Output details

The Book of Common Prayer: The texts of 1549, 1559, and 1662

The research was undertaken to support a new edition of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), intended to allow the reader to compare and understand the differences between key 16th and 17th century editions. The edition is aimed at students of literature and history and the general reader. The research involved understanding both the typographic presentation of these early editions and the relationship of typography to liturgical structure, so that a design could be established for the new edition that would respect the conventions of liturgical printing that have developed over the centuries. Key editions and printings of the BCP were discussed with the editor of the book, Brian Cummings, to select editions that would be analysed for their typographic presentation. In addition, the house style developed by Oxford University Press for the BCP in the 19th and 20th centuries was considered. Printings of 1549, 1559, and 1662 editions were consulted in the original or facsimile to establish the degree of typographic similarity across them. A common structure of prayers and dialogues was identified and given a consistent typographic format. The heading hierarchy was designed to reflect the typographic variation between the texts, which itself reflects historical and production changes between the editions. The design therefore provides consistency that allows the reader to identify the liturgical status of any text element, but differentiates the 3 versions by reflecting the visual context of the original texts. Overall, the research enables the design to facilitate the reader's comprehension and navigation through the text and to ensure that page layout is sympathetic to textual sense units.