[Magdalen] "Services of the Church" (hello CoE folk).

[Ian Gomersall]

Hi Mike

Such volumes were intended principally for the clergy, but laity too used
them. They were a handy book insofar as they contained everything needed
for the daily prayers (and more) of the Church of England of that time in
one (albeit fat) volume.

These books are becoming rare - they were never plentiful. However they are
sought after by Prayer Book enthusiasts and by some clergy who for a change
wish to revert for a week or two, or a season or holiday, to traditional
language forms. That can be enriching. In fact most of the book will still
be authorised for use in the Church of England, but in practyice not found
very often compared with more modern rites.

Sadly the way of modern revisions one needs several books now to perform
the task this smaller volume did.

A leather bound gilt edged edition sounds a little treasure. The 'musty'
smell (sometimes incense soaked smell) is not uniusual and adds character!
I find the smell can be reduced if a book is placed outside, opened, in a
fresh air for a while

Kind regards

Ian





*Ian Gomersall*



On 9 December 2015 at 05:39, M J _Mike_ Logsdon <mjl at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> I might have asked about this particular volume in my library before, but
> I think not.  Needless to say from what you'll learn below, it's not
> terribly searchable internet-wise.
>
> Many moons ago I bought from a seller at eBay a fat volume called
> "Services of the Church", comprised of the CoE BCP and "The Lessons" (1922
> Lectionary), Cambridge University Press, and as far as I can tell,
> published on or shortly after 1950, as that's the earliest date in the
> Easter chart (which ends with 1980, if that matters).  It is leather-bound,
> gold gilt edged, and smells to high heaven of something -- meaning the
> leather and pages, the entire thing, has a "musty" smell that is unlike
> anything I've ever smelled in a book, and in fact lingers on the skin and
> in the nostrils for long after one puts it down.  It's really a lovely
> volume, and clearly marketed for clerical-only use (I would assume).  The
> previous owner was a Rev Alan Walker of London, chaplain at the Univ of
> Westminster.  I don't remember how it came about, but I know for a fact
> that I emailed said Walker about now owning the volume in question, and
> received a nice note in reply.
>
> The question of the hour:  What is the significance of this volume?  If
> any?  Is it rare?  Does it matter?  What gives?  (Roger?)
>