Bishops at Large: Some Autocephalous Churches of the Past One Hundred Years and Their Founders

24 Russell square, London: Faber and Faber, Limited , 1964. Stated at copyright: First Published in mcmlxiv by Faber & Faber, Limited. Rare first printing. Aqua cloth boards, gilt spine titles on black field, moderate shelf wear; small area of discoloration at front board. Pages near fine; no writing. Vintage pictorial bookplate inside cover: "Ex Libris, David C. Stokes". Intriguing plate features scribe writing in illuminated biblio on stand w/image on page of Mother Mary, babe in arms. Twenty-seven photo plates illustrating this volume throughout. Bind fine, square; hinges intact. Rare original wrapper, generally very good, one inch area of discoloration at front panel; unclipped 75s net, protected in new clear sleeve. Rare first edition with near fine interior in good cover and wrapper. Prolific Scottish author, Peter F. Anson surveys the autocephalous churches of the past one hundred years and their enigmatic founders, or episcopi vagantes, including the Bishop of Iona, Vernon Herford, Harris Mathew, et. al. Peter F. Anson, a veteran scholar of ecclesiastical (church office) affairs, applies his depth of experience to this examination of the smaller and odder episcopal (bishop led), autocephalous (self lead as independent head) churches of the world. Though Mr. Anson himself never uses the designation, the bishops who lead them are usually, since the 1920 Lambeth Conference, referred to as episcopi vagantes. This is the most sought-after book in the movement's history. Presented is the story of a most strange and fantastic religious movements to be found in the whole range of what may be described as the erratic ecclesiastical underworld. This independent Catholic movement has branches across the world. It constitutes one of the most diverse movements in Christian history, one most worthy of greater visibility and attention. Here is the classic history of the various successions that are claimed. The Movement began in Britain in 1866 with the arrival of a Frenchman who described himself as Bishop of Iona. Ten years later the Order of Corporate Reunion was launched by Dr. Lee of Lambeth and members of the Church of England with some Roman Catholic backing. Then came another Frenchman, Joseph Rene Vilatte, the progenitor of numerous autocephalous churches in North America, Europe and Africa. In 1902 Vernon Herford of Oxford returned from a brief visit to India as Biship of Merica and Middlesex, and in 1908 Arnold Harris Mathew, a former Roman Catholic priest who claimed to be de jure Earl of Landaff, was consecrated by the Old Catholics in Holland for work in Britain. In the 1960s, there were more than twenty rival churches all claiming him as their holy founder. Since this time the movement extended and multiplied all over the world. To the outsider, Anson's study must at first seem an impenetrable tangle; but he provides full historical documentation where it can be difficult to see the forest for the trees. Accuracy in this volume was secured by collaboration with several prominent clergymen belonging to some of the 150 or so autocephalous churches including Mar Georgius, Patriarch of Glastonbury, Catholicos of the West, et al. Definitive source and fascinating guide to the bizarre by-paths of these small churches with photos of the leading self-adorned and crowned figures. The delight Mr. Anson finds in these bishops' disorderly minds, their vanity, affectations, peevishness, and arrogance, is intriguing; and so is the care with which he details their adventures, exploits, and potential darker connections and motives. "Bishops, being principal pastors, are either at large, or with restraint. At large, when the subject of their regiment is indefinite and not tied to a certain place. Bishops with restraint are those whose regiment over the Church is contained within a definite local compass, beyond which their jurisdiction does not reach." - Hooker. Peter Frederick Anson was a marine artist and author of many books on fishing life and religious orders. For fourteen years he was a brother in an Anglican monastery; he then moved over to the Cistercians in the Roman Catholic Church. Coming to the Moray Firth, he spent six years with the fishermen of Buckie and twenty years at MacDuff, where he became involved with the Scottish national movement. His most famous book is "Fishing Boats and Fisher Folk on the East Coast of Scotland," and his "Fisher Folklore" is one of the best in the genre. Includes comprehensive indices of persons, places, and bibliography for each chapter. Printed in Great Britain by W. & J. Mackay & Co., Ltd, Chatham. 593 pages. Insured post.. First Edition.. Hardcover. Good/Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" Tall. Book.