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Bible. English. 1846. Authorized (i.e., "King James Version"). The illuminated Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments...With marginal readings, references, and chronological dates. Also, the Apocrypha....Embellished with sixteen hundred historical engravings by J.A. Adams, more than fourteen hundred of which are from original designs by J.G. Chapman. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1846. Folio (34.6 cm, 13.75"). Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [4], 844, [2], 128, [6], frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [2], 256, 3, [1], 8, 14, 34 pp.; illus.
$2850.00
Single-click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.
When the Harper firm published The Illuminated Bible near the midpoint of the 19th century, the company produced one of the most elaborate and costly American Bibles to that time. O’Callaghan says, “This work was originally announced in 1843, and was issued in 54 numbers at 25 each. J.A. Adams, the engraver, is credited with having taken the first electrotype in America from a woodcut. Many in this Bible are so done. Artists were engaged for more than six years in the preparation of the designs and engravings . . . at a cost of over $20,000.”
The title’s use of the word “illuminated” refers not (as usual) to decoration in gold, but both to the huge number of illustrations and to the fact that the half-titles, the title-leaves, and the presentation and birth, death, and marriage leaves are printed using colored inks. Concerning the illustrations, Frank Weitenkampf wrote in The Boston Public Library Quarterly (July, 1958, pp. 154–57): “The engravings after Chapman carefully reproduced the prim line-work method of the Englishman Bewick, introduced here by Alexander Anderson. . . . [T]his Harper publication was a remarkable production for its time and place, and retains its importance in the annals of American book-making. W.J. Linton, noted wood-engraver and author, knew ‘no other book like this, so good, so perfect in all it undertakes.’”
Binding: Publisher’s morocco, framed in gilt rolls, front cover with gilt-stamped owners’ names and with recessed panel gilt-stamped with a vignette of the Sermon on the Mount; back cover with similar panel and vignette of Rebecca at the well, spine gilt extra.

Provenance: The marriage, birth, and death leaves present here have been used by the Kimball family and its offshoots, from 1827 through 1873 — the names of Thomas Kimball and Nancy Sexton Kimball are the first inscribed on the Marriages page, and have also been gilt-stamped on the front cover of this volume. Numerous records are provided in a very attractive, decorative hand, with one fascinating addition.
At the bottom of the reverse of the “Death” leaf are two names inscribed in a different but also carefully ornate hand, within a circular title reading “Colored servants.”
O’Callaghan 288–89; Hills 1161. Binding as above, carefully and reasonably rebacked, with portion of uppermost spine compartment left free of gilt; a few small scuffs, and some minor refurbishing over extremities. All edges gilt. First few leaves with outer edges ragged; pages very faintly age-toned, otherwise clean.
A gorgeous copy, with the interesting manuscript additions described above.
Bible. N.T. English. Authorized. 1864. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. With engravings on wood from designs of Fra Angelico, Pietro Perugino, Francesco Francia.... London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1864. 4to (29.5 cm, 11.75"). Frontis., [iii]–xvi, 540 pp.; illus.
$1200.00
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First edition, and one of 250 large paper copies printed of this lavishly illustrated, quintessentially Victorian Bible. The decorations and initials were drawn and engraved by Henry Shaw, who also supervised the engravings of the illustrations after Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Raphael, and other Italian masters; engravers involved with the project included F. Anderson, James Cooper, Messrs. Dalziel, W.T. Green, William Linton, and many others, all of whom labored mightily in this attempt to reproduce the feel of a 16th-century production.Binding: Signed reddish-brown morocco binding by Root & Son, with covers and spine gilt extra; extremely wide and handsome turn-ins elaborately gilt tooled these last are illustrated in our last image here.
Provenance: Front fly-leaf with attractively inked gift inscription to the Rev. John Francis O’Hern, the third Bishop of Rochester, NY, dated 1929.
Not in Darlow & Moule. Leather showing small rubbed spots over edges and extremities, with faint leather discoloration to part of front cover; front pastedown with traces of a now-absent bookplate. The weight of this substantial volume has partially cracked the front joint; however, with careful use (and storage on the volume’s back, not its lower edge), this damage should not quickly progress.
A lavishly produced Victorian New Testament, in a still-impressive binding.

Ivy-Leaf Bible — Two-Color Frontispieces
Bible. English. 1866. 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. Philadelphia: John E. Potter & Co., 1866. 4to (29.7 cm, 11.7"). 576, [4], 767, [1] pp.(lacking appended Psalms and concordance); 2 plts. (of 6).
$250.00
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Potter and Company published several editions of this Bible, with “text conformable to the standard of the American Bible Society.” The text is printed in double columns, the New Testament has a separate title-page, and each Testament has a two-color engraved frontispiece with architectural border.
Provenance: The family register leaves record that one Peter Paul Shank, presumably the Bible's original owner, outlived three wives (born in 1833, he married in 1857, 1896, and 1903, and died in 1913 in Mineral Springs, NY). The birthdates of Shank and his wives are all listed, but no offspring are recorded.
Binding: Publisher's deluxe embossed brown roan in imitation of morocco, covers with central medallions surrounded by ivy motifs, spine with gilt-stamped title and blind-tooled knotwork and floral decorations.
Hills 1796. Not in Wolf, From Gothic Windows to Peacocks. Binding as above, minor rubbing to joints, edges, and extremities. 64 pp. of appended material (index, concordance, metrical Psalms) lacking, with Biblical text and index complete; four plates (of six) lacking, with no indication of their ever having been present. Sewing loosening; first few leaves partially separated. Pages age-toned with some foxing. Front free endpaper torn from outer edge; one leaf with tear from outer margin, extending into text without loss.
(24453)
Bible. English. 1876. Authorized (i.e., “King James Version”). The self-interpreting Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments according to the Authorized Version.... New York: Johnson, Fry, & Co., 1876. Folio extra (42.5 cm, 16.75"). Engr. t.-p., xvii, [1 (blank)], 1030 (some pages out of order), 122 pp.; 73 plts.
$975.00

73 steel-engraved plates grace this folio, pulpit-sized Bible. Most are unsigned, but many have the name of the publisher, Johnson, Fry, & Co., underneath. The plates contain scenes and figures from the Scriptures—though one is for family records—and are finely detailed. While most seem well-done, if conventional in style, some are
more than usually striking—that showing Christ being tempted by the Devil, with the Devil as an old man in black robes, being especially so.
Binding: Ornately gilt- and blind-tooled black morocco (with but remnants of gilt on covers and spine) including gilt inner dentelles. White silk endpapers. Purple silk placemarker. All edges gilt.

Not in Hills. Binding as above, and at right; lightly rubbed and beautifully refurbished. Light foxing on engraved title-page and some plates; a few of the latter with traces of soiling; guard papers with occasional folding and a little tattering. Instances of light waterstaining, not affecting impression, on plates facing pp. 716 and 736; the plate facing p. 368 has remnants of adhesive. Pages lightly age-toned, with a few more instances of light waterstaining. Tears in the margins (only) of some leaves. Ownership inscription in ball point in a pretty hand on front pastedown, and notation in same hand on last page.
Unusually
solid for a centennial-era Bible of this size—the weight of
such an imposing volume works against its retaining its covers as
here, over the years.


Illuminated by
Valenti Angelo
Bible. O.T. Song of Songs. English. 1935. Authorized. The song of songs which is Solomon's. New York: The Heritage Pess, 1935. 8vo. [32] ff.
[SOLD]
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Beautiful edition. Valenti Angelo designed the book, illustrated it, and illuminated its capitals by hand with pure gold. The double-fold pages are adorned with red and yellow pictorial borders as well as with black and white drawings and elegant capitals. A handsome and pleasure-giving book.
Unlike virtually all other Heritage Press books, this is NOT a reprint of a Limited Editions Club edition.
Red leather, covers stamped in blind, title stamped in gilt on spine; spine lightly rubbed. Slipcase slightly faded and lightly worn at edges. Early owner's name on front free endpaper. (22082)

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