A Note about my Sources.


    I started this project with a fundamental misunderstanding: I thought that the Book of Common Prayer used by the Church of England had not changed since 1662. When I wanted to create a web version, I went to my bookshelf, pulled down a copy, and started typing. My fingers got very tired very quickly, so I borrowed a copy with larger type from my local library, and started scanning. That worked much better, but I soon discovered that there were differences between the two texts.

    Which version should I use? I dithered, I dug out a few other copies from storage in my mother's basement and from the library, and compared. I finally decided to get my hands on a copy of the 1662 edition, and go with that. That idea lasted for about an hour after I started dealing with the 17th-century spelling and punctuation. So I finally decided to use the most current version I could find as my base text, and to include links for the major differences.

    In addition to using several different printed sources for scanning or typing, I also downloaded as much as I could of the American Book of Common Prayer in different editions, and re-modified them to match my base text. I downloaded the Psalter and the Epistles and Gospel lessons from on-line sources as well, which saved my poor fingers a lot of work, but means the finished product is even more of a compilation. I have put it through a spell-checker and proofread against my standard text, so it should stand up to general need. I don't recommend it for scholarly use, although I have done my best to be accurate.

    Within the United Kingdom, the current text of the Book of Common Prayer and the Authorized Version of the Bible are the property of the Crown in perpetuity, and rights to it are exercised by the Crown Printer. My understanding is that this does not pose a problem for this site because it is not located in the United Kingdom (it's in Seattle, Washington, USA). As far as I know, none of the other materials on this site are protected by copyright or other restrictions. Please let me know if you believe you have found any protected material on this site.



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