Queens' College : Graduale ad usum Sarum

Queens' College

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This large decorated volume contains service settings for the whole year according to the Sarum Rite. A variant of the Roman Rite, the Sarum Rite was widely used for the ordering of Christian public worship in England from the eleventh century until the Reformation. Despite its precious gold leaf decorations, this volume clearly received heavy use, as can be seen in the well-thumbed corners of its vellum leaves, some of which have been replaced, probably as long ago as the sixteenth century.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>As a book of practical liturgy Queens’ MS 28 was not part of the library collection as listed by Andrew Dokett (MS 30), nor does it appear in any other early library itinerary. It is, however, sometimes said to have been one of the volumes cited in pre-Reformation college records that list service books held by the Chapel, some of which were given to the College in 1477 by Lady Margery Roos. Whether or not it was the gift of Margery Roos, this much used volume may record the specific style of worship practiced in Queens’ College Chapel during the pre-Reformation era.</p>