Length 9.3 cm x W 5.4 cm x H 2.4 cm
A Church of England book of Common Prayer. The book has a worn black/brown leather front and back cover with "COMMON // PRAYER" in gold lettering on the spine. The interior of the front cover has indistinguishable markings written on it "W. KIRBY // [ICS] // [ ] RA".
The first copy of the Book of Common Prayer appeared in 1549 during the reign of King Edward VI of England by which the chief author was the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. In 1548 a committee of six bishops and six learned men were chosen to compile the Book of Common Prayer under Cranmer. Finally on January 21, 1549 the Act of Uniformity made it the official Prayer Book and later in the same year the new book was printed and then distributed until revisions were made in 1552 again by Cranmer. However, the use of the book was abolished after the death of King Edwards VI until it was later restored in 1559 by Queen Elizabeth I. Final alterations were made to the book in 1662 whereby again under the Act of Uniformity the Church of England was obligated to use this edition. The Book of Common Prayer mostly remained unchanged for three hundred and fifty years and provided an accessible way for the Latin services of the church to be compiled and available in the common language of the people.
