The AKJV/BCP Combination

This book is surely one of the most beloved, influential and well-used volumes among Anglicans in America today. It consists of the 1928 American edition of The Book of Common Prayer, bound together in one volume with the Authorized King James Version (1611) of the Bible. This King James Bible is not the same that you will most commonly find being offered by American publishers, however, for it contains the Apocrypha between the Old and New Testaments, just as did the original Bible authorized by James I.

When you hold these combined books in your hand, you have everything you need for reading the daily Anglican Services of Morning and Evening Prayer (unless you plan to sing a hymn, of course, in which case you will need the hymnal). When I first encountered the AKJV/BCP combination as a music graduate student some years ago, I was very excited, and immediately purchased two genuine leather-bound copies, just in case it would go out of print! (On a student income, that was quite an investment!) I am now busy wearing out my second and last copy reading Daily Morning & Evening Prayer at our parish, but I am very glad to see that I don’t have to worry about it going out of print, afterall. Although the original publisher (Preservation Press) is no longer in existence, the AKJV/BCP is now being printed by the Anglican Parishes Association.

There may yet be one thing lacking, however. I sometimes would like to have The Hymnal, 1940 bound in the same volume as well. A number of years ago, one could readily purchase The Book of Common Prayer bound together with The Hymnal, 1940, and I have several older copies of this particular combination in my study. Let the reader now imagine an AKJV/BCP/HYMNAL combination! This would make the combined book around a half-inch thicker, which may be difficult to bind securely, but I have seen larger books: perhaps it could be done.