The Book of Common Prayer, 1559: The Elizabethan Prayer Book
John E. Booty’s edition of The Book of Common Prayer, 1559, first published by the University Press of Virginia for the Folger Shakespeare Library in 1976 and long out of print, is now being reissued in the same handsome format as the original edition. In her foreword to the 2005 reissue, Judith Maltby writes, "It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of the 1559 Prayer Book.... Shakespeare was clearly shaped by a culture in which the vernacular was remarkably vigorous."\ Booty’s text...
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The Book of Common Prayer has provided Anglicans worldwide with daily, weekly, and seasonal rounds of formal, corporate worship since the 16th century. The 1559 third edition was the most enduring of the early editions, and was the context in which English speakers from Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare to local preachers, housewives, and yeoman farmers lived their lives. Along with the King James Bible, it defined the particular brand of Christianity developed by the Church of England. Booty (emeritus church history, Episcopal Divinity School, Massachusetts) adds to the original text a history of the edition, substantial notes, and a biblical index. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
