Customer Reviews

The Book of Common Prayer, 1559: The Elizabethan Prayer Book

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John Booty has done a good job of making 1559 Prayer Book accessible to us. Even if you're not an Anglican Christian (Episcopalian for those of us in the U.S.) it's very interesting to read the worship tradition of so long ago, including Psalms and Gospel readings in Elizabethan English. But there are other interesting traditions lost today like a rite of thanksgiving blessing given to women who had just survived childbirth. The chapter on the History of the book itself is well worth the price of the book. I remember seeing copies of the 1559 Prayerbook as a child and wanting to read them but was unable to read the old English script they were invariably published in. This is fun.

As important as the AUTHORIZED or KING JAMES version of the BIBLE the prayerbook of Good Queen Bess also used by her most famous subject, WILL THE PLAY is essential to grasping English Reformed Liturgy and theory of sacrament. Those who use the 1928 [P]ECUSA book in their worship will find interesting differences. Those who use a later "BCP" will wonder what happened, as they should.
Lay Reader St Hilda Church Atlanta GA

My review's title says all I would say, save this: At Amazon prices, this is a bargain for historians, churchgoers, and scholars.

This is a handsome, economical and reader friendly edition of the 1559. It is a wonderful resource for private devotions and or scholarly minds.

This book is for anyone who likes to delve into the ever changing BCP, this England version is a treasured one for me, purely historical and reference book.