The Parker Society was the London-based Anglican society that printed in
fifty-four volumes the works of the leading English Reformers of the
sixteenth century. It was formed in 1840 and disbanded in 1855 when its
work was completed. Named after Matthew Parker -- the first Elizabethan
Archbishop of Canterbury, who was known as a great collector of books --
the stimulus for the foundation of the society was provided by the
Tractarian movement, led by John Henry Newman and Edward B. Pusey. Some
members of this movement spoke disparagingly of the English Reformation,
and so some members of the Church of England felt the need to make
available in an attractive form the works of the leaders of that
Reformation.