Missal. Use of Sarum

Chancery folio (271 x 193mm.), printed in red and black throughout, woodcut initials and illustrations (some full-page), typeset music, 4 leaves of the Canon of the Mass on vellum with a full-page illustration (Hodnett 1359), contemporary Oxford blind-tooled calf over wooden boards, two leaves of thirteenth/fourteenth-century Latin manuscript on vellum (from a work of scholastic theology) retrieved from binding and bound at beginning and end, nineteenth-century manuscript title bound at front, nineteenth-century bibliographical notes in pencil on front flyleaves, lacking title-page and final 12 leaves, a few leaves at end frayed at foredge, rebacked, upper cover detached, lower cover almost detached, lacking both clasps

STC 16190 (ESTC lists 7 copies); Weale-Bohatta 1417; Steele, The Earliest English Music Printing, 8; D. Pearson, Oxford Bookbindings 1500-1640 (Oxford, 2000), supplement to Ker's "Pastedowns in Oxford Bindings", 132.1

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The diaper design stamped binding has a pineapple stamp (Oldham A(9)=Pearson ornaments 15-17) in each compartment and an outer roll-tooled border of musical instruments (Oldham MU.(1)=Gibson roll III). Very similar decoration, with the same music roll stamp, is found on a binding in Magdalen College, Oxford, on a book printed in 1529 (illustrated in Pearson, Oxford bookbindings 1500-1640, p.11, fig. 6), but with a lattice stamp in place of the pineapple stamp. Pearson lists three further bindings with the same combination of tools as here.

This edition is rare: the last copy to appear on the market (also slightly defective) was in the Broxbourne sale in these rooms, 15 November 1977, lot 236.