(Vol. vii., pp. 18. 91. 321.; Vol. viii., p. 318.)
The following list may prove an acceptable addition to those already
printed in your pages. Some of your correspondents perhaps will make it
more complete:
1707. Oxford. 8vo. Plates by John Sturt.
1710. London. 8vo. Forty-four plates, with no engraver's name.
1712. Oxford. 8vo. Plates by Sturt.
1717. London. 8vo. Ruled with double red lines. Plates by Sturt.
Lowndes speaks of a large paper impression in quarto of this same edition:
"The volume consists of one hundred and sixty-six plates, besides
twenty-two containing dedication, table, &c. Prefixed is a bust of King
George I.; and facing it, those of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Sturt
likewise published a set of fifty-five historical cuts for Common Prayer in
small 8vo."
1738. London. 8vo. With Old Version of the Psalms; and forty-four
curious plates, including Gunpowder Treason, the Martyrdom of Charles
I., and Restoration of Charles II. (Booksellers' Catal.)
1794. London. Published by J. Good and E. Harding, with plates after
Stothard by Bartolozzi and others (Lowndes).
Lowndes also mentions "Illustrations to the Book of Common Prayer by
Richard Westall, London, 1813, 8 vo. (proofs) 4to.," and "Twelve
illustrations to ditto, engraved by John Scott, from designs by Burney and
Thurston, royal 8vo."
I have reserved for more particular description two editions in my own
possession:--One is a small 8vo., ruled with red lines: "In the Savoy,
printed by the assignees of John Bill and Christopher Barker, Printers to
the King's Most Excellent Majesty, 1667." It contains fifty-nine plates:
these are identical with those in the _Antiquitates Christianae_, or Bishop
Taylor's _Life of Christ_, and Cave's _Lives of the Apostles_ (folio
editions), which, if I mistake not, were engraved by William Faithorn. The
Act of Uniformity is given in black-letter. The Ordinal is wanting. The
three State Services are not enumerated in the Table of Contents, but are
added at the end of the book. The Old Version of the Psalms (with its usual
quaint title), a tract of 104 pp., is appended: "London: printed by Thos.
Newcomb for the Company of Stationers, 1671." The other edition is a 12mo.:
"London, printed by Charles Bill and the Executrix of Thomas Newcomb
deceased, Printers to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, 1708" (ruled with
red lines). In the frontispiece is represented a female figure kneeling
with a prayer book open before her: an angel {447} in the air holds a
scroll, on which is inscribed, "The Liturgy of the Church of England,
adorned with fifty-five historical cuts, P. La Vergne del., M. Van der
Gucht sc." Beneath the picture, "Sold by Robt. Whitledge at the Bible in
Ave Maria Lane, near Stationers' Hall."
Some of the cuts are very curious, as No. 16., which represents the Devil
(adorned with a crown, sceptre, and tail) standing on the top of a high
conical rock, and our Blessed Lord at a little distance from him. The
appearance and attitude of the Apostles are somewhat grotesque. One of the
best is St. Philip (No. 39.), who is represented as a wrinkled, bearded old
man, contemplating a crucifix in his hand.
No. 51. is a picture of Guy Fawkes approaching the Parliament House, with a
lantern in his hand. A large eye is depicted in the clouds above, which
sheds a stream of light on the hand of the conspirator. No. 52. is "The
Martyrdom of King Charles I." No. 53. "The Restoration of Monarchy and King
Charles II." A number of cavaliers on horseback, with their conical hats
and long tresses, occupy the foreground of this picture; the army appears
in the background. This is the last, though the scroll advertises
fifty-five cuts.
The Prefaces and Calendar are printed in very small bad type. The four
State Services are enumerated in the Table of Contents. After the State
Services follow, "At the Healing;" the Thirty-nine Articles, and a Table of
Kindred and Affinity. This edition neither contains the Ordinal nor a
metrical version of the Psalms. Notwithstanding the date on the title-page,
_King George_ is prayed for throughout the book, except in the service "For
the Eighth Day of March," when Queen Anne's name occurs.
Of the modern pictorial editions of the Book of Common Prayer may be
mentioned that of Charles Knight "illustrated by nearly seven hundred
beautiful woodcuts by Jackson, from drawings by Harvey, and six illuminated
titles; with Explanatory Notes by the Rev. H. Stebbing," royal 8vo.,
London, 1838; reprinted in 1846. That of Murray, "illuminated by Owen
Jones, and illustrated with engravings from the works of the great
masters," royal 8vo., London, 1845; reprinted in 1850 in med. 8vo. That of
Whittaker in 12mo. and 8vo., "with notes and illuminations." The last, and
by far the best, pictorial edition is that of J. H. Parker of Oxford, "with
fifty illustrations; selected from the finest examples of the early Italian
and modern German schools, by the Rev. H. J. Rose and Rev. J. W. Burgon."