Forrest-Heyther partbooks

They are an important source of polyphonic Mass Ordinary settings by composers from the reign of Henry VIII, including John Taverner and Robert Fayrfax.

They are bound in leather and the covers bear stamped images of the English royal coat of arms on one side, and a Tudor rose and a pomegranate on the other.

John Bergsagel suggests that this shows the partbooks must have been bound before Henry and Catherine's divorce in 1533.

[5] In the treble, mean, contratenor, tenor and bass books, the initial letters of the Missa Gloria tibi trinitas are decorated with a face and a banner bearing the name of John Taverner.

The presence of music by Sheppard and a reference to Tye's doctorate in the collection suggests that they were not added until at least 1545.

[9] It has been suggested that Forrest copied the Masses in the reign of Mary I of England, while acting as her personal chaplain.