The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of The Church

This famous edition was set, reproduced and printed by Vizetelly Brothers of London, printers and engravers. The binder is not credited: Vizetelly may also have done this work.

Full bound in vellum with red and gilt decorations and title in gilt on red spine label. Hand-marbled endpapers. All page-edges gilt. 2 plain leaves front and back. xl pp of illustrated introduction, services, ceremonies, lessons, calendar and tables and rules, printed in black and red + 1 plain leaf + inserted main title-page designed by Owen Jones (an architect) and illuminated in gilt, green, red, blue, brown and black + 484 pp of illustrated text pages printed in black and red and sometimes additional colours, with vignettes, initials, borders and ornaments designed by Owen Jones + 6 further inserted illuminated section title-pages designed by Owen Jones.

CONDITION NOTES. A blue cloth embroidered with a cross in gold and white silk substitutes for a dustjacket for this copy and remains in very good condition (see image). The boards and spine of the book are lightly rubbed. The page-edge gilding remains bright. A white panel with the crest and signature of Henry Thompson is pasted on to the front paste-down (see image). There is a crack along the depth of the book-block between the front free endpaper and the first plain leaf, but the hinges are undamaged and the book remains tightly bound (see image). More importantly, "the 41 historical plates redrawn from originals by Raphael and other artists", referred to in the list of illustrations (see image), were not bound into either this copy or an unknown number of other copies. This is believed to have been because the volume was not commercially viable either with, or perhaps even without, these additional "carefully copied" colour plates: the publisher's history app refers to the non-viability of Owen Jones's luxuriously (and lovingly) produced 1845 Book of Common Prayer, but with no further detail. The contents are otherwise complete, unmarked and bright.

Even in this form, this is an extremely rare volume.

[A copy was recently sold after many lower bids for US$566 on eBay without illustrations or a detailed description; no comparison is therefore possible between this copy and our copy. A single copy is also listed on AbeBooks, but again the description is insufficient for comparisons to be made.]