplar used by this copyist was Spanish in origin.
Copyist: It appears three separate copyists were responsible for the Scarlatti pieces in Paris Arsenal. These are described in by Águeda Pedrero-Encabo as Copyist 1 (Roussel-A and Roussel-B), Copyist 3, and Copyist 5. It has been suggested that Copyist 1 may somehow be related to the engraver Claude Roussel (fl. 1699-1724) or his daughter Louise Roussel (1700-1774) in Prozhoguin 2011, but this assumption appears to be based solely on the appearance of the name ‘Roussel’ on fol. 73r.
Comments: Paris Arsenal also contains four sonatas attributed to Scarlatti which are not in the Kirkpatrick catalogue (in order of appearance): KS25, KS43, KS26, and KS27. KS43 also appears in Chicago 295, though this source appears not to be related to Paris Arsenal other than by its French provenance.
For more information on this manuscript collection, see Pedrero-Encabo 2019.
Date: Pedrero-Encabo has suggested various ranges for the copying activity roughly between 1723-1742, with the work by Copyist 3 possible datable to after 1743.
