The Book of Common Prayer And Administration of the Sacraments, and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to the Use of The Church of England: Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David, Pointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches. Cambridge: Printed for J. Baskerville, 1762.
THE APOTHEOSIS OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, BEING ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PRINTINGS OF IT, HERE BEAUTIFULLY FINELY BOUND IN FULL RED MOROCCO.
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The 1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer has gone through hundreds, perhaps thousands, of printings. The Baskerville printing is the standout one amongst them all. John Baskerville is one of the most important English printers, introducing the Baskerville typeface which remains in frequent use to this day.
Baskerville's edition of the Book of Common Prayer came in three versions: single column, double column, and with or without lozenge border decorations. This is the third Baskerville edition as reported by Gaskell with 'Price Five Shillings, unbound' to the foot of the title page.
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"[John] Baskerville was one of the giants of English typography, introducing a number of innovations, including the eponymous typeface still in use today. His typefaces were finely constructed, his designs simple, and spare, and made great use of white space. He also pioneered the development of fine papers for printing" (Society of Archbishop Justus).
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A similar example realised £1,063 at Christie's Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts sale 30th Nov 2010 lot 29.
Size: 107 x 170 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[(3), a1-c6, B1-2H5, A1-K1, (2)]
Collated as complete through both the Book of Common Prayer and Psalms of David. Near contemporary (perhaps original) full red morocco with a gilt design to both boards with gilt border, also with some dulled gilt to the spine between raised bands. Spine dulled with some light rubbing, more significant to the head and tail - the head with some loss. Minor rubbing across joints but with both boards securely attached, the binding secure and with very slight shelf lean. Some minor discolouration to boards with the front board very good. Rear board rubbed with some loss but generally remains good. Fore edge and bottom edge gilt with top page edge dulled as typical. Mildly toned throughout the text block but generally internally near fine. No attached bookplates, though with an ink gift inscription to front free endpaper, given to Anne Stirling, dated May 26th 1778 - 'The gift of the Rev. D. Blair.'
[ESTC T87220, T87252, T107540; Gaskell 20-22; Griffiths 8; Gaskell 12,13,19, pp.30-33 (1959 edition)]
