Recusant prayer books from the Elizabethan era

Yesterday lunchtime I attended an online lecture at the Society of Antiquaries about the way in which members of the Elizabethan recusant community added illustrations to their printed prayer books or produced their own manuscript versions. Few of these books have survived, and most that have indicate extensive use which has left them battered and fragile, a precious testimony to a faith lived under persecution.

The speaker was Dr Earle Havens from Johns Hopkins University, and the talk with its fascinating illustrations was an intriguing insight into the world of recusancy. Not only did one sometimes encounter known individuals but also got a glimpse into the secret Jesuit printing shops and those working in the Spanish Netherlands in and around Antwerp, and the risky business of smuggling such literature into England and distributing it

The lecture can be seen from the Society of Antiquaries website at Extra-Illustration & Book Adaptation in the Elizabethan Catholic Underground by Dr Earle Havens FSA