4. The | booke of the common praier | and adminiſtracion of the | Sacramentes, and | other rites and | ceremonies | of the | Churche: after the | uſe of the Churche of | Englande. | Londini, in officina Richardi Graftoni, | [Two lines] Anno Domini. M.D.XLIX | Menſe Martij. [Colophon] Excuſum Londini, in edibus Richardi Graftoni | Regij Impreſſoris. | Menſe Junij M.D.xlix. | Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum ſolum.
We know very little about the preparation of the book. An Act, dated January 22, 1549, entitled "An Act for uniformity of Service and Administration of the Sacraments throughout the Realm" speaks of the commissioners who had been appointed, and had first met at Windsor in May, 1548, as follows: "Whereof His Highness by the most prudent advice ... to the intent a uniform, quiet, and godly order should be had concerning the premisses, hath appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury, and certain of the most learned and discreet Bishops, and other learned men of this realm to consider and ponder the premisses." The same Act goes on to say "the which at this time by the aid of the Holy Ghost, with one uniform agreement is of them concluded, set forth and delivered to his highness, to his great comfort and quietness of mind, in a book entituled,—
"The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other rites and Ceremonies of the Church, after the Use of the Church of England."
Richard Grafton, the printer of our copy, was originally a prosperous London merchant. His zeal for religion led him to associate himself with Edward Whitchurch, another merchant, in causing Matthews's Bible to be translated and printed in 1537, in publishing the Coverdale Bible of 1535, and again in printing the Cranmer Bible of 1540. He turned printer eventually, and his books are counted among the best specimens of the book-making of the period. He and his friend, who also became a typographer, received a patent from Henry VIII in 1543 for printing "bookes of diuine service, that is to say, the masse booke, the graill, the antyphoner, the himptnell, the portous, and the prymer, both in Latyn and in Englyshe of Sarum use," all of which had formerly been printed abroad. In 1546, Grafton was appointed printer to Prince Edward, afterward Edward VI, and in 1547 printer to the King. When the Prayer Book came to be put to press there was therefore no question of who should be chosen to do the work.
Ames says that Grafton and Whitchurch continued friends and partners for many years, but it is a fact, as Dibdin points out, that while up to 1541 their names appear together upon title-pages, after that date there are usually two issues of each work, part having Grafton's name in the imprint, and part Whitchurch's. This is true of the Cranmer Bible, and the same thing is found in connection with the Prayer Book. It is not known whether the separation is due to some economic arrangement agreeable to both printers, or whether they may have quarreled. To the names of these two printers of the first edition, however, should be added another, that of John Oswen of Worcester, formerly of Ipswich, who by virtue of a license from Edward VI was printer of "every kind of book, or books, set forth by us, concerning the service to be used in churches, ministration of the sacraments, and instruction of our subjects of the Principality of Wales, and marches thereunto belonging ... for seven years, prohibiting all other persons whatsoever from printing the same."
All issues of this edition differ more or less in general style and appearance. The most marked dissimilarity in the volumes issued by the London printers lies in the special woodcut title-page used by each. Grafton's beautiful border (repeated for "A Table" and "Kalendar") shows, above a Doric frieze supported by pilasters, a view of the Council Chamber with King Edward, surrounded by his advisers, and at the bottom the printer's punning mark, on a shield upheld by two angels. It is as fine a piece of work as anything of the period. Grafton afterward used the same border for his edition of A Concordance of the Bible, printed in 1550. The Whitchurch copies have a woodcut border very similar in character to those in use twenty years later, which have the appearance of being related to some of the borders drawn for Plantin. This border consists of caryatids representing Roman soldiers with shields, supporting the royal coat-of-arms, and below, satyrs and loves with another coat-of-arms in a cartouche, and the initial E in a tablet on one side, and W on the other.
The earliest known copy printed by Oswen, a quarto, has a colophon which reads: At Worceter by | Jhon Oſwen. They be also to ſell at Shreweſburye. | (Imprinted the xxiiii. day of May. | Anno. M.D.XLIV. The title is framed by a border made up of five woodcut panels, carelessly arranged; and some of the initial letters are ornamented.
Another copy, dated July 30, is in folio. The title-page is here bordered with ten woodcuts, having between the inner and outer sets the rubricated text: "Let euerye soule submyt hym ſelfe unto the aucthorite of the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be, are ordained of God whoſoeuer therefore reſiſteth power: reſiſteth the ordinance of God. Rom. XIVI." A royal coat-of-arms, which in the quarto was placed before the order of Matins, here heads the title, printed in red. Every other line following is also rubricated. In Grafton's copy the "Te Deum Laudamus," "The Song of Zacharias," and "The Letany," occur at the end of the book but are not in the table of Contents.
The statement made in the Act that the work had been concluded, set forth, and delivered, must apply, it is thought, to the manuscript, since no printed copy is known dated earlier than March. A copy printed by Whitchurch has the date March 7, 1549, and another by Grafton is dated the eighth; other copies are dated in May, June and July. The book was used in the London churches on Easter Day, April 21, 1549, and was ordered, as we have seen, to be used in all churches after the Feast of Pentecost, which fell upon June 9 in 1549.
From the requirements of its use, we may infer that the edition must have been a large one. We are sure of the price of the volume from the following note, added at the end of the book: "The Kynges Maieſtie, by the aduyſe of his moſte deare vncle the Lorde Protector and other his highnes Counſell, ſtreightly chargeth and commaundeth, that no maner of perſon do ſell this preſent booke vnbounde, aboue the price of .ii. Shyllynges the piece. And the ſame bounde in paſte or in boordes, not aboue the price of three ſhylleynges and foure pence the piece. God ſaue the Kyng." The price differs in different volumes. A copy of Oswen's May 24th issue sets the price at two shillings and twopence for unbound copies, and three shillings eightpence for bound copies.
Folio. Black letter and Roman.
Collation: 183 leaves, including title-page. Sig. A-Y, AA-f.