BT1.131.19, title-page

The First Issue of the First Edition of the First Edwardian Prayer Book: New College Library, Oxford, BT1.131.19

Peter W. M. Blayney
Issue number
(2021): 15

That the earliest editions of The Book of Common Prayer were printed in 1549 will come as no surprise to those interested in the early history of either the Church of England or the London book trade.  During 1549–50, more than a dozen editions were printed in folio (and one in quarto) to equip the clergy of nearly 9,000 parishes.  But while many religious conservatives deplored the book’s departures from the rituals of the past, opposition from radicals who found it insufficiently reformed proved more influential, and in 1552 it was replaced by a substantially revised version.  

 

New College Library, Oxford, BT1.131.19

 

New College Library and Archives, Oxford