The book of common prayer and administration of the sacraments and other rites and ceremonies of the Church according to the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America together with the psalter or psalms of David. by Episcopal Church. Book of Common Prayer - 1893

New York: Pr. for the committee [by De Vinne Press], 1893. Folio (37 cm, 14.63"). [14] ff., 566 pp., [1 (tailpiece and publisher's colophon)] f.

When the Book of Common Prayer was revised in 1892, a first edition of five impressions (including the "standard edition") was immediately printed by the De Vinne Press. These differed in material and decoration, and this fourth, in folio, on paper, and with Art Nouveau borders designed by Daniel Updike and Bertram Goodhue, was sumptuous. Produced in 525 copies only, for subscribers and for presentation to designated libraries, its glory was exceeded only by that of the one-copy impression done from its same setting but entirely on vellum for the General Convention itself.
    The floral borders Updike produced for these pages vary with the season, feast, or service of the Church. For example, Ash Wednesday has a border of hyssop and Easter a border of lilies. The borders vary in richness according to the dignity of the feast or service being celebrated, and many of the borders incorporate scrolls inscribed with Latin quotations from Benedicite Omnia Opera Domini Domino, with a few from elsewhere in the the Prayer Book or the Bible.
    Provenance: There is a gift inscription on the front pastedown: "To the Rev. Hugh G.E. Crosby from the Warwick family with gratitude."
    Binding: Publisher's vellum over bevelled boards, front cover and spine ornately gilt-stamped and with heavy brass clasps. Gilt-stamped endpapers. The binding and endpapers are in a neo-gothic design by Bertram Goodhue and incorporate the first verse of the Benedicite, as well as employing rose and thistle badges and a rose pattern to denote the English and Scottish origins of the American Episcopal Church. Upper edge gilt, tail and fore-edge deckled.
    Affixed to one of the rear fly-leaves is: Updike, Daniel Berkeley. On the decorations of the limited edition of the standard prayer book of MDCCCXCII. New York: Pr. at the De Vinne Press, 1893. 4to (25.5 cm, 10"). [2] ff.
    
    Griffiths, Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer, 1893.7; Gewirtz, But one Use, 96. Bound as above, corners bumped and vellum variably soil-darkened, rear cover with several long scrapes and front one with a few short and unobtrusive ones; front free endpaper chipped and discolored at points where it "took" pressure from the latches. Paper across hinges (inside) cracked, but binding strongly holding; to text, the odd spot of foxing or light soil only. The leaflet by Updike describing his work here is present, "tabbed" in at top left corner, with some discoloration to backing paper. => A very handsome book in a decent, pleasing, "good used" condition that makes it relatively affordable, with the pamphlet on the decorations.