The Parker Society was the London-based Anglican society that printed in fifty-four volumes the works of the leading English Reformers of the sixteenth century. It was formed in 1840 and disbanded in 1855 when its work was completed. Named after Matthew Parker -- the first Elizabethan Archbishop of Canterbury, who was known as a great collector of books -- the stimulus for the foundation of the society was provided by the Tractarian movement, led by John Henry Newman and Edward B. Pusey. Some members of this movement spoke disparagingly of the English Reformation, and so some members of the Church of England felt the need to make available in an attractive form the works of the leaders of that Reformation.

The present volume comprises two Litanies, the English Prayer Book of 1559, the Godly Prayers, the Ordinal of 1559, the Latin Prayer Book of 1560, the New Calendar of 1561, and many Occasional Forms of Prayer set forth, chiefly by public authority, in the latter portion of the sixteenth century.--Preface.

The present volume comprises two Litanies, the English Prayer Book of 1559, the Godly Prayers, the Ordinal of 1559, the Latin Prayer Book of 1560, the New Calendar of 1561, and many Occasional Forms of Prayer set forth, chiefly by public authority, in the latter portion of the sixteenth century.--Preface.