Byrd's "My Ladye Nevells Booke"

"'My Ladye Nevells Booke' contains 42 compositions by William Byrd, and was compiled by the scribe John Baldwin in 1591, in an elegant style quite unlike that of contemporary keyboard manuscripts. Handel's original manuscript of Messiah, written in London between 22 August and 12 September 1741, shows all the signs of rapid composition, with short-cuts in notation, ink blots, and hasty cancellations and corrections."

To view the manuscript, please see the British Library.