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Sold by order of the Trustees of the Firle Estate Settlement
Missal
Missal, use of Sarum: Missale ad usum insignis ac preclare ecclesie Sarum. London: Richard Pynson, 24 December 1520.
Details
Missal
Missal, use of Sarum: Missale ad usum insignis ac preclare ecclesie Sarum. London: Richard Pynson, 24 December 1520.
Exceptional, complete copy printed on vellum of Pynson’s fourth Missal for Sarum use. No other copy - complete and on vellum - appears to have been on the market in over a century. Despite the fact that the Sarum Missal was the main liturgical text required for celebrating Mass in most parts of Britain, where the Sarum (or Salisbury) use was observed, all but six pre-1534 editions were printed abroad and imported by shops specialising in these technically complex books. Of the six editions printed domestically, four were produced by Richard Pynson. His first was printed in 1500 under the patronage of Cardinal-Archbishop John Morton. The Morton Missal is celebrated for its elegance and fine typography, standards which he upheld in subsequent editions with this fourth boasting the fullest complement of illustrations.
All early English missals are rare; for instance, each Pynson edition survives in fewer than a dozen copies. This is a consequence of Henry VIII’s final break with Rome in the 1534 Statute of Supremacy, after which books associated with Catholicism became dangerous to own and were destroyed or, at best, censored. The present copy shows adherence to the letter, if not the spirit, of such laws. Its mere survival suggests early ownership sympathetic to the Catholic cause, and its censorship consists of references to the pope crossed out and longer passages on Thomas á Beckett and other Catholic martyrs only lightly crossed through to remain easily legible. During the Marian Restoration, the book was annotated to note the deaths of Queen Mary I and her Catholic Cardinal-Archbishop Reginal Pole in November 1558.
This copy contains two inscriptions which are unique historical witnesses. One records the birth of John Gage on Sunday, 16 September 1537; his birth has hitherto been recorded as ‘by’ 1537. A Roman Catholic, Gage joined other recusants abroad, returning in 1576, where he was imprisoned or confined on several occasions, returning to the family home at Firle, Sussex at his death. His father Edward Gage, as sheriff in 1557-58, was a zealous prosecutor of Protestant martyrs under Mary I, much involved with the burning of Sussex martyrs. The second unique information is found at the end of the book: ‘a true copy’ of a deed pertaining to the vicarage and garden at West Firle, written out by Thomas Deanes, vicar from 1550-58; neither the original nor another copy survives.
Richard Pynson was a native Norman arriving in London to work as a bookseller and printer from c. 1490; he served as official printer under both Henry VII and Henry VIII. His 1500 Missal, the Morton Missal was printed on paper (the Canon leaves on vellum) with decorative borders incorporating the rebus monogram of the cardinal. These borders were not subsequently used, leading BMC to surmise that Morton himself retained the material, but a woodcut initial A with the Morton rebus appears in the present edition. Subsequent Pynson missals were printed in 1504, 1512 and 1520 on both paper and vellum and illustrated with one, four and seven woodcuts respectively. ESTC S121623 (10 copies); STC (2nd ed.), 16202; Weale-Bohatta 1430; Van Praet I, 316
Printed on vellum, folio (374 x 256mm). Printed in red and black, printed music with staves and notes, large woodcut of the Tudor Royal arms on title (repeated on A1v within multi-part decorative border, full-page woodcut Crucifixion [Hodnett 1359] within border, illuminated and coloured by a contemporary hand, large woodcut Resurrection [Hodnett 1356] with multi-part borders, large woodcut Saints in Glory [Hodnett 1358] within multi-part border, small woodcuts of Descent of the Holy Ghost, Circumcision and Annunciation [Hodnett 1471, 1365, 1360], decorative and historiated woodcut initials, including an A with Morton rebus (title lightly soiled and creased and with minor repair at upper corner, a few leaves reinforced at hinge, some old discolouration, original vellum join in 2C2.5 loosening). 20th-century tan calf tooled in blind over lightly bevelled boards, gilt spine label, red edges (faint mottling). Provenance: early censorship with references to popes and Thomas á Beckett crossed through – mid-16th century note recording the birth of John Gage (1537-1598), as the first and oldest son of Edward Gage or West Firle, on Sunday, 16 September 1537 – manuscript copy of a deed concerning the vicarage and garden at West Firle written out by Thomas Deanes, vicar from 1550-58 – manuscript note recording deaths of Queen Mary I and her archbishop Reginal Pole in November 1558 – later pentrial naming ‘Mr Lane’.
Missal, use of Sarum: Missale ad usum insignis ac preclare ecclesie Sarum. London: Richard Pynson, 24 December 1520.
Exceptional, complete copy printed on vellum of Pynson’s fourth Missal for Sarum use. No other copy - complete and on vellum - appears to have been on the market in over a century. Despite the fact that the Sarum Missal was the main liturgical text required for celebrating Mass in most parts of Britain, where the Sarum (or Salisbury) use was observed, all but six pre-1534 editions were printed abroad and imported by shops specialising in these technically complex books. Of the six editions printed domestically, four were produced by Richard Pynson. His first was printed in 1500 under the patronage of Cardinal-Archbishop John Morton. The Morton Missal is celebrated for its elegance and fine typography, standards which he upheld in subsequent editions with this fourth boasting the fullest complement of illustrations.
All early English missals are rare; for instance, each Pynson edition survives in fewer than a dozen copies. This is a consequence of Henry VIII’s final break with Rome in the 1534 Statute of Supremacy, after which books associated with Catholicism became dangerous to own and were destroyed or, at best, censored. The present copy shows adherence to the letter, if not the spirit, of such laws. Its mere survival suggests early ownership sympathetic to the Catholic cause, and its censorship consists of references to the pope crossed out and longer passages on Thomas á Beckett and other Catholic martyrs only lightly crossed through to remain easily legible. During the Marian Restoration, the book was annotated to note the deaths of Queen Mary I and her Catholic Cardinal-Archbishop Reginal Pole in November 1558.
This copy contains two inscriptions which are unique historical witnesses. One records the birth of John Gage on Sunday, 16 September 1537; his birth has hitherto been recorded as ‘by’ 1537. A Roman Catholic, Gage joined other recusants abroad, returning in 1576, where he was imprisoned or confined on several occasions, returning to the family home at Firle, Sussex at his death. His father Edward Gage, as sheriff in 1557-58, was a zealous prosecutor of Protestant martyrs under Mary I, much involved with the burning of Sussex martyrs. The second unique information is found at the end of the book: ‘a true copy’ of a deed pertaining to the vicarage and garden at West Firle, written out by Thomas Deanes, vicar from 1550-58; neither the original nor another copy survives.
Richard Pynson was a native Norman arriving in London to work as a bookseller and printer from c. 1490; he served as official printer under both Henry VII and Henry VIII. His 1500 Missal, the Morton Missal was printed on paper (the Canon leaves on vellum) with decorative borders incorporating the rebus monogram of the cardinal. These borders were not subsequently used, leading BMC to surmise that Morton himself retained the material, but a woodcut initial A with the Morton rebus appears in the present edition. Subsequent Pynson missals were printed in 1504, 1512 and 1520 on both paper and vellum and illustrated with one, four and seven woodcuts respectively. ESTC S121623 (10 copies); STC (2nd ed.), 16202; Weale-Bohatta 1430; Van Praet I, 316
Printed on vellum, folio (374 x 256mm). Printed in red and black, printed music with staves and notes, large woodcut of the Tudor Royal arms on title (repeated on A1v within multi-part decorative border, full-page woodcut Crucifixion [Hodnett 1359] within border, illuminated and coloured by a contemporary hand, large woodcut Resurrection [Hodnett 1356] with multi-part borders, large woodcut Saints in Glory [Hodnett 1358] within multi-part border, small woodcuts of Descent of the Holy Ghost, Circumcision and Annunciation [Hodnett 1471, 1365, 1360], decorative and historiated woodcut initials, including an A with Morton rebus (title lightly soiled and creased and with minor repair at upper corner, a few leaves reinforced at hinge, some old discolouration, original vellum join in 2C2.5 loosening). 20th-century tan calf tooled in blind over lightly bevelled boards, gilt spine label, red edges (faint mottling). Provenance: early censorship with references to popes and Thomas á Beckett crossed through – mid-16th century note recording the birth of John Gage (1537-1598), as the first and oldest son of Edward Gage or West Firle, on Sunday, 16 September 1537 – manuscript copy of a deed concerning the vicarage and garden at West Firle written out by Thomas Deanes, vicar from 1550-58 – manuscript note recording deaths of Queen Mary I and her archbishop Reginal Pole in November 1558 – later pentrial naming ‘Mr Lane’.
Brought to you by
Eugenio Donadoni
Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts