
AMERICANA TO 1820
A Ba-Bl Bibles1 Bibles2 Bm-Bz C D
E F-G H I-J K-L Ma-Mb Mc-Mz
N-P Q-R Sa-Sl Sm-Sz T-V W-Z
 |
AMERICAN BIBLES PART
II
PRE-1820 ORDERED
BY DATE
|

A
Nice Little Bible
with a
Touching
Memorial Inscription
Bible.
English. 1807. Authorized (i.e., “King James Version”).
The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out
of the original tongues; and with the former translations diligently compared
and revised. Boston: Pr. for Thomas and Andrews by J.T. Buckingham, 1807. 12mo.
[6 (3 blank)] pp., [600], [2 (1 blank)], [184], [2 (blank)] pp.
$180.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Hills states that this Bible is similar “to Thomas's duodecimo of 1797 (No 57) from standing type with error in Acts 6:3 continued.” New Testament dated 1806. Unpaginated.
Provenance: Late 20th-century
bookplate of Michael Zinman on rear pastedown. Booklabel affixed to front
free endpaper reads, “Wm. Henry Scott[o?]s. Property left to him by
his mother who departed this life April the third 1817"; this over a handwritten
inscription that can be read with a mirror from the verso, “William
Henry Scott's / [word not deciphered] Biblia.”
Hills 144; not in O'Callaghan; not in Shaw & Shoemaker. Contemporary full sheep, spine with four raised bands forming compartments; perfectly plain with no labels. Occasional spots of foxing only; a good copy. (4762)
Bible.
English. Authorized (i.e., King James version). 1814. The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, with copious marginal references; also, the introductions to all the books and chapters in the Bible, with the general preface, as affixed to the commentary of Thomas Scott, D.D. Philadelphia: William W. Woodward, 1814. 2 vols. in 1. 4to (24.1 cm, 9.5").
[441], [160] ff.
$300.00
Early American printing of this popular commentary, originally published in several years’ worth of weekly portions. The text is that of the King James Bible and is supplemented by extensive notes from Thomas Scott, one of the founding members of the Church Missionary Society.
Hills 259; Shaw & Shoemaker 30867. Contemporary treed sheep, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped leather title-label; binding rubbed, front joint cracked, back joint starting from top, spine extremities chipped. Front pastedown with private collector’s small bookplate, title-page with early inked ownership inscription in upper margin. Pages age-toned.
Bible. English. 1819. Authorized (i.e., “King James Version”). The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments...stereotype [7th] edition. New York: American Bible Society (stereotyped by E. & J. White; pr. by D. Fanshaw), 1819. 8vo (24.2 cm, 9.5"). 705, [1], 215 (lacking 1/2), [1 (blank)] pp.
$600.00
Early American Bible Society Bible,
following its first, which appeared in 1816. This stereotyped New York Bible
was done from the same plates as Fanshaw’s 1818 Long Primer Octavo, and
this 1819 example is seen institutionally far more often in microform copies
than in genuine holdings.


Provenance: Front cover with blind-stamped logo of the American Bible Society; title-page with inked inscription reading “Mary Ann Lanings [word obscured] August 24 1823.”
Shaw & Shoemaker 47213; Hills 375. Contemporary sheep double-panelled in blind, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped leather title label; binding rubbed and unevenly faded, leather cracking over spine. Foxing ranging from mild to severe; last few leaves waterstained; some dog-earing. One worm track to upper outer margin of a few leaves. New Testament lacking title.
Well used but not abused; an evocative copy.

Thumb
Bible
Bible.
English. 1820. Selections. History of the
Bible. Lansingburgh [NY]: Wm. Disturnell, 1820. 16mo (5.1 cm, 2"). Frontis.
(incl. in pagination), 256 pp.; illus.
$300.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Thumb Bibles were a favorite gift or reward for children during
the late 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, but they were enough
of a curiosity that they also found audiences among other classes of readers
and collectors as well. Miniature books, with page measurements not exceeding
2" x 1 1/2", their text is composed of paraphrased versions of famous Bible
stories or passages. Because these books were most commonly owned, read, and
played with by children, they suffered heavy and rough use and saw a great rate
of destruction. This pleasing little example is illustrated with a total of
16
woodcutsof Adam and Eve, Elijah
fed by ravens, David and the Lion, the Flight into Egypt, and other key biblical
figures and moments.
Provenance: Front free endpaper
with early inked ownership inscription, Nancy Stone[r] or Stone[ 's].
Adomeit, Three Centuries of Thumb Bibles, A45; Shoemaker
1613; Welch, American Children’s Books, 860.5. Contemporary
sheep, spine with gilt-stamped title and foliate decorations; moderately rubbed
overall. Front free endpaper with inscription as above. Front fly-leaves torn
and creased, first few leaves each with small hole (touching frontispiece
image and a few letters, not obscuring sense). One leaf with outer edge chipped,
touching several letters. Foxing and spots of staining; some corners bumped.
A
sound little volume of the type. (29324)
Early
American Mennonite (Hymnal)
Psalter
Bible. O.T. Psalms. German. 1820. Die kleine geistliche Harfe der kinder Zions, oder auserlesene geistreiche Gesänge. Germantaun: Gedruckt bey Michael Billmeyer, 1820. 12mo (17.3 cm, 6.8"). Frontis., [4], 39, [1], 412, [20], 20 pp. (21/22 lacking).
$175.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Third printing, following the first of 1803, of the first Mennonite hymnal printed in the United States. The Psalms were translated and paraphrased under the supervision of the Franconia Mennonite Conference, for the use of eastern Pennsylvania Mennonites. Music is present in the first portion, though the bulk of the volume is of words.
It's an engaging fact that psalms are given in multiple versions; there are four of the 23d.
Arndt and Eck cite Bender, who says “This first American Mennonite Hymnbook is
not to be confused with one of similar title printed by Saur at Germantown in 1753, called erroneously by Seidensticker and Flory a Mennonite hymnbook.” Each portion of this item has a separate title-page, with the second section's title-page reading Sammlung altre und neuer Geistreichen Gesänge. The woodcut frontispiece depicts David playing his harp.
Arndt & Eck 2419; Shoemaker 2239. Contemporary calf rebacked some time ago, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and publication labels; rubbed, original clasps now lacking. Front fly-leaves with early inked and pencilled inscriptions. Final leaf (pp. 21/22 of the 22-page appendix of brief hymn texts, not of the main portion of the work) lacking. Edge nicks, chips, and tears, some extending into text; three leaves torn in half from outer margin, without loss of text; two leaves (one index) with lower outer corner torn away, with loss of a few words; last two leaves with outer edges ragged. Some upper corners bumped. Pages browned, with waterstaining to lower inner portions of about a third of the volume. (25569)
For more AMERICAN BIBLES, visit the general
BIBLES web catalogue Click here.

PLACE
AN ORDER | E-MAIL US | PRB&M HOME
SEARCH OUR DATABASE