According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, when to consist means to lie, to reside, it's usually followed by 'in', and when it means to be composed or made up, which is the case, it's followed by 'of'.
So, the correct, in this case, would be: The book consists of a compilation of articles.

I've found a slight difference between prior and previous. But I have seen them being used interchangeably around the web. To me, prior means earlier in time and previous usually means to be the one before in time or order. I may be wrong about this.

He talked about it in his previous book. (the one before the last)
He talked about it in a prior book. (you don't know which book)