Friday, July 26, 2013

Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston)

This is a Google book I'm surprised I've never run across before.  Its full title is Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive:  Translated and Arranged from the Sarum Book and Supplemented from Gallican and Monastic Uses. Printed for the Society of S. Margaret, Boston, U.S. (Google eBook)

So, it's the St. Margaret Breviary, really - here's a link to the order's website - and apparently comes right from the Sarum Breviary (although with some differences, I'd imagine).  This edition is from 1885.

[EDIT:  Michael, in the comments, notes that there's a separate book for Matins as well (which is oddly labeled "Catholic Church"!).  Also that the books are:
....*mostly* Sarum - at least in the Psalter and the Office of the Season. He does make use of some of the tridentine alterations, such as in the system of Mattins lessons. The Proper and Common of the Saints, however, is much more highly [neo?-]Gallican. He takes pains which later folks like G. H. Palmer do not to avoid any direct invocation of the saints. 
Thanks, Michael.]


The book's got a hyperlinked Table of Contents, and it seems to be complete, with the Psalter for the days of the week for all the offices, the Chapter for each office, the Collects, the Antiphons, and everything for all the Feast Days, both major and minor.  No music, though.

A good find!

4 comments:

Michael Shirk said...

There's another volume for Mattins: "Breviary Offices: The Night Hours"
http://books.google.com/books?id=9eUTAAAAYAAJ

It's *mostly* Sarum - at least in the Psalter and the Office of the Season. He does make use of some of the tridentine alterations, such as in the system of Mattins lessons. The Proper and Common of the Saints, however, is much more highly [neo?-]Gallican. He takes pains which later folks like G. H. Palmer do not to avoid any direct invocation of the saints.

bls said...

Oh, excellent - thanks! I totally missed the Matins Volume. I'll add it to the post as well.

Thanks for the other info as well. Who's "he," BTW? I didn't see any individual names anywhere in the book....

bls said...

(Ah, I guess it's Neale, maybe? I'm seeing his name in the preface of the Matins book....)

Michael Shirk said...

Oh sorry, Yes. J. M. Neale.
I'm not sure how I knew that; I think I may have originally found the book through an online "list of Anglo-Catholic Breviaries of the past two centuries" or something that may have had descriptions.