Dix, Gregory. The Shape of the Liturgy. 2nd ed. London:Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005 (republished from 1945 original edition).
Chapter 14, “Variable Prayers at the Eucharist.” pp. 527-545
Dix points out that while the prayers for most liturgical acts remain the same regardless of the day of the year, the proper preface to the eucharist varies (Dix 2006, 527). The structure of the rite remains the same but it is odd for the wording to change. In fact, this prayer was quite fixed by the end of the fourth century (Ibid., 529). As the century progressed and the Church became more sensitive to the cycle of the year the eucharistic prayer tended to follow. In the East the church took on the use of two different liturgies which were identical in structure but not in their prayers. These are used at different times in the calendar (Ibid., 530). Variation in the West was only in the prayer, and this variation was more or less complete by about 500 (Ibid., 531). It appears to Dix as though the prayers were varied by local bishops but in response to heretical moves some of the more wary bishops compiled books of orthodox prayers. These then tended to be associated with various Sundays (Ibid., 536).
Dix then traces the preface and sanctus and its development in the Western liturgy (Ibid., 537). Beginning with the fairly terse Hippolytan order, Dix traces the addition of a Sanctus in the 200s, spreading through the West by the early 500s (Ibid., 538). The usage of the sanctus was probably widespread by the mid 400s. It is of interest that rites tended to spread from East to West, often starting in Syria, then being adopted and changed to fit a Western mindset (Ibid., 542).