Though literature on the manuscript has assumed the copyist was Francis Tregian the Younger, recent analysis has demolished that hypothesis (not without some musicological contention).

[4] (Most of the paper used in English manuscripts can be traced to France and Italy, and to a lesser extent in the Rhine region including Basel and Strasbourg.)

She found that three of Inigo Jones drawings used Düring paper with a similar (but not identical) watermark, all connected to the court and dating 1619–1624.

[6] Thompson concluded: "All the manuscripts containing such papers are found in documents relating to the cultural activities or the official business of the royal courts.

[7] Originally of German Regal size (a standard used at the time), the height of the folios indicate they have been only slightly trimmed.

Until Thompson's article, most writers assumed the final date of copying of the manuscript close to Tregian's death.

[8] Based on Persons' thesis, some works could have been copied from Il Parnasso published in Antwerp in 1613—a date that suggests an approximate time frame.

[9] The earliest identified owner of Drexel 4302 was Francis Sambrook who inscribed his name on various parts of the manuscript, including the front cover.

After his death in 1876, it was listed in the catalog of his estate as lot 1379: MOTETTS, ANTHEMS, MADRIGALS, and Instrumental Pieces...A very large collection in a thick folio volume, in the original binding, rebacked--Autographs of Francis Sambrook (ob.

John Parker, and Dr. Rimbault, a few leaves damaged by damp[12]The manuscript was one of about 600 lots purchased by Philadelphia-born financier Joseph W. Drexel, who had already amassed a large music library.

[13] Because they believed that it was in the same hand as the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book and Egerton 3665, Schoefield and Dart thought Drexel 4302 should be considered a continuation of the latter.

[17] Bertram Schofield and Thurston Dart noted that both Drexel 4302 and Egerton 3665 consist primarily of English and Italian madrigals.

[19] [20] In his study of the song Amarilli, mia bella and its transmission, Tim Carter noted the importance to Drexel 4302 of publications from the publishing firm Phalesius.

[21] Carter posits that the copyist of Drexel 4302 apparently knew Phalesius' 1601 anthology because the manuscript includes arrangements of eight six-part madrigals from the publication.

"[23] This list is based on the online RISM database (see External links below), Persons's thesis,[24] and an examination of the microfilm of the manuscript.