The English prayer books are just one of the many books that were written by Stanley Morison. This book was published by the Cambridge University Press in 1943, where he once held the position as typographic adviser from the year of 1923 until 1959. This book is a pretty important one for the designer. After he was imprisoned for being a conscientious objector, he decided to convert to Catholicism. After he converted, he began to study liturgical writings and hymnals. This book was written to show his readers the history of liturgical books that were used in public worship in England. His main goal with the book was to allow readers to see how much church liturgies in England have changed over time from what they used to be. Not only did he state the changes over time, he gave way for people to begin to notice how these sacred texts have been altered over time. It is believed that the history of these liturgies were not really studied, let alone, it was probably not even thought about to study the changes of these texts. The book even goes on to discuss how the use of hymns have changed and also the actions of the congregation as they listened and even sung along to some of the hymns. It would be really interesting to see whether there were major changes from liturgical book to liturgical book, or whether there were just slight alterations here and there. Also, after he studied and wrote this book for the people to read, I wonder if it persuaded more individuals to look into and study these sacred texts.

 

Bibliography:

Morison, Stanley. “English Prayer Books: an Introduction to the Literature of Christian Public Worship.” Amazon, Cambridge University Press, 2009, www.amazon.com/English-Prayer-Books-Introduction-Literature/dp/0521142520.

“English Prayer Books: An Introduction to the Literature of Christian Public Worship by Stanley Morison.” Goodreads, Goodreads, 1 Nov. 2009, www.goodreads.com/book/show/13725088-english-prayer-books.

Morison, Stanley. “English Prayer Books.” Booktopia, Cambridge University Press, 3 Dec. 2009, www.booktopia.com.au/english-prayer-books-stanley-morison/book/9780521142526.html.