In 1457, Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer completed the printing of the
Psalterium latinum, the first printed book to give both the names of
the printers and the date of its printing. The following year they used the same
type and ornamental initial letters to print the exceedingly rare Canon of
the Mass, in this copy bound at the center of the Missal for the use
of Cracow (printed in 1484). The missal is, in the reality of its
physical production and in reflection of its liturgical use, two separate books.
One of nine editions produced by Schöffer between 1483 and 1499, the missal is
printed on paper, using font sizes that are smaller than those of the canon.
They printed the 12-leaf canon of the mass - the section with the consecration
prayers-on parchment for durability, and in a larger font size for legibility.
It was sold as a separate unit so that the purchaser could remove the canon of
whichever missal he was using and insert this much nicer version. The
advertisement put out by Schöffer in 1470 still included this 1458 canon among
the books he offered for sale; presumably one could purchase it as late as the
1484 date of the present missal. Although Columbia's copy of the canon lacks
three leaves, it is one of only three known copies to survive (together with a
few isolated fragments). Of all the acquisitions that Henry Lewis Bullen made
for the American Type Founders Company Library, he was most proud of this one.