Lyme Caxton Missal

Last updated

Page from the missal showing God the Father enthroned Lyme Caxton Missal.jpg
Page from the missal showing God the Father enthroned

The Lyme Caxton Missal is an incunable or early printed book containing the liturgy of the Mass according to the Sarum Rite, published in 1487 by William Caxton. The copy at Lyme Park, Cheshire, England, is the only nearly complete surviving copy of its earliest known edition. It is held in the library of the house and is on display to visitors.

Contents

Contents

This missal contains the liturgy for the Mass according to the Sarum Rite (or Sarum Use) and is known as a Sarum Missal. This was the most popular version of the Mass used in England before the Reformation. This copy of the missal is from the earliest known printed edition of a Sarum Missal. It is printed throughout in two colours, red and black, and is the first book to carry Caxton's printer's device. [1] The missal is printed in ink on paper, with a leather binding, and it measures 34 by 24 cm. [2] It was famous at the time it was printed because it was one of the first books printed in two colours. [3] The missal contains 243 of its original 266 leaves and includes two full-page woodcuts coloured by hand; one depicts the Crucifixion of Jesus and the other God the Father enthroned. It was re-bound in the 19th century, but some fragments of the original 15th century binding survive. [4] Later markings have been added to the book by hand. These include a translation of the marriage service in English alongside the original Latin version, [1] obituaries relating to the deaths of members of the Legh family, and prayers to St Thomas. [4] In places the missal has been "censored" by hand, including the crossing out of the name of St Thomas Becket and of prayers for the Pope. [1]

History

Inside the book Lyme Park 2016 073.jpg
Inside the book

The book was published by William Caxton in 1487 and printed for him in Paris by Guillaume Maynal. This is the first known instance of an English publisher contracting out work to a foreign printer. [4] This copy of the missal has been in the northwest of England since at least 1508. [1] Another copy of this edition is said to have been in the shrine of Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey, but this has not survived. [2] The book was in the possession of the Legh family, when in 1549, during the reign of Edward VI, it was banned. [5] It was "hidden away" in Lyme Park for many years, [3] and rediscovered in 1874 by William Brenchley Rye, a scholar from the British Museum, when he was visiting the house. [4] It was then displayed in a glass case "for scholars and family visitors to admire". [6] When the Legh family left the house in 1946, it remained in their possession, and was held for safe-keeping in the John Rylands Library in Manchester. [4] It is "one of only two Caxtons in the world which has remained in the ownership of a single family for 500 years". [1] It is also the only near-complete copy of this edition of the missal to survive; there are fragments only of another copy that is held in Durham University. [4]

Present day

The missal was purchased in 2008 by the National Trust at a cost of £465,000, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund, and other organisations. [1] It is on display in the library of Lyme Park. Associated with it is an interactive digital display. With this the visitor can "turn the pages" of the book, using touch-screen technology, and also listen to passages from the book being sung. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Missal</span> Central book of the most widespread Catholic liturgical rite

The Roman Missal is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the most common liturgy and Mass of the Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass of Paul VI</span> Type of liturgical rite in the Roman Catholic Church

The Mass of Paul VI, also known as the Ordinary Form or Novus Ordo, is the most commonly used liturgy in the Catholic Church. It was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969 and its liturgical books were published in 1970; those books were then revised in 1975, they were revised again by Pope John Paul II in 2000, and a third revision was published in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyme Park</span> Grade I listed building in Cheshire East, UK

Lyme Park is a large estate south of Disley, Cheshire, England, managed by the National Trust and consisting of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens and a deer park in the Peak District National Park. The house is the largest in Cheshire, and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liturgical colours</span> Properties of visual perception specified for religious festivities over the year

Liturgical colours are specific colours used for vestments and hangings within the context of Christian liturgy. The symbolism of violet, blue, white, green, red, gold, black, rose, and other colours may serve to underline moods appropriate to a season of the liturgical year or may highlight a special occasion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambrosian Rite</span> Liturgical rite of the Archdiocese of Milan

The Ambrosian Rite is a Latin liturgical rite of the Catholic Church. The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century. It is used by around five million Catholics in the greater part of the Archdiocese of Milan, in some parishes of the Diocese of Como, Bergamo, Novara, Lodi, and in the Diocese of Lugano, Canton of Ticino, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Use</span> Roman Rite liturgical use of former Anglicans in the Catholic Church

The Anglican Use, also known as Divine Worship, is a use of the Roman Rite celebrated by the personal ordinariates, originally created for former Anglicans who converted to Catholicism while wishing to maintain "aspects of the Anglican patrimony that are of particular value" and includes former Methodist converts to Catholicism who wish to retain aspects of Anglican and Methodist heritage, liturgy, and tradition. Its most common occurrence is within parishes of the personal ordinariates which were erected in 2009. Upon the promulgation of Divine Worship: The Missal, the term "Anglican Use" was replaced by "Divine Worship" in the liturgical books and complementary norms, though "Anglican Use" is still used to describe these liturgies as they existed from the papacy of John Paul II to present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mozarabic Rite</span> Liturgical rite of the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church in Spain and Portugal

The Mozarabic Rite, officially called the Hispanic Rite, and in the past also called the Visigothic Rite, is a liturgical rite of the Latin Church once used generally in the Iberian Peninsula (Hispania), in what is now Spain and Portugal. While the liturgy is often called 'Mozarabic' after the Christian communities that lived under Muslim rulers in Al-Andalus that preserved its use, the rite itself developed before and during the Visigothic period. After experiencing a period of decline during the Reconquista, when it was superseded by the Roman Rite in the Christian states of Iberia as part of a wider programme of liturgical standardization within the Catholic Church, efforts were taken in the 16th century to revive the rite and ensure its continued presence in the city of Toledo, where it is still celebrated today. It is also celebrated on a more widespread basis throughout Spain and, by special dispensation, in other countries, though only on special occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Use of Sarum</span> Latin liturgical use in Britain

The Use of Sarum is the liturgical use of the Latin rites developed at Salisbury Cathedral and used from the late eleventh century until the English Reformation. It is largely identical to the Roman Rite, with about ten per cent of its material drawn from other sources. The cathedral's liturgy was widely respected during the late Middle Ages, and churches throughout the British Isles and parts of northwestern Europe adapted its customs for celebrations of the Eucharist and canonical hours. The Sarum Rite has a unique ecumenical position in influencing and being authorized for liturgical use by the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missal</span> Liturgical book

A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a priest to celebrate Mass publicly and others for private and lay use. The texts of the most common Eucharistic liturgy in the world, the Catholic Church's Mass of Paul VI of the Roman Rite, are contained in the 1970 edition of the Roman Missal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Rite</span> Most widespread liturgical rite in the Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Rite is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the sui iuris particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs rites such as the Roman Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours as well as the manner in which sacraments and blessings are performed.

The Use of York or York Rite was a liturgical use of the Roman Rite – itself a Latin liturgical rite – practised in part of northern England, prior to the reign of Henry VIII. During Henry's reign the Use of York was suppressed in favour of the Use of Sarum, developed at Salisbury Cathedral, followed by the Book of Common Prayer. "Use" denotes the special liturgical customs which prevailed in a particular diocese or group of dioceses; it is one of the medieval English uses, together with the Use of Sarum, the Use of Hereford, and the Use of Bangor.

<i>Anglican Missal</i> Anglican liturgical book

The Anglican Missal is a liturgical book used liturgically by some Anglo-Catholics and other High Church Anglicans as an alternative or supplement to editions of the Book of Common Prayer. The Anglican Missal is distinct from the similarly Anglo-Catholic English Missal, as the Anglican Missal is not primarily a translation of the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-Tridentine Mass</span> Forms of the Mass before 1570

Pre-Tridentine Mass refers to the evolving and regional forms of the Catholic Mass in the West from antiquity to 1570. The basic structure solidified early and has been preserved, as well as important prayers such as the Roman Canon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latin liturgical rites</span> Category of Catholic rites of public worship

Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, is a large family of liturgical rites and uses of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church sui iuris of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once dominated. Its language is now known as Ecclesiastical Latin. The most used rite is the Roman Rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominican Rite</span> Liturgical rite used by Dominican Order of the Roman Catholic Church

The Dominican Rite is the unique liturgical rite of the Dominican Order in the Catholic Church. It has been classified differently by different sources – some consider it a usage of the Roman Rite, others a variant of the Gallican Rite, and still others a form of the Roman Rite into which Gallican elements were inserted.

The English Missal is a translation of the Roman Missal used by some Anglo-Catholic parish churches. After its publication by W. Knott & Son Limited in 1912, The English Missal was rapidly endorsed by the growing Ritualist movement of Anglo-Catholic clergy, who viewed the liturgies of the Book of Common Prayer as insufficient expressions of fully Catholic worship. The translation of the Roman Missal from Latin into the stylized Elizabethan Early Modern English of the Book of Common Prayer allowed clergy to preserve the use of the vernacular language while adopting the Roman Catholic texts and liturgical rubrics.

A pontifical is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy Orders. While the Roman Pontifical and closely related Ceremonial of Bishops of the Roman Rite are the most common, pontificals exist in other liturgical traditions.

Order of Mass is an outline of a Mass celebration, describing how and in what order liturgical texts and rituals are employed to constitute a Mass.

The Rite of Braga is a Catholic liturgical rite associated with the Archdiocese of Braga in Portugal.

<i>Divine Worship: The Missal</i> Current Anglican Use Missal of the Catholic Church

Divine Worship: The Missal (DW:TM) is the liturgical book containing the instructions and texts for the celebration of Mass by the former Anglicans within the Catholic Church in the three personal ordinariates of Great Britain, United States and Canada, and Australia. The rite contained in this missal is the Anglican Use, a liturgical use of the Roman Rite Mass with elements of Anglican worship. It was approved for use beginning on the first Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2015.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 National Trust saves unique Caxton book for the nation, National Trust, archived from the original on 7 September 2008, retrieved 22 January 2010
  2. 1 2 Missale ad Usum Sarum (Sarum Missal), The Art Fund , retrieved 22 January 2010
  3. 1 2 3 The Lyme Caxton Missal, National Trust , retrieved 22 January 2010
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Turning the pages of history, Heritage Lottery Fund, archived from the original on 27 September 2011, retrieved 23 January 2010
  5. National Trust Saves Unique Caxton Book For The Nation, Culture24 , retrieved 22 January 2010
  6. Haile, Deborah (3 September 2008), "Lyme library set for restoration", Manchester Evening News , M.E.N. Media, retrieved 22 January 2010