The Book of Common Prayer

Editions

The principal editions of the Prayer Book used in England and America, from Cranmer's first book to the present. Each page gives the history of that edition and a link to read it online.

• 1549: The First Prayer Book of Edward VI (1549)
  The first complete liturgy in English, combining the services of the medieval Latin books into a single volume for clergy and people.
• 1552: The Second Prayer Book of Edward VI (1552)
  A thoroughgoing Protestant revision of 1549, and the most Reformed liturgy the Church of England has officially used.
• 1559: The Elizabethan Prayer Book (1559)
  The 1552 book restored with a few conservative changes; the Prayer Book of the Elizabethan Settlement and of Shakespeare's England.
• 1604: The Jacobean Prayer Book (1604)
  A light revision of the 1559 book made after the Hampton Court Conference, notable for the sacramental section of the Catechism.
• 1637: The Scottish Prayer Book (1637)
  'Laud's Liturgy': a Prayer Book for Scotland whose imposition sparked riots and helped start the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but whose Communion rite later shaped the American book.
• 1662: The Book of Common Prayer (1662)
  The Restoration Prayer Book, still the legal standard of doctrine and worship of the Church of England and the historic model for Prayer Books worldwide.
  Study its rites one by one, with earlier and later versions to compare: Book of Common Prayer rites.
• 1789: The First American Prayer Book (1789)
  The Prayer Book of the newly independent Episcopal Church, adapting 1662 for a republic and adopting a Scottish-derived Communion prayer.
• 1892: The American Prayer Book of 1892
  A modest 'enrichment' of the 1789 book, the first American revision, which restored some material and increased flexibility.
• 1928: The American Prayer Book of 1928
  The Prayer Book used by Episcopalians for half a century, still beloved and in use among many traditional Anglicans in America.
• 1927–1928: The English Proposed Prayer Book (1928)
  A proposed revision of 1662 that Parliament rejected, but which was widely used anyway and influenced later Anglican liturgy.
• 1979: The Episcopal Church Prayer Book (1979)
  A sweeping revision shaped by the liturgical movement, with contemporary-language services and the Eucharist as the principal Sunday service.
• 2019: The ACNA Book of Common Prayer (2019)
  The Prayer Book of the Anglican Church in North America, in contemporary language based on 1662 and 1928, with traditional-language options.