The 1858 issue was based on postal returns from the clergy in England and Wales, involving an outlay – as the preface pointed out – of "more than Five Hundred Pounds for Postage Stamps alone". Simpler lists for the Scottish Episcopal Church and for a number of colonial clergy – obtained from alternative sources – had been added by the 1865 edition, whilst details of Irish clergy had also been extracted from Alexander Thom's "Irish Almanack and Official Directory". From the 1870s onwards the scope was progressively extended to all parts of the Anglican communion with the notable exception of the Episcopal Church (United States). The 1870 edition contained 940 pages, but this had increased to over 2,100 pages by 1892.