Exceptional 1715 Book of Common Prayer with Royal Armorial Binding

This exceptional early 18th-century English Book of Common Prayer was printed in London in 1715 by John Baskett, Printer to the King. The imposing volume retains its richly tooled dark leather binding, centered by the British royal arms, with the historic mottos of the monarchy and Order of the Garter, Dieu et mon droit and Honi soit qui mal y pense. Published in the first year after the accession of George I, the combination of royal armorial decoration and Baskett’s official role as King’s Printer gives the volume a particularly strong connection to the intertwined histories of the English Crown and Church at the beginning of the Georgian period.

The binding is extensively worn, with rubbing, scratches and losses around the edges and spine, but these signs of age contribute to the remarkable presence of a book now more than three centuries old. Inside, the title page is printed in red and black and identifies the volume as The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, together with the Psalter and the rites for the ordination of bishops, priests and deacons. It is preceded by a finely engraved architectural frontispiece. Red rules frame the typography throughout, while the page edges are richly gilded, adding another refined detail to the volume’s presentation, and the endpapers are richly hand-marbled. Many pages have received old paper reinforcements along their lower margins, evidence of an earlier effort to preserve a volume clearly intended for frequent use. A later Farley ex-libris label adds another trace to its history of ownership.  

The importance of the volume extends well beyond its decorative qualities. First published in 1549 and established in the form familiar today in 1662, the _Book of Common Prayer_ shaped Anglican worship, language and religious life for centuries. Large, finely bound copies such as this were intended for prominent use in churches, chapels and important households. The royal arms on the binding are particularly evocative: they may indicate that the volume was made for an official or ecclesiastical setting connected with the Crown, perhaps even a royal chapel or household. This is it a compelling object of English religious, political and bookbinding history.

For a collector or library, it has the presence of an artifact as much as a book, equally impressive displayed closed to show its worn armorial binding or opened to the engraved frontispiece and red-ruled pages.