The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments: and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England: with the Psalter, or Psalmes of David. Anno Domini, 1660.
A VERY RARE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER PRINTED DURING THE REFORMATION, ALMOST CERTAINLY THE LAST BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER PRINTED PRIOR TO THE CANONICAL 1662 REVISION.
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The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The first prayer book, published in 1549 in the reign of King Edward VI of England, was a product of the English Reformation following the break with Rome. The work of 1549 was the first prayer book to include the complete forms of service for daily and Sunday worship in English. It contained Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, the Litany, and Holy Communion and also the occasional services in full: the orders for Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, "prayers to be said with the sick", and a funeral service. It also set out in full the "propers" (that is the parts of the service which varied week by week or, at times, daily throughout the Church's Year): the introits, collects, and epistle and gospel readings for the Sunday service of Holy Communion. Old Testament and New Testament readings for daily prayer were specified in tabular format as were the Psalms and canticles, mostly biblical, that were provided to be said or sung between the readings.
The 1549 book was soon succeeded by a 1552 revision which was more Reformed but from the same editorial hand, that of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was used only for a few months, as after Edward VI's death in 1553, his half-sister Mary I restored Roman Catholic worship. Mary died in 1558 and, in 1559, Elizabeth I's first Parliament authorised the 1559 prayer book, which effectively reintroduced the 1552 book with modifications to make it acceptable to more traditionally minded worshippers and clergy.
In 1604, James I ordered some further changes, the most significant being the addition to the Catechism of a section on the Sacraments; this resulted in the 1604 Book of Common Prayer. Following the tumultuous events surrounding the English Civil War, when the Prayer Book was again abolished, another revision was published as the 1662 prayer book. That edition remains the official prayer book of the Church of England, although throughout the later twentieth century, alternative forms which were technically supplements have largely displaced the Book of Common Prayer for the main Sunday worship of most English parish churches.
This is likely the final printing of the Book of Common Prayer prior to the canonical 1662 revision, printed during one of the most significant times in English history, being the reformation. This was probably printed by John Field alongside the important 1660 Bible which regularly sells for over £10,000-£20,000.
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Size: 245 x 386 x 20 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[A1-2L2].
Leather binding with discolouration, minor scuffing, rubbing, and scratches. Partial repair to the rear board with a new piece of leather attached where the original fragment is lacking. Both boards securely attached with joints and hinges starting. Prominent shelf and edge wear with some of the leather peeling lightly and small fragments lacking. Corners worn. Marbled endpapers dulled. Text block extremely clean with very light toning and extremely sporadic very minor foxing. Leaf edges with sporadic small tears. Tear with missing fragments to the bottom of leaves B3 and B4. Tear to leaves B4 and D2 repaired with kozo tape on the versos. Two darker marks to L1 which do not obstruct legibility. Tear to L2 with fragment remaining. Small fragment of N lacking. Small tear to the bottom of N2. Tear to the top of 2G2. Top right corner lacking from 2I2. Few small holes to the rear endpaper. Lacking frontispiece and potentially a dedication as some collated copies from the usual sources have these, but not all.
[OCLC 84396532; OCLC1203864487; OCLC1203862416].
Full collation: [A1-A4, B1-B4, D1-D2, E1-E2, F1-F2, G1-G2, H1-H2, J1-J2, K1-K2, L1-L2, M1-M2, N1-N2, O1-O2, P1-P2, Q1-Q2, R1-R2, S1-S2, T1-T2, V1-V2, X1-X2, Y1-Y2, Z1-Z2, Aa1-Aa2, Bb1-Bb2, Cc1-Cc2, Dd1-Dd2, Ee1-Ee2, Ff1-Ff2, Gg1-Gg2, Hh1-Hh2, Ii1-Ii2, Kk1-Kk2, Ll1-Ll2]. - Total 70 leaves, thus 140pp.
