
ANTIQUARIAN BIBLES 
I:
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE BIBLES, TESTAMENTS, & “PARTS” (Part
A) (Part B)
II: POLYGLOTS &
ANCIENT LANGUAGES (Part A)
(Part B)
| III: NATIVE
AMERICAN LANGUAGES
IV:
MODERN LANGUAGES NOT ENGLISH OR AMERIND
(Part A) (Part
B)
V: BIBLE STUDY AIDS, COMMENTARY, &
“RELATED”
(Part A) (Part B)
 |
MODERN LANGUAGES NOT ENGLISH OR “AMERIND”
AMERICAN IMPRINTS INCLUDED A CATALOGUE
ORDERED BY DATE
|
The
First Translation of the
Bible into Italian
from
Hebrew
& Greek Sources
Bible.
Italian. Diodati.
1641. La sacra bibbia tradotta in lingua Italiana, e commentata da
Giovanni Diodati. Stampata in Geneua: Per Pietro Chovët, 1641. Folio (30.5
cm; 12.125"). [3] ff., 837, [3], 331, [1], 148, 68 pp.
$2200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Second edition of Giovanni Diodati's translation, “migliorata, ed accresciuta. Con
l'aggiunta de' Sacri Salmi, missi in rime per lo medesimo.” The first edition appeared in 1607.Diodati (1576–1649), a Protestant theologian, in 1609 succeeded Theodore Beza as
professor of theology at Geneva, and in fact was Beza's choice for his successor. He is best
remembered today as the first to translate the Bible into Italian from Hebrew and Greek sources.
The added engraved title-page of this edition is dated 1640 and signed “A. Bosse jn. et
fecit”; it bears two old ownership notes, not deciphered. The biblical text is printed in roman
and italic in double-column format and has woodcut initials; Diodati's commentary is in smaller
roman type at the bottom of pages in very wide single-column format. The New Testament,
Apocrypha,and Psalter have sectional titles.
Darlow & Moule 5600.
Contemporary vellum over paste boards, elaborately tooled in gilt, rebacked
and the gilt of the front board mostly perished leaving the tooling attractively highlighted in
black; gilt of the bottom board still bright. Vellum with old stains and slightly yapp edges
defective in part, showing signs that silk ties were once present. The half-title leaf for the N.T. is
not printed, but blank. Light waterstaining in upper margin of early leaves; otherwise occasional
spotting only. All edges gilt. In sum, a rather nice copy. (26298)

A
Lectern
Bible USED
in a Lutheran Church?
Bible. German. 1710. Luther. Biblia, das ist: Die gantze heilige Schrift des Alten und
Neuen Testaments. Wie solche von Herrn Doctor Martin Luther Seel. im Jahr Christi
1522. in unsere Teutsche Mutter-Sprach zu übersetzen angefangen.... Nürnberg:
In Verlegung Johann Andreä Endters Seel, Sohn, und Erben, 1710. Folio (39
cm, 15.38"). Frontis., [32] ff., 1181, [1] pp., [11 (-1)] ff.; 1 plt., illus.
$1500.00

Aside from its importance in the religious tradition, Luther's translation of the Bible is probably the most important single text for the formation of Modern German. Like other Luther Bibles, this one contains his prefaces to the books of the Bible, including his theologically significant Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. It is also supplemented by the Augsburg Confession, of which, sadly, the last leaf is absent here.
In this printing, a fine engraved title-page shows an angel delivering Luther's translation of the Old Testament to a Church still in bondage to the requirements of the old Law. A similar sectional title-page, depicting God the Father, Jesus Christ, and allegorical figures of the sacraments of Baptism and Communion, comes before the New Testament. Six special pairs of leaves, bound in at various places, each offer a first page containing an engraving of biblical figures and three following pages containing their biographies. A woodcut vignette of the unusual triple arms of the city of Nürnberg appears on the title-page; a number of chapters are adorned, at head, with one-third page woodcut illustrations set in neat borders; and the books typically open with typographically appealing two-column "headers." The text is in a handsome and relatively legible fraktur. The size, decoration, and overall composition of the volume, along with its faults (especially the manner in which which pages are worn), suggest a history as a lectern Bible in a Lutheran Church.

Binding: This copy is bound in ornately
blind-tooled and -stamped alum-tawed sheep over wooden boards, the front cover
with three of its original etched corner bosses and with its two etched clasp-catches.
(Bosses of back cover no longer present, remnants of clasps.) A martial portrait
is centered on each cover; unfortunately these are now so worn that they are
no longer identifiable. Perhaps they belong to the electors of Saxony who safeguarded
the Lutheran faith in its infancy.

Binding as above. Covers abraded and worn, some scraping to back upper board, leather peeling back from fore-edge of front cover and opening at ends of joints, most notably at bottom of front one. Front free endpaper with inked inscription, in German, dated Philadelphia, 1852. Frontispiece with a fore-edge chip (not into image) and tears in from bottom margin and at gutter, with small loss to plate area at bottom inner corner. A number of pages with tears extending into text, a few places with chips to bottom outer corners with loss of words but not of sense. Scattered foxing, with occasional darker small stains. Last leaf (of Confession, NOT Bible) lacking. Despite faults, a grand volume both usable and inspiring.
Bible.
German. 1743. Luther.
[Biblia, das ist: Die Heilige Schrift Altes und Neues Testaments, nach der Deutschen
Uebersetzung D. Martin Luthers, mit jedes Capitels kurzen Summarien, auch beygefügten
vielen und richtigen Parllelen {sic}. Germantown: Gedruckt bey Christoph
Saur, 1743]. 4to (26.3 cm, 10.375"). [2] ff. (supplied in facsimile), 995, [1
(blank)], 277, [1] pp., [1] f.
$6000.00

1743 saw the first complete Bible in a European language printed
in the New World, in—of all places—Germantown, Pa., and in—of
all languages—German. The colonial powers had granted monopolies for Bible
printing to “home” publishers and their products were priced sufficiently
low to discourage illegal printing by colonial printers, which left it to German-Americans—a
people here as independent settlers, not “colonists”—to first
print a Bible of their own. Christopher Saur (or Sower, as he Englished it)
was something of a renaissance man, university educated and a physician, and
he used his connections in Germany to obtain the gift of the fraktur
type used in this Bible. It was printed in an edition of 1200 copies, and cost
18 shillings. Another complete American Bible did not follow until Saur’s
son, also Christopher, published a further edition in 1763. 
Arndt
lists three states for this edition, of which this appears to be C, based on
the absence of a two-leaf addendum giving a short history of Bible translation—that
a buyer could choose to have bound in or not.
Rumball-Petre, Rare Bibles, 159; Darlow & Moule 4240;
O’Callaghan 22; Wright, Early Bibles of America, 24–44;
Evans 5127–28; Sabin 5191; Arndt, The First Century of German Language
Printing in the United States of America, 47C; Hildeburn, The Issues
of the Press in Pennsylvania, 1685-1784, 804. Contemporary calf over bevelled
boards. Binding scratched and abraded with tears to spine leather. Hinges
(inside only) open. A printed poem has been affixed to the front pastedown,
over a strip of cloth. Ownership inscriptions in German (in gothic cursive)
and English on endpapers. Pp. 1–2 with loss of part of margins, some
text, and part of headpiece, repaired with paper. Lightly age-toned with darker
brown-spotting, some waterstaining, occasional dog ears, and some holing or
chipping in the margins—some of the latter repaired with paper. First
two leaves, i.e., main title-page and preface supplied in facsimile; the New
Testament title-page is present.

Saur Psalms, 1764
Bible. O.T. Psalms. German. Luther. 1764. Das kleine Davidische Psalterspiel der Kinder Zions. Germantown: Gedruckt bey Christoph Saur, 1764. 12mo. [3] ff., 570 pp., [12] ff.
$950.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Third printing in America of the German metrical psalms; from the press of the man to print the first German Bible in America, which was also the first Bible printed in the New
World in a European language. Printed in double-column format, without the music.
Provenance: Old inked inscription of John Ebersole, dated 1793, on front free endpaper; later pencilled signatures of Anna Ebersole and another person to pastedown.
Evans 9602; Hildeburn, Pennsylvania, 2045; Arndt & Eck, First Century of German Language Printing in the U.S., 296; ESTC W20981. Contemporary calf with one clasp working and a remnant of the other; moderate rubbing to covers, leather on spine showing flex marks from the tight-back binding. Later spine labels. Faint library pressure-stamp on title-page;
signatures as above. Age-toning and some staining; in fact the paper in cleaner condition than is often seen. (25959)

The “Gun Wad” Bible — The First Bible Printed
from
Type Cast in America
Bible. German. 1776. Luther. Biblia, das ist: Die ganze Göttliche heilige Schrift Alten und Neuen Testaments. Germantown: Gecruckt und zu finden bey Christoph Saur, 1776. 4to. 2 pts. in 1 vol. [2] ff., 992 pp,; 277, [1] pp., [1] f.
$6500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Popularly known as the “Gun Wad” Bible, this is the third edition of the first American Bible in a European language and it precedes the first American Bible in English by six years. It is known as the “Gun Wad” Bible from Isaiah Thomas's recounting of the sale of Saur's estate in 1778, wherein he says that during the Battle of Germantown the purchaser of the unbound sheets of the 1776 Bible “sold a part of [them] to be used as covers for cartridges, proper paper for the purpose being at that time not to be obtained” in the dislocations of the Revolution — well, maybe.
What is not open to question is the fact that this is the first Bible printed from type cast in America. There are several variants of the edition: In this copy the main title-page is printed in black only and on the New Testament title-page the place of printing is given as “Germantown.”
Provenance: On a front blank, “Joseph Price junr his Bible”; on front pastedown, “Abraham Price was born the 22. Day of June 1770.”
Evans 14663; Hildeburn, The Issues of the Press in Pennsylvania, 1685–1784, 3336; Arndt & Eck, German Language Printing in the U.S., 475; O'Callaghan, p. 29; Rumball-Petre 162; Thomas, History of Printing in America, pp. 411–13. Contemporary calf, very plain in style with minimal tooling and no spine label ever; rebacked and old spine reattached. One leather and metal clasp remaining. Hinges (inside) strengthened and free endpapers reattached. The usual foxing, staining, and browning only; perhaps somewhat less than usual — a clean, untattered copy. Now housed in a quarter brown leather folding slipcase. (27227)

Saur Psalms 1777 — Elizabeth Bernhardin's Copy
Bible. O.T. Psalms. German. Luther. 1777. Das kleine Davidische Psalterspiel der Kinder Zions. Germantown: Gedruckt bey Christoph Saur, 1777. 8vo (16.7 cm, 6.5"). [6], 572, [22] pp.
$800.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Fourth printing in America of the German metrical psalms; from the press of the man to print the first German Bible in America, which was also the first Bible printed in the New World in a European language. Printed in double-column format, without the music — except for two hymns, 537 and 576. An additional printed hymn was
stitched
to the back free endpaper some time ago.
Provenance: Front fly-leaf with attractively inked inscription: “Dieses gesangbuch gehörer mit Elizabeth Bernhardin. 1780" (fraktur-like, but without color) and an additional early inked inscription beneath.
Evans 15242; Hildeburn 3624; Arndt & Eck 492; ESTC W20982. Contemporary mottled calf with remnants of two original clasps, covers framed in double blind fillets, spine quite plain with raised bands and no labels; mildly rubbed overall, leather with small cracks at joints and spine, front joint expertly strengthened. Ex-library, front pastedown with bookplate and rubber-stamp; two other leaves but not the title-page with stamps; back pastedown with old pocket. Pages moderately browned and spotted, not excessively so for this type of production; a few corners dog-eared. Solid and, with its old “personalizations,” pleasing. (27902)

German
Bible Printing Moves West
Bible. German. 1805. Luther. Biblia, das ist: die ganze Göttliche Heilige Schrift Alten und Neuen Testaments, nach der Deutchen uebersetzung D. Martin Luthers. Reading: Gedruckt und zu finden bey Gottlob Jungmann, 1805. 4to. 2 vols. in 1. [34] ff., 1008 pp., [1] f., 277, [1] pp., [1] f., (family register excised).
$1175.00
Click the images for enlargements.
The first edition of the first Bible in German printed outside of Philadelphia; the first printing of the Bible in Reading. The New Testament here has a separate title-page, pagination, and signatures.
Arndt & Eck, German Language Printing in the U.S., 1467; O'Callaghan 78–79; Seidensticker 166; Shaw & Shoemaker 7984. Publisher's plain brown calf with remnants of metal and leather closures, leather abraded; front board expertly strengthened at joint, new front free endpaper. Family register excised. Interior with foxing, toning, and some staining, including to title-page; initial and final leaves with staining and chipping, as with all copies we've seen in libraries and in commerce.
All said, a solid and satisfactory copy of a famous early American Bible. (27430)

Protestant
French–German
DIGLOT
Bible. N.T. French & German. 1819. Beausobre–Lenfant & Luther. Le Nouveau Testament suivant la traduction des Mrs. [sic] de Beausobre et Lenfant ... das Neue Testament nach der Uebersetzung D. Martin Luthers. Basel: In der Schweighauser'schen Buchhandlung, 1819. 8vo (18.5 cm, 7.3"). [8], 1101 (i.e., 961), [1 (blank)] pp. (536–37 used twice in pagination, 959–1098 skipped).
$275.00
Uncommon diglot New Testament printed in parallel columns of French and German, intended for students of both languages. The French translation is a much-acclaimed version done by two Huguenot divines, Isaac de Beausobre (known for his groundbreaking Manichaean studies) and Jacques L'Enfant (chaplain to the Electress Dowager Palatine at Heidelberg, and a prolific historian); the German translation, printed in black-letter, is Luther's. This is the second edition to pair the two, following the first of 1746.
OCLC locates only one U.S. institutional holding of this edition, which has since been deaccessioned.
Darlow & Moule 4318. Recent speckled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, all edges stained blue. Front fly-leaf with early inked inscriptions, one dated 1851. Title-page with early institutional rubber-stamp, last page with pressure-stamp, second page of contents with inked annotation along inner margin and rubber-stamped numeral in lower margin. Pp. 959–1098 skipped in pagination; text complete. Foxed, but not badly; clean. (25856)

A
Very Typical-Looking
German
American TESTAMENT
Billmeyer
1822
Bible.
N.T. German. 1822. Luther.
Das Neue Testament.... Germantaun: Michael Billmeyer, 1822. 8vo. 537, [1] pp.,
[1] f.
$115.00
The ninth Billmeyer printing of the German New Testament and the only German NT or Bible printed this year.
O'Callaghan 161; Shoemaker 8025; German Language Printing in the United States 2535. Contemporary calf, raised bands, covers blind-framed; a few chips and old abrasions, but pleasant. Lower clasp intact, top one missing. Front hinge open, joint starting; front free endpaper torn across with loss. German fly-leaf inscription. Usual foxing/staining only, and complete.

Syriac from the UBS
Bible. Syriac. Peshitta. 1823. [title romanized as] Kethabhe kaddishe, he-kethabhe de-dhiyatheka àttika u-hedhatha. [London: United Bible Societies, 1823]. 4to. 705, 360 pp.
$850.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Peshitta version in Jacobite script: Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament. The text is vocalized. The editor was Samuel Lee (1783–1852).
Darlow & Moule 8986. Recent library brown buckram, slightly darkened patch to lower spine; gilt title at top and two gilt rules. Old seminary library pressure-stamp to title-page, two additional light rubber-stamps, pencilling on verso of title. Clean, neat, and strong. (27078)
Bible.
N.T. French. 1824.
Ostervald. Le nouveau testament de
notre seigneur Jésus-Christ... seconde édition Américaine.
Boston: J.H.A. Frost, 1824. 12mo (18.2 cm, 7.1"). 379, [5 (1 blank)] pp.
$600.00

Early American edition of the translation by eminent Swiss Protestant
Jean Frédéric Ostervald, based on a Paris edition and following
1811 and 1814 U.S. printings. Likely intended for use among French Canadians
and French émigrés in the United States, this is a good
example of an early American printing of a complete Testament, either Old or
New, in French.
Shoemaker 15382. Contemporary speckled sheep, worn and abraded,
spine with gilt-stamped leather title label. Front pastedown with early numerical
inscription. Outer margins of last few leaves waterstained; some pages with
mild cockling or light spotting, others with varying degrees of age-toning.
Bible.
N.T. Dutch.
Verhulst. 1825. Het Nieuwe Testament van onzen heere Jesus Christus, vertaelt
volgens de gemeyne Latynsche overzettinge ... Brussel: J.-B. Dupon, 1825. 12mo
(17.2 cm, 6.75"). [6], 568 pp.
$400.00
Reprinting of Verhulst’s Old Catholic edition of 1717, circulated by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The work is printed in double columns with typographic head- and tailpieces.
Darlow and Moule 3369. Contemporary diced calf, spine tooled in blind, with gilt-stamped leather title-label; edges and joints rubbed, sides with minor abrasions, spine sunned. Front pastedown with traces of a now-absent bookplate. Some light foxing, mostly confined to first few leaves. Pp. 5/6 and 7/8 bound in out of order. One leaf with short tear from upper margin, touching a few letters; one leaf with upper outer corner torn away, with loss of two letters. All edges marbled.
Bible. N.T. German. 1825. Luther. Das Neue Testament unsers Herrn und Heilandes Jesu Christi, nach der deutschen Uebersetzung von Dr. Martin Luther.... Carlisle (Pa.): Gedruckt und zu haben bey Moser & Peters, 1825. 8vo. (17 cm, 6.75"). 511, [1] pp., [2] ff. (lacking pp. 101–104); 12 plts.
$200.00
Stereotyped edition with 12 woodcut plates, and the fifth printing (but second edition) of the German New Testament by Johann B. Moser and Gustav Sigmund Peters of Carlisle, Pa.
Provenance: 20th-century booklabel of Michael Zinman on front pastedown, along with pencilled ownership inscription of Margaret Lache.
Not in O’Callaghan; not in Darlow & Moule; Arndt, The First Century of German Language Printing in the United States of America, 2724; Shoemaker 19698. Contemporary calf with raised bands; remnants of clasps. Calf scratched with some rubbing; spine a little warped. Some dog-earing and shallow tattering; lightly to moderately age-spotted throughout; pp. 17–18, 257-60 detached. No loss or obscuring of text due to the above, but two pages in Mark, pp. 101–104, lacking.

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