A New History of the Book of Common. Prayer. By
Francis Procter, M.A. Revised and Rewritten by Walter Howard Frere, M.A. (Macmillan and Co. 12s. 6d.)--Mr. Frere's title-page is curious. This is "A New History" "on the Basis of the Former Work by Francis Procter, M.A." So far it is plain enough. Then we read "Revised and Rewritten by W. H. Frere, MA." Grammatically, these participles refer to the "New History " ; really they explain what has been done to the "Former Work." Mr. Frere's task has been to introduce into Part I. ("The General Literary History of the Book ") an account of the Prayer. book of King Edward, with some other modifications and addi- tions; and to rewrite Part II. (" The Sources and Rationale of the Offices "). That the time had come for a new treatment of the subject cannot be doubted, and the task has been well per- formed by Mr. Frere. To review his work in detail would necessitate the discussion of many matters which it is impossible to deal with in these columns. We must be content with a general testimony to the diligence and studious fairness of the treatment which he has given to a very difficult and highly con- troversial subject. We may also congratulate Mr. Procter that he has lived to see this new presentment of a book which was first published nearly half-a-century ago. The first edition appeared in 1855 and the second in 1856. This was reprinted six times. A third edition came out in 1870, and was reprinted eleven times. And there have been various abridgments, making up, in all, a very large total of circulation.
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