Caxton prayer book sees the light
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LYME PARK is celebrating the return of its Lyme Caxton Missal, the earliest printed text that bears printer William Caxton’s trademark. The Missal is the only surviving copy of an exceptional early printed prayer book, the Sarum Missal, published in 1487.
LYME PARK is celebrating the return of its Lyme Caxton Missal, the earliest printed text that bears printer William Caxton’s trademark. The Missal is the only surviving copy of an exceptional early printed prayer book, the Sarum Missal, published in 1487. Now visitors to the National Trust’s mansion house in Cheshire are able to see the Missal, with its hand-colour illustrations, notes and annotations, alongside a digital version which brings the book to life using the latest version of the British Library’s award-winning Turning Pages technology. The Legh family of Lyme Park owned the Missal from soon after it was printed in the late 15th century but, for many years, the book was hidden away, only to be rediscovered by a visiting scholar to Lyme in the late 19th century, when the Missal was put on display in the library. It was removed from the house by the family in 1946, to return when the National Trust acquired it last year. Lyme Park, a Tudor house transformed into a huge Italianate palace in the 18th century, is well known for its role as a location in the popular television series of Pride & Prejudice (1995).
