The Book of Common Prayer (1622)

Title page of the Book of Common Prayer (1622)

Introduction to the Text 

The Book of Common Prayer is a book of structured service of worship that contains various Protestant doctrinal changes to the Roman Catholic religion. Serving as a guidebook for Protestant worship, it became viewed as a fundamental aspect of Protestantism and the Reformation. The first edition of The Book of Common Prayer was written in 1549 by Thomas Cranmer, a leader of the Protestant Reformation and the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VII, Edward VI, and Mary I, to satisfy the decision to establish a single official worship service for the Church of England made through the Act of Uniformity of Service and Administration of Sacraments Throughout the Realm that the Parliament of England passed in 1549. (1) However, due to socio-political disputes regarding the extent of reform religion needed, the book went through three major revisions - one in 1554, one in 1559, and one in 1660. 

The Book of Common Prayer on exhibit is an octavo sized (pocket-sized) copy of the 1559 revision. This particular edition was published in London in 1622 by Bonham Norton and John Bill, and contains: a liturgical calendar; instructions for participation in Morning prayer and Evening Prayer; Collects; instructions from administering and participating in Communion and Baptism (both private and public); a Catechism; instructions for administering and participating in Confirmation, Matrimony, the Vindication of the Sick, Communion of the Sick, Burial of the Dead, Churching of Women, and the Commination of Sinners; the Psalms of David; and a Godly Prayer. Notably, the text is written in English.

Title page of the Greek New Testament (undated)

The first page of the editorial note by Roberti Stephani in the Greek New Testament (undated)

Title page of The Whole Book of Psalms (1622)

A page from The Whole Book of Psalms (1622) that contains notations of melodies

One of the most notable aspects of this edition of The Book of Common Prayer is that it is bound with two additional texts. The first is an undated Greek New Testament that contains editorial notes from Roberti Stephani, Iosephi Scaligeri, and Isaaci Casavboni. Notably, the New Testament is written in Greek while the editorial notes are written in a combination of both Latin and Greek. The second additional text is a 1622 edition of The Whole Book of Psalms that contains the Psalms and notations of melodies intended to be sung with the Psalms. Notably, this text is written in English. 

Due to the fact that the Greek New Testament lacks a title page and subsequently any information pertaining to who printed it, where it was printed, and when it was printed, and due to the fact that the Book of Psalms lacks any information pertaining to who printed it, and where it was printed, it is unclear as to whether or not the three texts were printed by the same printer, and whether they were intentionally bound together by the printer or by a previous owner. However, since Bonham Norton and John Bill were known to have printed texts in all three of the languages that these particular texts were printed in - that is, English, Latin, and Greek,(2) and since all three texts contain the same decorative headers throughout them, I argue that it is plausible that the three texts were not only printed by Norton and Bill, but were also bound together by Norton and Bill and intended to be regarded and sold as one work. 

When placed in context with the Reformation and the rise of print culture, the 1622 edition of The Book of Common Prayer bound with a Greek New Testament and a 1622 edition of The Whole Book of Psalms reveals the extent to which reformers used print culture to evoke the religious reforms they sought to achieve during the Reformation. While the fact that the Book of Common Prayer is bound with both English and non-English texts reveals that reform efforts to increase the accessibility of religion and to revive the study of ancient languages were implemented through print culture, the fact that the Book of Common Prayer along with the texts it is bound with are printed in an octavo sized book, clearly designed for portability, reveals that reform efforts to create more personalized religious devotion was also implemented through print culture.

Historical Context

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Europe was host to a major schism in Western Christianity - the Reformation. The Reformation was initiated by Martin Luther (1483-1546) when he posted his Ninety-Five Theses that denounced the Catholic doctrine of indulgences, and was continued by John Calvin (1509-1564), Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531), and other reformers until the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648. During the Reformation, reformers sought to rid religion of certain traditional Roman Catholic aspects that they believed were unnecessary and corrupt by incorporating doctrinal changes within the religion itself.(3) The implementation of these doctrinal changes ultimately reformed the way religion was understood, approached, and worshipped. Some of the major changes reformers sought to achieve were: to make religion more accessible to the public through translating religious texts from Latin into the vernacular (English), to revive the study of ancient languages through promoting individuals to study from scripture written in ancient languages, and to introduce the idea of worship through scripture alone through promoting the notion of personal religious devotion.(4) 

One of the major products of the Reformation that encompasses these major changes is The Book of Common Prayer. Notably, the history of The Book of Common Prayer is constructed around the socio-political and socio-cultural history of the tolerance and support for the religious reform. The idea to create the book was a product of Henry VIII’s decision to cut ties between the English Church and the Pope, and his decision to appoint Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury.(5) After Henry VIII’s death, his successor, Edward VI became King and with the help of his political advisors who were in favour of religious reform, took political action to strengthen the socio-cultural implementation of Protestantism.(6) In response to a substantial amount of social objection for the reforms, the Parliament of England passed the Act of Uniformity in 1549 which called for the establishment of one official worship service for the Church of England.(7) Notably, Edward VI turned to print culture to establish this. As soon as the Act was passed, he assigned Cranmer the position of creating the first Book of Common Prayer, which he intended to be a structured reference guide that would set a standard for a uniform worship service that encompassed the doctrinal changes reforms sought to achieve.(8)

The first edition of the book was published in 1549, but a revised edition was published in 1552 which contained alterations to Daily Prayer, the Communion Office, Baptism, Visitation of the Sick, and the implementation of ecclesiastical vestments.(9) Notably, the book was suppressed when Mary I took the thrones since she refused to accept Protestantism and restored Catholicism as England’s official religion.(10) However, in 1558 when Elizabeth I took the throne, she reinstated Protestantism and as a result, a new revised edition of the book was published in 1559.(11) The only difference between this edition and the 1552 edition was that it re-established certain traditional Roman Catholic aspects of the religion such as the necessity of reciting Morning and Evening Prayers in a Church and the use of ecclesiastical vestments.(12) In 1645, however, the Parliament of England banned the book and replaced it with the Directory of Public Worship, and it was not until 1660 when Charles II took the throne and reinstated Protestantism, that a new revision was in the works.(13) The final edition, which was published in 1662, contained alterations to the administration of sacraments, particularly Baptism and Communion, the Catechism, and the Collects. 

The Book of Common Prayer was intended to be read as a guidebook for worship and would have been read with passages of scripture and other forms of guides for worship.(14) Thus, the fact that The Book of Common Prayer is bound with a Greek New Testament and a Book of Psalms, which served as a guide for reciting and singing songs, not only makes sense, but also implies that it its previous owner(s) would have bought it with the intent of taking part in religious worship that reflected Protestant doctrinal changes.