Frank Edward Brightman

Frank Edward Brightman (1856–1932) was an English scholar and liturgist. He was a librarian of Pusey House, Oxford, from 1884 to 1903 and from 1902 until his death a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a strong high churchman. From 1904 to 1932 he was editor of the Journal of Theological Studies.

J. R. R. Tolkien related a story how Brightman said that he once saw a dragon on the Mount of Olives, but that he "never before his death explained what he meant."[1]

Works

Principal works

• 1896 Liturgies Eastern and Western; Vol. I: Eastern. This was a revised edition of the section on the Eastern churches in C. E. Hammond's 1878 book; it was based on extensive research and visits to monasteries in the East (vol. II was never published). Reprint 2004: ISBN 1-59333-118-5 〈〉 Edition on the WWW
• 1915 The English Rite: being a synopsis of the sources and revisions of the Book of Common Prayer , 2 vols. Oxford, 1915 (a laborious and valuable edition of the various editions of the Book of Common Prayer).

Selected articles

• "Terms of communion and the ministration of the sacraments in early times". In: H. B. Swete (Hg.): Essays on the Early History of the Church. 2nd ed. London, 1921, pp. 313–408.
• "The New Prayer Book examined". In: The Church Quarterly Review; 104 (1927) pp. 219–252.

Sources

• Cross, F. L., ed. (1957) The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. London: Oxford University Press; pp. 198–99.

1. J. R. R. Tolkien, Letters, p. 389.

Further reading

• Obituary by H. N. Bate in Proceedings of the British Academy vol. 19 (1933), pp. 345–50