The Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer, Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church according to the use of the Church of England was first compiled in 1549, principally by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, as a translation and simplification of the various orders of service then current in England. It was throughly revised in 1552, and lightly revised several times therafter. The edition currently in use in the Church of England was authorized in 1662.

Within Britain this text is the property of the Crown in perpetuity. The Crown controls the right to publish and print the unaltered text. The Crown's rights are exercised by Cambridge University Press.

The complete text of the Book of Common Prayer, as authorized in 1662 with later alterations is, however, freely available on the web, outside the United Kingdom. A good starting point is the BCP resource. This superb resource also contains numerous other editions of the BCP, including the 1549 and 1552 editions, as well as BCPs from other Anglican churches.

Also available is a 'large-print' version of Holy Communion according to the 1662 book as commonly used [RTF].

The oremus Bible Browser contains the text of the psalms according to the version in the 1662 BCP (which is the version of Miles Coverdale from the Great Bible). The oremus bible Browser also contains the text of the Authorized Version of the Bible, the version used in the 1662 BCP.