A Defence of The True and Catholike doctrine of the sacrament of the body and bloud of our sauiour Christ, with a confutation of sundry errors concernyng the same, grounded and stablished vpon Goddes holy woorde, & approued by ye consent of the moste auncient doctors of the Churche. Made by the moste Reuerende father in God Thomas Archebyshop of Canterbury, Primate of all Englande and Metropolitane by Cranmer, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury Cranmer - 1556

Imprynted at London : in Paules Churcheyard, at the signe of the Brasen serpent, by Reynold Wolfe. Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum, 1556. Imprynted at London : in Paules Churcheyard, at the signe of the Brasen serpent, by Reynold Wolfe Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum, anno Domini M D L [1550], 1489-1556 187 x 135 mm Quarto [4], 117, [3] leaves Collation: *4, A-Z4, Aa-Gg4 The text is printed in Black Letter The title page features an elaborate woodcut border with four vignettes including the Last Supper (McKerrow and Ferguson 73) The final leaf bears the colophon and Wolfe's printer's device (McKerrow 119) There are several woodcut initials in the text Provenance: 1 Thomas Maker, his gift to Philip Cowrtney (contemporary inscription by Cowrtney on title and with his marginalia and his initials 'PC' on colophon) 2 Richard Monckton Milnes (1809-1885; Crewe Hall bookplate) 3 George Goyder (bookplate; sold Sotheby's London, 19 July 1993, lot 54) This copy is bound in contemporary, blind-stamped English calf with small medallion portrait rolls The boards are composed of printer's waste taken from John Bale's " Illustrium Maioris Britanniae Scriptorum" of 1548 The text block is backed with vellum manuscript fragments A number of blank leaves have been bound in at the beginning of the volume Internally, this copy is in excellent condition with clean, wide margins Both the binding and the text are in strictly original condition STC 6002 (with catchwords B4r "des", S1r "before") Title page border: McKerrow and Ferguson 73; Printer's device: McKerrow 119 References: Diarmaid MacCulloch, "Thomas Cranmer, A Life"; GW Broniley, "Thomas Cranmer, Theologian").