Excerpt from The Ancient Liturgy of the Church of England: According to the Uses of Sarum York, Hereford and Bangor and the Roman Liturgy Arranged in Parallel Columns With Preface and Notes

There are many, again, who are better informed but yet have never had an opportunity of examining any copies of the old service books which still exist, whether from living at a distance from public libra ries or from some other cause. Nearly forty years ago [1844] in the preface to the first edition of this volume I said my hope was, upon a consideration of the circumstances which I have brie¿y spoken of above, that an attempt to render accessible these books or portions of them would not be unaccept able. Let me now add I trust without presumption, that my expectations have been amply realised.

I have alluded to the difficulty of obtaining access to these old books. So rare are they that except in the libraries of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the British museum, it is almost hopeless to expect to find them. Occasionally, in a few instances, we may meet with a single volume, a horae, or a manual, or it may be even a missal but one book only will do but little for the student, if he wishes to understand the subject, and to ob tain more than a mere smattering of knowledge about it, it can be only after a careful examination and comparison of the many volumes among which anciently the offices of the church of England were distributed.

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