Rare Liturgical Book for Sale
  • Bridget Scott
    Posts: 39
    Is anyone interested? The owner is asking $150, otherwise, he is going to take it apart and sell individual pages for framing.
    rare book.jpg
    540 x 960 - 113K
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,315
    I can’t afford it, and since it doesn’t have the weeping tone (AFAIK, since that was restored only when the Vatican editions were made normative in the early 19th c.) it is usable but not ideal for pre-Pian Holy Week. But why would people take it apart???? What’s wrong with them?
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen canadash
  • Bridget Scott
    Posts: 39
    Another image from inside the book.
    12431518_10208533690569634_1630522140_n.jpg
    540 x 960 - 69K
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    Ah, a page from the Passion setting for the Gospel on Palm Sunday!
    Thanked by 1canadash
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    The editions of the Cantus Ecclesiasticus... from 1666, 1694, 1738, 1764, 1794, and 1847 are all available in facsimile form online (in fact, I have them downloaded on my computer). The edition that is for sale is that of 1837, and I could only find a facsimile excerpt online.
    Thanked by 1Bridget Scott
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,415
    I pray that someone will buy this book.
    The price seems more than reasonable.
    I'll not say anything about the character and morality of the person who would cut it up.
    Thanked by 3Bridget Scott CHGiffen Salieri
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    There are antique dealers who sell rare books. It would be MUCH better that the book be sold intact then drawn and quartered. Tell the person trying to sell it to put it up on New Liturgical Movement---Dr. K. sold a number of liturgical books via NLM.
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    I agree: send a message to Gregory DiPippo (gdipippo@newliturgicalmovement.org).
  • Bridget Scott
    Posts: 39
    The owner of the book is a book dealer. He is not Catholic and could care less about the book. A concerned parishioner who happens to be this fellow's neighbor brought the book to my attention. It is in excellent condition. I was able to buy a little bit of time before the dismembering. I will contact Gregory as you suggest, Ben, but I could really use some help here, friends. Share this with your contacts before it goes to the chopping block.
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,164
    I've seen many old bibles, manuscripts, etc. on e-bay where the seller is selling one page. That one page goes for a very high price. Maybe he thinks he can get more by selling it page by page.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,093
    Yes, people use these for "serious" decor. Sigh.
  • MichaelDickson
    Posts: 419
    PM sent.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,315
    If he could care less about it, why is he dealing in rare books??
    Thanked by 5canadash CHGiffen Ben M. Jackson Osborn Salieri
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    I've also located and downloaded a scan of the 1837 edition.

    And I've found two sellers for the 1837 edition, one asking 150 Euros, the other asking $167.52 US (which sounds like a Euro to USD conversion from 150 Euros), plus shipping.

    If I were half my age, going on 38 (instead of 76), I'd jump at this chance.

    Maybe I still should...
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,415
    A book dealer who 'could care less' about his books and chops them up for lucre is like a slaughterer who sells his victims by the pound. If someone stole the book it wouldn't be stealing - it would be rescue.
    Thanked by 1Salieri
  • igneusigneus
    Posts: 390
    ... and so came into being the famous "CMAA Rescue Team", the very rare criminal gang composed solely of church musicians. :)
    Thanked by 4Bridget Scott M. Jackson Osborn Salieri Spriggo
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    The relics of saints also go for a good price on e-bay, but that doesn't mean they should be sold.

    As a priest I know once said: Books are our friends, and we must never deface or defile them.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • sergeantedward
    Posts: 195
    This reminds me of www.savetoby.com
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,415
    Still and all - how many of us (am I the only one?) have framed manuscript pages gracing our walls, or our choir halls. I have one 16th century one, two 15th century ones, and another, of less note, which could be anywhere from 17th to 19th century.

    Perhaps what we need is a law to prohibit the mutilation of old liturgical books (or any other kind of books), just as we have laws prohibiting the mutilation or murder of animals for their ivory or their fur.

    Some count the greatness of a nation on its cruise missiles and nuclear arsenal. A better guage would be the respect it has for its trove of books, art, and music.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,315
    Yes, the problem is not the framing, it’s the mutilation.
    Thanked by 2M. Jackson Osborn Ben
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,799
    …which is driven by demand for single pages. There are things more barbaric than framing, though.
    Thanked by 1Ben
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,415
    ...not the framing, it's the mutilation.


    Ah! Nice and rational.
    The only problem is that the mutilation presumes the framing.
    So, the solution is to stanch the market for pages to frame?

    Perhaps next
    they'll be peddling them (powdered, of course) to the Chinese as an aphrodisiac.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    Perhaps next
    they'll be peddling them (powdered, of course) to the Chinese as an aphrodisiac.


    Wont work! Haven't you heard that chant is depressing?
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    I have a page from Cod. Sang. 339 (Intr. Ad te levavi) hanging in my choir loft...but it's a high-quality print-out from e-codices.
    Thanked by 1Richard Mix
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