Baronius Press

Baronius Press is a traditional Catholic book publisher with headquarters in London, England. It was originally founded in Glasgow, Scotland in 2003 ^[1] by former St Austin Press editor, Ashley Paver and other young Catholics who had previously worked in publishing and printing. It takes its name from the Venerable Cardinal Cesare Baronius, a Neapolitan ecclesiastical historian who lived from 1538 to 1607. Its logo is a biretta, which together with a cassock forms the traditional image of a Catholic priest.

The main objective of Baronius Press was to raise the quality of traditional Catholic books in order to make them more appealing to a wider audience. Baronius Press aimed to achieve this goal by retypesetting classic Catholic books (rather than republishing facsimiles), and binding them using high quality coverings, such as real leather. The advantages of retypesetting are clearer text and the ability to use modern layouts. ^[2] However a few errors have crept into their books because of this.

The first book published by Baronius Press was a new edition of the Douay-Rheims Bible. This was significant because no digitally typeset edition had been previously released. A pocket edition and a Psalms and New Testament edition subsequently followed, and in 2007 a giant size format was added to the range. ^[2] In 2008 their range of Bibles was expanded by a parallel Douay-Rheims / Clementine Vulgate, which included the appendix to the Old Testament which contained 3 & 4 Esdras and the Prayer of Manassah.

In 2004 Baronius Press published a new 1962 missal in cooperation with the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, with an imprimatur from Bishop Fabian Wendelin Bruskewitz, for use at the traditional Roman mass. This was the first missal intended for use at the traditional mass with an imprimatur to be published in more than 35 years. A new edition coinciding with Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum was been named the Motu Proprio edition of the 1962 Missal. It was noted in several Catholic newspapers and journals that, it is currently the only 1962 Missal published with a valid imprimatur. There has since been a revised edition in circulation, introduced in 2007.

Later that year, with the aim of expanding its range, Baronius released a series of leather bound Catholic classics. By the end of 2006, the company had over 40 titles in print, with the release of a new paperback series of Christian Classics.

Baronius published a new edition of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, complete with all Gregorian Chant was released in October 2007, being the first book to contain the complete music for the office. Websites complained that it contained several minor errors, and a revised edition correcting these was published at the end of 2008. The company has announced that its much anticipated Latin-English Roman Breviary will be published in 2010. They say that the book has already started to be reviewed by the censor to gain the official approbation of the Church and specimen pages were posted on its website in early 2009. The original publication date given for the book was late 2006, and they have experienced numerous delays in producing this title. Both of the Breviary and Little Office conform to the editio typica of the Breviary of 1961 and will have a valid imprimatur prior to publication. ^[2]