English Abstract
The loss of musical autographs by Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) makes it difficult to date and
establish a reliable chronological order for his keyboard sonatas. A previously unexplored source
now sheds new light on the composer’s early period: a manuscript contained in a miscellaneous
codex preserved at the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal in Paris (F-Pa MS-6785 (F-Pa Ms-6785, [https://
archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc86681q]). This source includes a collection of twentyone
sonatas by Scarlatti, copied by two anonymous scribes.
This article examines the activity of each copyist and the paper’s watermarks. The findings
indicate that the manuscript originated in France, and was based on drafts of individual sonatas
stemming from an Italian context. A philological analysis confirms that this new source derives
from Scarlatti’s autographs. A comparison between this manuscript and the first pieces published
in Paris (Pièces choisies pour le clavecin ou l’orgue [Boivin, 1737]) reveals that it could not have
been based on that edition, nor on its antigraphs. Rather, it must have arrived in France at an
earlier date, derived from an Italian antigraph. This source represents the most extensive surviving
collection of early sonatas circulating in manuscript from across Europe prior to the printed
dissemination of Scarlatti’s keyboard works.
