Missal Inserts for the Service Book of the 1662: International Edition BCP
Plus a mini-review of the Service Book
Following my post on the 1662, I’ve completed Missal inserts for the 1662: International Edition Service Book.1 While I do have some issues with the design of the Service Book,2 it is an incredibly high quality publication, from binding, to paper, to ink: It could easily last for a hundred years or longer.
The PDF can be printed “actual size” on Ledger (11 x 14) and cut down to 9.5 x 12. It is set so that one follows page 264 → 264b, flip insert, 265 → 265b, flip and continue at 266, opting for the Prayer of Thanksgiving after the Lord’s Prayer.
or download from Google Drive:
Note that the small portion of the 1662 Service use comes from eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/communion and no part of this insert uses 1662IE text.
The Prayer of Oblation used is from the American 1928 BCP, nearly identical to 2019 TLE, and differs chiefly in the 1928’s inclusion of the phrases “… may worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son Jesus Christ …” and “… benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in us, and we in him …”:
1928 vs 2019TLE Prayer of Oblation:
The Service Book binding and slip case is beautiful; print is very readable, excellent printing and font, and clear attention to detail by the editors. But some concerns remain:
Pagination does not match the standard personal edition, or the pew edition. While this might be expected, as simply enlarging the page is not a good typographical approach, the text itself does not provide guidance for leading a service. This means that the text does not provide page numbers to easily indicate to what page a parishioner might turn to follow the service. The enlarged Communion PDF is a workaround, and for those inclined, it could be pasted into the blank pages of the Prayer Book Society Canada’s One-Year Lectionary Book, making minor alterations where 1962 diverges from 1662.
Type does not follow the 1928/2019 convention of setting the page according to service use: page turns are necessary mid-sentence. This is not without precedent; it is also the case in the 1930s 1662 Service Book, as well other editions like Dearmer’s (1662BCP) English Liturgy Altar Book. Nevertheless, if you’re coming from 1928 or 2019, it can be jarring for the celebrant until one is thoroughly familiar with when page turns are necessary, which unfortunately take place for Collects, Prefaces and other points where an Orans position might be held.
These are minor critiques, and shouldn’t prevent use of the service book or the 1662IE. Nevertheless, there is both a PDF of the communion service (as above), as well as my own Altar Book setting for 2019TLE & 1662 (for which a substantial revision is forthcoming in February):
