Unique in its possession of a chained library and of the Mappa Mundi, Hereford Cathedral is remarkable for its architecture, its long history and its musical tradition. "Hereford Cathedral" is the definitive account of its history from Anglo-Saxon times to the present, and of its architecture, fittings, musical tradition, archives and library. Substantial parts of the structure date from Norman times, but the building has been modified in many ways over the years. In the middle ages Hereford was the centre of pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe, bishop of Hereford (d.1282). It survived the Reformation relatively intact, but was damaged during the Civil War. Its west end collapsed disastrously in 1786, leading to the renewal and reworking of the exterior by James Wyatt. Little was changed in the interior until the striking Victorian rationalisation by George Gilbert Scott.

Mappa mundi texts and images present a panorama of the medieval world-view, c.1300; the Hereford map studied in close detail. Filled with information and lore, mappae mundi present an encyclopaedic panorama of the conceptual "landscape" of the middle ages. Previously objects of study for cartographers and geographers, the value of medieval maps to scholars in other fields is now recognised and this book, written from an art historical perspective, illuminates the medieval view of the world represented in a group of maps of c.1300. Naomi Kline's detailed examination of the literary, visual, oral and textual evidence of the Hereford mappa mundi and others like it, such as the Psalter Maps, the '"Sawley Map", and the Ebstorf Map, places them within the larger context of medieval art and intellectual history. The mappa mundi in Hereford cathedral is at the heart of this study: it has more than one thousand texts and images of geographical subjects, monuments, animals, plants, peoples, biblical sites and incidents, legendary material, historical information and much more; distinctions between "real" and "fantastic" are fluid; time and space are telescoped, presenting past, present, and future. Naomi Kline provides, for the first time, a full and detailed analysis of the images and texts of the Hereford map which, thus deciphered, allow comparison with related mappae mundi as well as with other texts and images. NAOMI REED KLINE is Professor of Art History at Plymouth State College.

"Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, by Yale University Press, New Haven and London."

The Use of Hereford, a local variation of the Roman Rite, was one of the principal diocesan liturgies of medieval England before their abolition and replacement by the Book of Common Prayer after 1549. Unlike the widespread Use of Sarum, the Use of Hereford was confined mainly to its cathedral and diocese, which enabled it to maintain its individuality until the mid sixteenth century. This monograph examines the Use of Hereford in the context of the British diocesan rites in general, as well as considering its possible Lotharingian origins during the late eleventh century and its surviving sources, both manuscript and printed. In addition to its more familiar missals, breviaries and gradual, lesser known sources include fragments of early Hereford service-books dismembered at the Reformation, and now hidden away as binding or archival scrap in libraries and record offices. The distinctiveness of the Use of Hereford is also discussed as well as the possible reasons for its continuation, due probably to its cathedral's unique constitutional and liturgical identity, which enabled it to maintain its integrity in a Province largely dominated by Sarum Use.

The diversity of sculpture preserved at the Herefordshire School has fascinated art historians for many years. Although much of the sculpture has been published and discussed in academic journals, there has been no comprehensive work on the subject - until now. Thurlby focuses attention on the sculpture form the school in its building context, whilst also seeking parallels from other buildings and in other media. This book will appeal to both the specialist and non-specialist due to its style and wide ranging discussion. Thurlby draws in comparisons from Britain and abroad, discusses the inspiration for many of the pieces, the patrons and the motives for their patronage, the training and role of craftsmen, and so on. Over 240 illustrations complement the text.