Book of Common Prayer (1845 illuminated version)

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Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer (1845; illuminated and illustrated).png
Title page of the 1845 edition
Editor Thomas Cranmer
Illustrator
Country United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
LanguageEnglish
Subject
Genre
Publisher John Murray (original), Easton Press (facsimile)
Publication date
1845
Media typePrint (leatherbound)
Pages526 (xlii+484)
OCLC 976554674

In 1845, the English-born Welsh architect Owen Jones designed an illustrated and decorated version of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the official prayer book of the United Church of England and Ireland. [lower-alpha 1] It was published in London by John Murray, with two new editions following in 1863.

Contents

Overview

The Order for Morning Prayer.png
1845 edition
The Order for Morning Prayer (1863 BCP, "simple" ver.).png
A 1863 edition
'The Order for Morning Prayer', the first page.

The illuminated Book of Common Prayer was published in London by John Murray in an edition of 4,000, hoping to follow the success of Jones's Ancient Spanish Ballads (1841). [1] [2] Apart from being an architect, Jones was also an influential designer of 'Book Beautiful'. [3] His elaborate Prayer Book contains eight illuminated title pages for the eight sections, chromolithographed in blue, red, gold and green. Almost every page is ornamented with floral borders or patterns based on Celtic motifs and initial capitals inspired by medieval manuscripts. [4] According to Appletons' Library Manual, there are 1,000 ornamental borders. [5]

The first page which begins the order for Morning Prayer is decorated with a stylized floral border against a black background, which suggests East Indian inspiration. [2]

The thirty-seven illustrations sprinkled throughout the text, were drawn by George Scharf after Raphael, Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Nicolas Poussin, Naeke  [ de ], Fra Angelico (called "Ang. da Fiesole") and Fra Bartolomeo, under the superintendence of Lewis Gruner  [ de ]. The four full-page plates by John C. Horsley and Henry Warren for the Main Sacraments (Holy Communion, Baptism, Matrimony and Burial of the Dead) are set in a contemporary setting. According to Ruari McLean, "This was certainly in keeping with Jones's intention to bring his study of the arts to bear on his own times, and may also have seemed a good way to avoid reference to the medieval Roman Catholic Church." [2]

Editions

Liturgical Calendar - February (BCP, 1845).png
1845 edition
Liturgical Calendar - February (BCP, 1863, "simple ver.").png
A 1863 edition with monochrome lithographic borders and ornaments
Liturgical Calendar - February (BCP, 1863).png
A 1863 edition with chromolithographic borders and ornaments
Liturgical calendar for February surrounded by floral border.

The Prayer Book was reprinted in 1850 which are almost identical copies of the first edition. [6] John Murray subsequently published two new editions in 1863, of which one containing a large number of ornaments and floral borders printed in colours; [7] while the other a relatively simple version without the eight illuminated title pages, and whose page ornaments were printed in monochrome like those in the first edition. [8]

Two facsimile editions were published by Easton Press in 2008 and 2015, both bound in genuine leather. [9] [10] The former is called a "Collector's Edition", [9] whose cover features the frontispiece pattern printed in gold and dark blue against an emerald green background. The latter is a limited edition of 800 copies, [10] with the cover featuring a floral cross surrounded by an ornamental frame, both printed in gold, blue and red, against a black background. [10]

Reception

Anglican historians Charles Hefling and Cynthia Shattuck dubbed the illuminated prayer book "A Victorian 'Gothic' Prayer Book" in The Oxford Guide to The Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey, stating that this "stunning production" is among the best of Jones' designs for many publications. Its illumination, deviating from the long-standing tradition of restrained ornamentation in prayer book printings; The Oxford Guide, published by Oxford University Press, opines that the book "points to the direction that books in general were to follow in the Victorian Age". [4]

See also

Notes

  1. The full title of the 1845 illuminated version is: The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland, with Notes. Illuminated and Illustrated with Engravings from the Works of the Great Painters.

Related Research Articles

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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" : 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.

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The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, finalised in 1571, are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. The Thirty-nine Articles form part of the Book of Common Prayer used by the Church of England, the U.S. Episcopal Church, and the Anglican Church in North America among other denominations in the worldwide Anglican Communion and Anglican Continuum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Act of Uniformity 1662</span> United Kingdom law of religion and the Church of England

The Act of Uniformity 1662 is an Act of the Parliament of England. It prescribed the form of public prayers, administration of sacraments, and other rites of the Established Church of England, according to the rites and ceremonies prescribed in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Adherence to this was required in order to hold any office in government or the church, although the new version of the Book of Common Prayer prescribed by the Act was so new that most people had never even seen a copy. The Act also required that the Book of Common Prayer 'be truly and exactly Translated into the British or Welsh Tongue'. It also explicitly required episcopal ordination for all ministers, i.e. deacons, priests and bishops, which had to be reintroduced since the Puritans had abolished many features of the Church during the Civil War. The act did not explicitly encompass the Isle of Man.

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The term Black Rubric is the popular name for the declaration found at the end of the "Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper" in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), the Church of England's liturgical book. The Black Rubric explains why communicants should kneel when receiving Holy Communion and excludes possible misunderstandings of this action. The declaration was composed in 1552, but the term dates from the 19th century when the medieval custom of printing the rubrics in red was followed in editions of the BCP while the declaration was printed in black.

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<i>Book of Common Prayer</i> (1549) 1st Anglican liturgical book

The 1549 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is the original version of the Book of Common Prayer, variations of which are still in use as the official liturgical book of the Church of England and other Anglican churches. Written during the English Reformation, the prayer book was largely the work of Thomas Cranmer, who borrowed from a large number of other sources. Evidence of Cranmer's Protestant theology can be seen throughout the book; however, the services maintain the traditional forms and sacramental language inherited from medieval Catholic liturgies. Criticised by Protestants for being too traditional, it was replaced by the significantly revised 1552 Book of Common Prayer.

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References

  1. "The Book of Common Prayer: illuminated and illustrated with engravings, 1845". peoplescollection.wales. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Beckwith, Alice H. R. H. (18 December 2013). "The Order for Morning Prayer". victorianweb.org. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  3. Reithmayr, Andrea (11 February 2013). "Owen Jones' 'Book Beautiful' (Part I)". libraryasincubatorproject.org. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  4. 1 2 Hefling, Charles; Shattuck, Cynthia, eds. (1 July 2006). The Oxford Guide to The Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 123–125. ISBN   9780199723898.
  5. Appletons' Library Manual: Containing a Catalogue Raisonné of Upwards of Twelve Thousand of the Most Important Works in Every Department of Knowledge in All Modern Languages. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1849. p. 340.
  6. Cranmer, Thomas, ed. (1850) [1845]. The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland, with Notes and Illustrations. Designed and illuminated by Owen Jones; printed by Viztelly Brothers & Co. London: John Murray.
  7. "JONES, Owen (designer). The Book of Common Prayer And Administration Of The Sacraments, And Other Rites And Ceremonies Of The Church, According to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland. With Notes and Illustrations. London, John Murray, 1863". jonathanclarkfinebooks.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  8. Cranmer, Thomas, ed. (1863) [1845]. "List of Illustrations". The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland, with Notes and Illustrations. Designed by Owen Jones; printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh. London: John Murray. p. vi.
  9. 1 2 Cranmer, Thomas, ed. (2008) [1845]. The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland, with Notes. Illuminated and Illustrated with Engravings from the Works of the Great Painters. (Collector's Edition, Bound in Genuine Leather). Designed and illuminated by Owen Jones. Norwalk, CT: Easton Press. p. i.
  10. 1 2 3 "The Book of Common Prayer, the immortal Christian book of worship in the historic 1845 edition, featuring designs by Owen Jones". eastonpress.com. Retrieved 6 June 2022.