The Printing and Printers of the Book of Common Prayer, 1549-1561 by Peter WM Blayney

ONE of the many things I like about the Prayer Book is how well it tells stories. Not just the story of our redemption through Christ, or the story of the English religion, which I think it tells better than any other liturgical text, but also the stories of individual people. Of lives lived and prayers prayed. Whether it’s a crossed-out “George, our King” or a well-worn Psalm 23, every single copy tells a story.

Peter Blayney’s excellent new book serves as a prequel, if you will, to all these stories. It tells the story of the men who printed the Prayer Book, as well as the woman who largely commanded them. While Henry, Mary and, to a greater extent, Edward play supporting roles in this narrative, the Tudor who stands out most is undoubtedly the first great Elizabeth. The extent to which she took an interest in the printing process is brought to life as never before. In a letter denouncing Bishop Grindal of London, she wrote of “unseemly tables with dirty clothes”; she intervenes on certain rubrics. The minutiae of the Queen’s meddling are astonishing.

Blayney scrupulously records every turn of phrase. Sometimes the details are overwhelmingly specific even for the prayer book enthusiast. I must confess that I do not have the mathematical knowledge required to understand some of the formulas that explain the printing differences in different versions. But all of this is indicative of the enormous care with which he obviously treats large amounts of primary source material, and it is not presented without humor. I had never considered the inherent humor in the “mass production” of liturgical books by radical Protestants until Blayney playfully pointed it out.

Lambeth Palace LibraryThe third edition of Jugges Stamp Calendar, 1562, from the book

As always with the Book of Common Prayer, it is the small glimpses of the human side that make up the most compelling part of this tome. Individual characters appear at tantalising moments in the narrative – from the Marian informant ‘Robin Papist’ to the ever-present business acumen of Richard Jugge to poor, misguided Saint Nicomedes, whose feast day is mistakenly 3 June.

We also learn a lot about our forerunners in general, not least that people have been taking liberties with aspects of the liturgy for some time. Different printers have chosen completely different directions in the design of tables and calendars, but one suspects that they were still more user-friendly than Joint worship serviceThat is, by regularly reusing old pages from earlier editions of banned or obsolete prayer books, Elizabethan printers would have been consistent with at least the fifth missionary characteristic.

This is a remarkable piece of scholarship, and well worth buying because it alone demolishes much existing thinking around the Black Rubric. But above all, it reminds us of how many stories bubble up from and are inherent in our ancient liturgy. Whether the same can be said of what has replaced it in most places is indeed questionable.

The Rev. Fergus Butler-Gallie is a writer and priest who has worked in parishes in Liverpool and central London..

The printing and the printers of the Book of Common Prayer, 1549–1561
Peter W. M. Blayney
Cambridge University Press €34.99
(978-1-108-83741-5)
Church Times Bookshop £31.49