Psalterium Cisterciense per hebdomadam dispositum pro matutinis horis cum canticis & hymnis, Casaemarii, MDCCXXXIII. Stenciled manuscript on paper, Casamari, Italy, 1733.
400 x 280 mm. i + 187 + i paper leaves. Collation: A-Z⁴ Aa-Yy⁴ Zz² Aaa⁴ (4+1). First two leaves of quires A-Zz signed with stamped letters, catchwords (or syllables) on every page. Leaves A2-Zz2 with stenciled pagination 1-277 (256 repeated), 1-86 (71 on an inserted slip, 72 omitted). 21 lines, text stenciled in roman letters in black and red, rubrics stenciled in red, texts of antiphons, versicles and responses stenciled in smaller letters, written area: 340 x 22 mm. Syllables to be accented indicated with marks added by hand. Five unnumbered leaves at end (Aaa⁴ 4+1) with seven lines of text and music consisting of square neumes on four-line staves, text and neumes stenciled with staves in red ink drawn in afterwards by hand. Stenciled corrections inserted on flaps pasted in. Occasional dampstaining. All leaves guarded in gutter and resewn mostly in quires of six. 19th century marbled paper over pasteboards, leather spine.

Contents:
pp. 1-277: The full texts of the Psalms, hymns, canticles, antiphons, versicles, and responses for the offices of Matins (here called Vigils) and Lauds for each day of the week, Sunday-Saturday, as these were to be said from the Octave of Epiphany to the first Sunday in Lent and from the Sunday closest to the first of November until Advent.
pp. 1-84: Texts of the canticles that are to be said in the third nocturn of Matins.
pp. 85-86: Index to the hymns in this manuscript.
Unnumbered leaves at end: Text of the Te Deum with music.

Stenciled books are a curiosity in the history of printing. They are manuscripts in that they were created by hand, but with the aid of mechanical devices in the form of stencils. They can be recognized by the small gaps within the letter forms since completely enclosed spaces cannot be created by with stencils. Stenciled books were especially popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in France, Germany, and Italy, where this example was made, and the technique was often used to make large-format liturgical books that enabled a group of people to sing or read from one codex. This one is unusual in that it does not include music, but only texts for recitation.