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Greek Text after ERASMUS & Ceporinus
Illustrations after Graf & HOLBEIN
Bible. N.T. Greek. 1535. [one line in Greek, romanized as] Tes Kaines Diathekes Hapanta [then in Latin] Noui Testamenti omnia. [colophon: Basileae: apvd Io, Bebelium {for Johann Schabler, called Wattenschnee}, 1535. 8vo (16 cm, 6.25"). [8], 367, [1] ff.
$2500.00
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Jakob Ceporinus (1499–1525, born Jakob Wiesendanger), the editor of this Greek Testament, was
a Swiss humanist who attended the universities of Cologne and Vienna and acquired knowledge of Hebrew by studying with the German humanist Johannes Reuchlin in Ingolstadt. He worked in Basel as a proofreader for a printing house, settled in Zurich, and in April of 1525 was appointed as
the first Reader of Greek and Hebrew at Zwingli's school of theology in Zurich. He died unexpectedly in December 1525.
The first edition of his Greek New Testament appeared in 1524 from the same printer as this third edition of 1535 and like that first closely follows the Erasmus third edition, with a few variants and independent readings. Also as with the 1524 edition, the title-page has
four woodcuts after Urs Graf representing the evangelists, and that leaf is followed by Oecolampadius' “In sacrarum literarum lectionem . . . exhortatio” (pi 2–7).
The work was published at the expense of Johann Schabler, called Wattenschnee, whose device with motto “Durum pacientia frango” is on the verso of last leaf. The Testament text is in Greek only and each book begins with a woodcut headpiece and a historiated initial, with some initials after Dance of Death designs by
Hans Holbein.
Reuss lists this among “Editiones Erasmicae.”
Provenance: 19th-century signature on front fly-leaf of W.C.S. Tole (?); most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
VD16 B4180; Adams B1653; Reuss, Bibliotheca Novi Testamenti Graeci, p. 33. Not in Darlow & Moule, but see 4601 for the first editon. 18th-century full calf, no raised bands, round spine gilt extra; spine pulled at head, front joint sometime repaired taking part of the label and some gilt on that side with volume now strong, corners rubbed and some old abrasions.
Interior with a very few instances of old marginalia; type splendidly sharp on very clean pages. (40636)

Greek Psalms from the
Bibliotheca Heberiana
Bible. O.T. Psalms. Greek. 1555. Dolscius. [transliterated from Greek] Davidou prophetper Ioannem Oporinumou kai basileos melos, elegeiois perieilemmenon hypo Paulou tou Dolskiou Plaeos [then in Latin] Psalterium prophetae et regis Dauidis, uersibus elegiacis redditum a Pavlo Dolscio Plauensi. Basileae: per Ioannem Oporinum, [colophon: 1555]. 8vo (15.9 cm, 6.25"). [16], 341, [7] pp.
$1250.00
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Sole edition of these Greek paraphrased psalms, done by Paul Dolscius while he was serving as a rector in Halle. Melanchthon was a great supporter of Dolscius (1526–89), whose translation work was so proficient that at one point his authorial byline on the Greek translation of the Augsburg Confession was assumed to be merely a pseudonym for the great reformer himself.
The text here is simply printed with the Latin preface in roman and the main text in Greek using single columns; a 5-line decorative initial and a 7-line inhabited one (showing two kings in profile) complete the work. This is now an uncommon edition, with searches of Worldcat, COPAC, USTC, and NUC Pre-1956 revealing only three U.S. institutions reporting ownership.
Provenance: An inked ownership stamp of notable 19th-century English bibliomaniac Richard Heber (1774–1833), reading “Bibliotheca Heberiana,” appears on the front free endpaper; Thomas Frognall Dibdin added this stamp to select rare books in Heber's collection following the collector's death. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Bibliotheca Palatina F5048/F5049; VD16 B3122; USTC 626665. Not in Adams; not in Darlow & Moule. On Dolscius, see: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (online). 19th-century half calf and paste paper–covered boards, spine with gilt rolls and green leather gilt title-label, all edges stained blue; rubbed, slight loss of leather on front joint (outside) and corners, a few small spots and leather repairs, isolated glue action to endpapers. Light age-toning with occasional slivers of marginal staining (possibly thanks to the blue edge stain?), one interior tear touching letters and two marginal spots. Provenance indicia as above, small round paper shelflabel on spine, a few bibliographical notes pencilled on endpapers.
A skillfully produced work with a pleasing provenance. (39566)

“I Consider It a Great Curiosity”
Bible. N.T. Greek & Latin. Arias Montano. 1572. Novvm Testamentvm Graece, cum vulgata interpretatione Latina Graeci contextus lineis inserta ... [Heidelberg]: Ex officina Commeliniana, 1599. 8vo (19.9 cm, 7.75"). [14], 827, [1] pp. Lacks interior blank (only).
$925.00
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One of the last 16th-century interlinear editions of the Greek New Testament and Vulgate Latin, as first presented in Plantin's monumental Royal Antwerp Polyglot Bible of 1569–72. The text is printed in Greek with the Vulgate in roman type inter-linearly; additionally, there are decorative letters, and head- and tailpieces. When the Vulgate differs from the Greek, its text is printed in the margin as a shouldernote and a literal Latin rendering by the great Spanish theologian Benedictus Arias Montanus (a.k.a. Benito Arias Montano) is printed in italics in the text. The Commelin device appears on the title-page, which describes this printing as “Editio postrema, multò quàm antehac emendatior.”
Evidence of Readership: Marginal notes or accents in at least two early hands have been added in ink in two dozen–plus places, with one page used for scribbling and content ranging from a squiggle to a word to real notes; two Latin words and the publication date, in Arabic numerals under the publisher's roman, have been inked to the title-page.
Provenance: Early calligraphic ownership note of “Dudley” dated 1843 on binder's blank; later ownership signature of E.F. Whitehouse with the shelfmark 354 and an acquisition note
including the collectorly report, “It was all to bits, I had it bound and consider it a great curiosity.”
Adams B1716; Darlow & Moule 4656a; VD16 ZV 1904; USTC 440704. Recent half brown calf and mustard buckram cloth, red leather spine label lettered in gilt, all edges speckled brown, new endpapers; very gently rubbed, one short tear at bottom gutter of binder's blank. Light age-toning and waterstaining of various darknesses throughout most of the text with the occasional spot. The title leaf has been backed with a later paper with no loss of content; interior blank (only) lacking as above, three leaves with small interior holes affecting letters, two leaves with marginal sections torn away. Readership and provenance evidence as above, with some inked notes trimmed or bled onto surrounding leaves.
Read and engaged with by multiple people, and all the more intriguing because of it. (39429)

HEAVILY ANNOTATED — The Gospels & Acts in an Important Edition
Bible. N.T. Greek & Latin. 1588. Testamentum Novum, sive novum foedus Iesu Christi, D.N. Cuius Graeco contextui respondent interpretationes duae: vna, vetus altera, Theodori Bezae, nunc quartò diligenter ab eo recognita... [Genevae]: [Henricus Stephanus], 1588. Folio (33 cm; 13"). [6] ff., 555, [1 (blank)] pp., [8] ff. (lacks final blank leaf); lacks vol. II (Epistles, Revelation).
$2500.00
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An interleaved and heavily annotated copy of the Gospels and Acts of “Beza's third major edition [of the Greek New Testament]. The text follows that of the second major edition (1582) with only five exceptions” (Darlow and Moule).
One should note that the title-page proclaims this “quarta editio,” and that this is Estienne's third folio printing of Beza's N.T.
Beza's New Testament Greek text is here accompanied by his Latin and the Vulgate (i.e., Catholic Latin) translations, the trio appearing in parallel columns on each page with
extensive notes that often fill as much as one-third to one-half of a page and with parallel references additionally set in the margins. The volume's title-page is printed in red and black and bears Henri Estienne's printer's device; a different finely wrought woodcut headpiece opens each book, with each column on those pages bearing a woodcut initial at its head, and a few of the books of the N.T. end with woodcut tailpieces.
Evidence of readership: An interleaved copy with
the vast majority of the leaves bearing an early 19th-century reader's notes and annotations. The notes cite references published as late as 1809 and it is clear that the natively German-speaking scholar was comfortable in Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and English.
Provenance: Ownership signature on title-page of Leon St. Vincent. Later in The Howell Bible Collection, Pacific School of Religion (properly released; no markings).
The paper stock used for the interleaving has the classic ProPatria watermark and that and its countermark match Churchill's 151, which has a starting date of 1799.
Darlow & Moule 4650; Adams B1711. On the interleaves' watermarks, see: Churchill, Watermarks in paper in Holland, England, France, etc., in the XVII and XVIII centuries. 19th-century half vellum with German pastepaper over boards, spine with tinted and tooled label, text recased and new endpapers; vol. I (only) of this production, without the Epistles and Revelation. Title-page creased and dust-soiled, all leaves before pp. 9/10 rodent-gnawed in lower outside corner with loss of paper but not of text or manuscript annotation, and a bit of light waterstaining to rearmost leaves only.
An important edition and a singular copy. (37032)

The First Catholic Old Testament in English — Once Owned by an “Unfit” Reader?!?
(Rather Unnerving Evidence of Readership)
Bible. O.T. English. Douai. 1609–10. The Holie Bible faithfully translated into English, out of the authentical Latin. Diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greeke, and other editions in divers languages. With arguments of the bookes, and chapters: annotations: tables: and other helpes, for better understanding of the text: for discoverie of corruptions in some late translations: and for clearing controversies in religion. By the English College of Doway. Doway: Laurence Kellam, 1609–10. 4to (I: 22.3 cm, 8.75"; II: 21 cm, 8.3"). 2 vols. I: [2], 1115, [1] pp. (5 leaves supplied). II: 1124, [2 (errata)] pp. (5 leaves in facsimile).
$12,000.00
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First edition of the first Catholic Old Testament in English — editio princeps of the Douai (or Douay, or Doway) Old Testament, half of what is commonly known as the Douai–Rheims Bible. The New Testament first appeared at Rheims in 1582; at that time the Old Testament was said to be ready for printing, but its actual publication was delayed until 1609 due to lack of funds. Both portions were translated from the Latin Vulgate mainly by Gregory Martin (with the intensely controversial Old Testament notes done by Thomas Worthington), under the supervision of Cardinal William Allen at Douai, the center of English Catholicism in exile during Elizabeth's reimposition of Protestantism.
This translation is important for all, not just Catholics, as an enduringly influential milestone in Bible history.
One of the foundational works in any collection of Bibles and Testaments.
Evidence of Readership / Provenance: Vol. I front free endpaper with early inked inscription: “Cloister of Nazareth”; pastedown with inscription in a different hand, reading “The holy Bible some pages cut out, (for modesty's sake) thro' ignorance yt. each word hear in [sic] is sacred, & too sacred for such, as finds thmselves unfit to read it.” Vol. II front pastedown inscribed “Men have many faults / Women have but two / Nothing wright thay say / Nothing good they doo” [sic], signed by the Rev. Folkins of Derbyshire, dated MDCCCX; back pastedown with inked inscription of John Caldwell and pencilled inscription of Thomas R. Kilching.
Darlow & Moule 231; ESTC S101944; Rumball-Petre, Rare Bibles, 119; STC (rev. ed.) 2207. Vol. I: Contemporary vellum with yapp edges, spine with early hand-inked title; vellum moderately dust-soiled and worn, spine with remnants of shelving label. Vol. II: Contemporary mottled calf framed in gilt double fillets, spine with gilt rules; rubbed with small cracks in leather overall, especially at joints and spine, very unobtrusively rebacked. Inscriptions and annotations as above, vol. II also with pencilled annotations on front pastedown and bookseller's small ticket on rear pastedown. Sometime after the “immodest” pages (in Genesis) were removed, they were supplied from another copy, tipped in (so one can readily see what they were!); five lacking leaves in vol. II (in appended historical table and index) were supplied in facsimile. Occasional minor foxing and smudging; vol. II with waterstaining to some outer and lower edges, edges of first and last few leaves slightly tattered.
A landmark Old Testament, here in an intriguing copy. (36730)

Gutbier's Labor of Love — Printed on the
Editor's Own Press
Bible. N.T. Syriac. 1664. Novum domini nostri Jesu Christi Testamentum Syriace, cum punctis vocalibus, & versione Latina Matthaei ... plene & emendate editum, accurante Aegidio Gutbirio. Hamburgi: Typis & impensis authoris, 1664. 8vo (17.2 cm, 6.75"). [32], 218, 281–604 pp.
$750.00
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First edition of Gilles Gutbier's acclaimed Syriac New Testament,
produced at the author's own expense using types he cut himself. Gutbier (1617–67), a distinguished professor at Hamburg, was universally recognized as one of the leading Orientalists of his era. His work on this New Testament was based on all of the previously published Syriac editions and on two unpublished manuscripts, one of which had belonged to the emperor Constantine. Darlow and Moule note that Gutbier also includes the previously missing “five books, the 'pericope de adulter' and the 'comma Johanneum.'”
This copy has the additional engraved title-page (dated 1663) but is not one of the variant issues that include the supplementary pieces mentioned on that title. The printed title-page present here matches Darlow and Moule's state d.
Binding: Contemporary calf, round spine, gilt spine extra, handsome metal and leather closures with gilt tooling on the leather; very pretty, simple single gilt-roll border on each board. German floral paste-decorated endpapers and all edges red.
Provenance: Ownership signatures of I. Duvarus (1774); J.G. Drunnburg (1822) Johann O. Nordendam (1830) on front fly-leaf.
Darlow & Moule 8966; Graesse 103. Leather “shellacked” and shiny; volume now solid with front board reattached using the long-fiber method and areas of spine similarly improved. A sophisticated copy: four leaves of the prefactory matter (b1–4) are inserted from a small copy (possibly even a different edition). Some early underscoring; overall
very decent as a text and very attractive on shelf or in hand. (36974)

Printed in England in 1665 & Bound in
AMERICA in 1829
Bible. O.T. Greek. Septuagint. 1665. [four lines in Greek, then] Vetus testamentum graecum ex versione Septuaginta interpretum, juxta exemplar Vaticanum Romae editum. Cantabrigiae: Excusum per Joannem Field, 1665. 12mo (14 cm; 5.5"). [1] f., 19, [1], 755 [i.e. 767, 1], 516 pp. (without the initial blank).
$1800.00
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The second English edition of the Septuagint. There are different issues: This a copy of the one with the third word of the Greek title readiing “Diathēche” and not “Diathēke” and with the printer's device showing the man holding the sun in his left hand. Thus, this is Darlow and Moule issue “B.”
Thomas Jefferson owned a copy of one of the issues of this edition.
Provenance: Manuscript ownership inscription of John Ray dated 1716 (on retained fly-leaf); ownership signature of Robert L. Wilson, New York, 1818 (on title-page); gilt supra-libros of Barzillai Slosson, dated 1829. Later in the Howell Bible Collection, Pacific School of Religion (properly released).
Binding: American binding of dark blue goat, richly gilt, with wide floral border on covers and spine distinctively gilt using rules and floral roll. Board edges with a gilt roll; turn-ins gilt tooled. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Gilt supra-libros of Barzillai Slosson as above. Unsigned.
Barzillai Slosson may have been related to the lawyer of the same name who was active in Kent, CT, at the end of the 18th century and into the fourth decade of the 19th, whose account books are in the Yale Law Library; perhaps, the Barzillai who graduated from Columbia College in 1818 and later moved to Geneva, NY, where he was active and successful in business and civic affairs.
Wing (rev. ed.) B2719. Darlow & Moule; 4702; ESTC R236848; Sowerby, Catalogue of the library of Thomas Jefferson, 1473. Binding as above, lightly rubbed. Pages closely cropped in the 19th-century rebinding and some initial or final letters touched or lost. Very good. (34786)

A Distinguished Provenance, an Interesting Format,
& Just a Bit of Contemporary Marginalia
Bible. German. 1766. Luther. Biblia, das ist: Die gantze Heil. Schrift Altes und Neues Testaments. Halle: Waysenhaus, 1766. 4to (22.2 cm; 8.75"). 10, [2], 1079, [1], 308, [4] pp.
$7750.00
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This Bible was specifically designed and printed for the reader to annotate: the pages measure 8.5" x 6.75" and the text area only 5.5" x 2.875", leaving 1.5" to 2.25" of margin for notes on either side and 1" in the upper margin with 2" in the lower.
An early owner did just that, not heavily, but here and there in both the Old and New Testaments. It was owned by a member of an American scholarly and clerical family that had not one but two generations of association with the city of Halle, which was a mecca and fount of the Pietism that drove so much of the early German religious migration to America.
Provenance: Signature of G. Henry Muhlenberg, dated 1784, on the front free endpaper; later ownership signature of Jacob Strein (1814) on same. Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753–1815) was the son of Heinrich Melchior Muhlenberg, one of the founders of the German Lutheran church in the U.S. and a pastor of Pietist background whose first post, after completing his studies, was a teaching position at the Francke Foundation's Historic Orphanage — of which the “Waysenhaus” that printed this volume was the working press. His son, born in Trappe, PA, and recorded above as owner of this book, was sent to be educated in Halle starting in 1763, entering the University in 1769. After his return to Pennsylvania in 1770, he was ordained a Lutheran minister and later received a Doctor of Divinity degree from Princeton University, while becoming known as a significant American botanist; in 1787 he was made the first president of Franklin College, now Franklin & Marshall College. Strein was a fellow Lancaster County pastor.
Of this scholar-serving production of this scholarly press in its hyper-scholarly city, we find but three library copies reported, all in Germany.
Darlow & Moule 4251. Contemporary plain brown calf, rebacked, original spine retained, with modest ruling at cover edges, rubbed and abraded with offsetting to edges of first and last leaves from the leather; round, plain spine with five raised bands and no label, leather lost at top and bottom with rear joint opening and leather wanting to peel over spine generally. A little foxing with, in a few signatures, a bit more than that.
A good, overall solid, and clean copy of a Bible having multiple points of significance. (36853)

A Dramatic, Beautiful Bible & BCP Pairing
(A Drama-Associated Provenance, Also)
Bible. English. 1775. 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. Cambridge: Pr. by John Archdeacon, 1775–76. 4to in 8s (28.8 cm, 11.33"). Frontis., [639] ff. [with accompanying volume] The book of common prayer, and administration of the sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of the Church of England: Together with the psalter or psalms of David. Cambridge: Pr. by John Archdeacon, 1781. 8vo (20.7 cm, 8.15"). [376] ff. [bound with] Vickers, William. A companion to the altar: Shewing the nature and necessity of a sacramental preparation, in order to our worthy receiving the holy communion. London: Pr. for Thomas Beecroft, 1783. Frontis., [2], [v]–55, [1 (adv.)] pp. (lacking half-title or initial blank?) [and with] Bible. Psalms. English. Sternhold and Hopkins. The whole book of psalms, collected into English metre. Cambridge: Pr. by John Archdeacon, 1785. 8vo. [64] ff.
$7500.00
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This striking 18th-century set — owned by a wealthy Englishwoman who spent much of her life in Switzerland, for more on which see below — pairs a handsome Cambridge Bible and BCP in
masterfully designed and executed deluxe matched bindings. The Bible opens with a frontispiece engraved by Charles Grignion after Francis Hayman; the Apocrypha are present in this copy, and the New Testament has a separate title-page dated 1776. The BCP is bound with Companion to the Altar (“Note, This Book is bound up with the Common-Prayers of several sorts, printed by the University of Cambridge,” as per the title-page); Sternhold & Hopkins bring up the rear.
Bindings: Contemporary mottled green morocco, covers framed in Greek key roll and dentelles composed of urn and flower motifs surrounding central JHS medallions with red morocco inlays and gilt-tooled flames; spines with gilt-tooled compartment decorations, Bible spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label. While the covers of the two volumes are strongly similar overall (and “read” as
identical on first glance), the details of the design vary slightly between the Bible and the BCP, as the size disparity — and possibly the time gap between the publication dates — necessitated the use of different tools. The spine designs differ more notably but still most companionably, with the Bible's spine decorations being built up with foliate and floral motifs and the BCP's with suns and stars.
To engage in minute comparison of these bindings' detail is an entrancing exercise.
Provenance: Front free endpaper of Bible used for family record: Francis James Barwell de Sandol Roy, born in 1793 and died in 1813 (“Quel angoisse!”); Henri Guillaume de Sandol Roy, born in 1797; and a list of grandchildren: François, Sophie, Anna, and Alfred. The title-page inscription confirms that this set was owned by Sophie Bridget Barwell de Sandol Roy (1769–1850), daughter of William Barwell, a director of the East India Company; her brother Richard became a famously wealthy (and scandalous) nabob. Dubbed “la belle Anglaise” following her arrival in Neuchâtel, Sophie made a great splash in Swiss society and received a proposal from Colonel François Isaac de Sandol Roy (sometimes given as Sandol-Roy) — a proposal which she at first rejected, until he subsequently saved her from the guillotine in revolutionary Paris! For more on their story, please see Musée Neuchatelois, 1923 ed., pp. 2–4 (which includes a reproduction of a portrait of Sophie de Sandol-Roy done by Sir Joshua Reynolds).
Bible: Darlow & Moule 1247; ESTC T88808. BCP: Griffiths, Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer, 1781:1; ESTC T212010. Companion: ESTC T76554. Psalms: ESTC T221010. Bindings as above, moderate rubbing to extremities and sides with limited scuffing only; all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, and original matching dark blue bookmarks present (still attached). Bible with small area of waterstaining to lower inner margins of first few leaves, including frontispiece; varying faint to moderate foxing; one leaf with small repair to upper outer margin. BCP with a few instances of light foxing, pages mostly clean; laid in is a stitched pamphlet which seems to be a record of additional family information involving Albert, Victor, and Mary, although written in a challenging hand.
A gorgeous, lavish production altogether, with a remarkable, arresting provenance. (41458)

Didot Printed — Petit Bound — BEAUTIFUL Biblical Antiquarianism
Bible. Latin (Old Latin). Vulgate. 1785. Bibliorum sacrorum vulgatae versionis editio. Parisiis: Excudabat Fr. Amb. Didot natut maj., 1785. 8vo in 4s (19 cm, 7.5"). 8 vols. I: xvi, 501, [1] pp. II: [2] ff., 450 pp. III: [2] ff., 393, [1] pp. IV: [2] ff., 428 pp. V: [2] ff., 400 pp. VI: [2] ff., 444 pp. VII: [2] ff., 407, [1] pp. VIII: [2] ff., 373, [1] pp.
$2500.00
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Produced here in fine French bibliophilic style is “the most extensive collection of
Old Latin versions, which exist only in fragments, compiled from manuscripts and the writings of the Fathers” by Pierre Sabbathier and continued after his death under the care of Vincent de La Rue (Darlow & Moule). This edition, following the first (Rheims, 1739–49) was issued In the Didot series Collection des auteurs classiques, françois et latins.
Binding: Full red crushed morocco, gilt spine and boards; gilt rule on board edges; gilt rolls on turn-ins; marbled endpapers. All edges gilt.
Bindings signed Petit Succs. de Simier.
Provenance: Bookplates of Casimir L. Stralem, Clarence E. Clark, and Brian Douglas Stilwell.
WorldCat locates only six U.S. libraries reporting ownership of
all eight volumes as present here (NYPL, Cornell, Seton Hall, Holy Cross College, New York Historical Society, UC-Berkeley Law) and two libraries reporting ownership of incomplete sets (Harvard Divinity [vols. 1, 2 only], University of Dayton [vol. 3 only]).
Darlow & Moule, III, 6263; Jammes, Les Didot, 25. Bound as above, some joints (outside) showing cracking but all intact. All volumes housed in light marbled-paper open-back cases, some with tape repairs.
Very good. (40318)

Uncommon Scottish
Bible & Psalter
Bible. English. 1793. 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, by His Majesty's special command. Edinburgh: Mark & Charles Kerr, 1793. 4to (30.4 cm, 12"). [508] ff. [with] Bible. O.T. Psalms. English.1795. Paraphrases. The Psalms of David in metre. Translated, and diligently compared with the original text, and former translations. More plain, smooth, and agreeable to the text, than any heretofore. Allowed by the authority of the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland, and appointed to be sung in congregations and families. Edinburgh: Mark & Charles Kerr, 1795. 4to. [24] ff.
$850.00
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The Kerrs, printers to His Majesty, published a number of Bibles in the late 18th century, with minor to significant variations among the editions — including several different formats in 1793. In the present (uncommon) large quarto edition, the Apocrypha are not present although listed in table of contents, but the signatures of the Old and New Testaments are continuous and uninterrupted; the New Testament has a separate title-page.
This edition ends with leaf 6M4 and does not match Darlow and Moule 957 (Edinburgh: M. & C. Kerr, 1793), described as a folio with text ending on 9R2, although that entry's statement that “The insertion of the Apocrypha interrupts the signatures” would seem to explain the absence of the non-integral Apocrypha; the accompanying Scotch Metrical Psalms of 1795 are also present in Darlow and Moule's listing. Herbert finds additional Kerr printings of 1793, but none that match the format and
collation of this copy.
Scarce: ESTC, OCLC, and NUC Pre-1956 find only two U.S. holdings.
Provenance: The beautifully written ownership note, “Rebecca Jane Emack,” at top of first text leaf.
ESTC T91818; this ed. not in Darlow & Moule or Herbert. Recent quarter calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped thistle decorations, leather edges tooled in blind. Upper portion of title-page neatly excised and probably something off the bottom also; early inked ownership inscription as above. Light staining and foxing; several instances of laid-in dried plant matter. (25336)

American 18th-Century
Illustrated Lectern Bible
Bible. English. 1796. Authorized (i.e., King James Version). The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments...and the Apocrypha. Philadelphia: Pr. by Jacob R. Berriman for Berriman & Co., 1796. Folio (42.2 cm, 16.7"). [748] pp. (2 final ff. of back matter lacking); 18 plts.
$3500.00
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Bible collector's treasure: the first edition of the Berriman Bible. Noted for its excellent illustrations by several contemporary American engravers, including Alexander Anderson, Cornelius Tiebout, Francis Shallus, and William Rollinson, this large and handsomely produced lectern-sized folio Bible is printed in two columns with sidenotes including scriptural cross-references and a chronology. The plates include scenes of Adam and Eve in paradise (frontispiece), the Egyptian midwives drowning the Hebrews' infant sons, Judas Maccabaeus slaying Apolloninus, and Judas betraying Christ with a kiss; the maps show the presumed historical setting of the Garden of Eden and the Holy Land. One plate in this copy (“The Parting of Lot and Abraham”) is bound in upside-down.
Provenance: Title-page with inked inscription in upper margin: “Benjamin Morris to Samuel White Sept. 17th 1826,” and with tipped-in typed slip noting presentation to a seminary by the Rev. John Cyrus Madden (class of 1893), who had received the book from Charles Reifschneider, a descendant of White. Spine with gilt-stamped leather label reading “Deborah Morris to” — only!
Herbert 1402; Hills 53; O'Callaghan 51; Rumball-Petre 175; Wright, Early Bibles of America, 325; Evans 30065; ESTC W004506. Early 19th-century mottled sheep, covers framed in blind roll, spine with gilt-stamped title label and compartment decorations; binding scuffed and rubbed, gilt now mostly lost, front cover with inkstain, front joint cracked but holding and back one holed, back free endpaper lacking. Spine head chipped with one label partly cut (yes, cut) away, and foot with inked shelving number; other library markings including institutional bookplate, pressure- and rubber-stamps, and a few typical annotations. Pages age-toned to browned with offsetting and foxing ranging from mild to moderate, occasional spotting and smudging, some dog-eared corners;some leaves with margins chipped or short edge tears, a few with tears extending into text (some with loss of a few letters). Two leaves in Jeremiah torn with upper portions lacking, one leaf crudely repaired some time ago, last leaf tattered; two final leaves (last portion of tables section and the subscribers list) lacking, with scraps of the “Table of Kindred & Affinity” laid in. Marked by time and use, still an agreeable and interesting example of a noteworthy edition. (31848)
Campbell’s GOSPELS in their
First! American Edition
Bible. N.T. Gospels. English. 1796. Campbell. The four Gospels, translated from the Greek. With preliminary dissertations, and notes critical and explanatory. By George Campbell. Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1796. 4to (27.7 cm, 10.9"). vii, xvi, 488, 196 pp., [8] ff.
$3000.00
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Three American “firsts” here, counting that of our caption! For while being additionally the uncommon
first printing in America of the Gospels in English in any translation other than the King James or the Douai-Rheims version, this is also
the first privately accomplished translation of the Gospels printed in America.
George Campbell (1719–96) was a minister of the Church of Scotland, theologian, and principal of Marischal College. He wrote a number of theological works, including a defense of miracles in response to David Hume, and was noted for originality of argument as well as charity towards his opponents. This translation of the Gospels was first published in England in 1789; the work consists of a preface and preliminary dissertations, the actual translation, and the notes, with the whole being very scholarly, resorting frequently to the Greek in the dissertations and notes.
Provenance: Title-page and contents leaf with early inked inscriptions reading “Jas. Booth.”
ESTC W4383; Evans 30086; Hills, English Bible in America, 56. On Campbell, see: The Dictionary of National Biography. Contemporary treed sheep, rubbed and abraded with leather lost at corners; nicely rebacked with original label laid on. Title-page and contents inscribed as described above; endpapers waterstained, and pages with light spots of foxing. Paper in many sections faintly blue. (11489)

First Stereotyped Bible Printed in America
Bible. English. 1812. 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: Stereotyped for the Bible Society at Philadelphia, by T. Rutt, Shacklewell, London, [and pr. by William Fry], 1812. 12mo (17.9 cm, 7"). 456, 459–78, 481–633, [1] pp., [1] f., 191, [1] pp.
$500.00
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The first Stereotyped Bible Printed in America. The Bible Society of Philadelphia, founded in 1808 with Bp. William White as its first president, was the first Bible society organized in the United States. It published this, the first stereotype Bible printed in the U.S., from plates imported from London; the B.F.B.S. contributed £500 towards the purchase of the plates, and they were admitted to the U.S. free of import duties. The initial run produced 1050 copies of the complete Bible and 750 copies of the New Testament, in double columns in very small type.
Provenance: Signature of Edward H. Mills dated 27 May 1843 on front pastedown. From the collection of Michael Zinman.
Shaw & Shoemaker 24835; Hills 213; Herbert 1560; O'Callaghan 110; Wright, Early Bibles of America, 192–93; Rumball-Petre 189. Contemporary sheep, rubbed with joints opening and leather lost at spine head; wormwork to spine and some margins of text. Volume “soft” with sewing pulling away from spine and a few gatherings separated; text foxed and browned, as often; several leaves, perhaps two dozen, damaged with some loss of text, perhaps a dozen more with small tears. Lacking two leaves of the Old Testament, all others present. A distressed copy of this important edition and priced accordingly. (35967)
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. (7970)
Bible. O.T. Psalms. English. Paraphrases. 1827. Watts. The Psalms, hymns, & spiritual songs ... to which are added, select hymns from other authors; and directions for musical expression. Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong and Crocker & Brewster,
[1827]. 12mo (15.6 cm, 6.2"). 496, [5]–156 pp.
$225.00
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“Stereotype edition, carefully revised, and improved with Copious Indexes.” The editor was Samuel Worcester, who also selected the added hymns at the back of this volume.
Binding: Contemporary red straight-grain morocco, covers framed in gilt rolls, spine gilt extra, front cover gilt-stamped “John Bradley.” All edges marbled.
Shoemaker 31685. Binding as above, sides darkened, corners and spine rubbed, joints cracked with sewing holding but quite fragile. Fly-leaves with early pencilled ownership inscriptions and annotations. Light to moderate foxing. Separate title-page for second section (only) lacking. (20597)

NOAH WEBSTER Revises the Language of the BIBLE
for Americans
Bible. English. Webster. 1833. The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, in the common version, with amendments of the language by Noah Webster. New Haven: Durrie & Peck; Sold by Hezekiah Howe & Co., and by N. & J. White, 1833. 8vo (23 cm; 9"). xvi, 907 pp.
$8000.00
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First edition of the Bible in English (Authorized Version) tailored for American readers by Noah Webster (1758–1843). “His purpose was to remove obsolete words and those offensive to delicacy” (Rumball-Petre), Webster himself further stipulating, “To avoid giving offense to any denomination of christian [sic], I have not knowingly made any alteration to the passages of the present version, on which the different denominations rely for the support of their peculiar tenets” (Preface, p. iv). Webster further explains that the purpose of his revisions is to make the language clearer and purer so as to not “divert the mind from the matter to the language of the scriptures, and thus, in a degree, frustrate the purpose of giving instruction” (Preface, p. xvi).
Webster considered his work on the revision of the Bible more important than that on the dictionary and was sorely disappointed at the Bible's poor reception among all levels of readers.
Provenance: 19th-century ownership signatures of Luther P. Hubbard (undated) and R.T. Hall (1894); after ca. 1954 in The Howell Bible Collection, Pacific School of Religion (properly released).
Darlow & Moule 1793; Hills 826; Rumball-Petre 197. Publisher's sheep, spine dry and tending to flake; front board once detached and resecured with a cloth tape repair at the hinge (inside). Foxing as usual. Priced to encourage better repair to its binding, this is a complete, sound copy. (33830)

In a
GOOD AMERICAN Binding — Sarah Leverett's French Bible
Bible. French. 1839–40. Martin. La Sainte Bible...revue...par David Martin.... New York: Stéréotypé par Henry W. Rees, pour la Société Biblique Americaine, D. Fanshaw, Imprimeur, 1839–40. 8vo. 819 [1 (blank)] pp., 261, [1 (blank)] pp.
$525.00
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Only the second edition in the U.S. of the Martin edition of the French Bible. (Prior to 1835, the American Bible Society favored using the text of the 1805 French Bible.)Binding: This copy is exquisitely bound in full black leather in good imitation of morocco, elaborately stamped in gold on the covers forming a five-element frame or border, with gilt tooling on the board edges and with gilt inner dentelles. The spine has slightly raised bands and elaborate gold stamping in its compartments.
This is the second copy of this Bible that we have had and we are convinced that this is a publisher's deluxe leather binding. A choice of colors was apparently available, for the other copy we had was of an olive-green color.
Provenance: The name “Sarah B. Leverett” is lettered in gilt on the front cover, and the same name is given in precise gothic calligraphy on the front free endpaper.
Not in O'Callaghan; not in Darlow & Moule. Bound as above, corners a little bumped with a bit of long ago refurbishing thereto, dulling outermost elements of gilt border (only) on front cover, just at those corners. Evidence to endpapers of the volume's once having been sewn into a chemise or wrapper; old notes just discernible (not really readable) in a minute hand on front free endpaper (i.e., “behind” Sarah's name); see our image. Faint waterstaining in lower inside area for the first few pages (only).
The whole very attractive and well preserved. (2666)

Hannah's Legacy — Illustrated N.T. Sentimental Womanly Provenance
Bible. N.T. English. Authorized. 1841. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; with the marginal readings; and illustrated by marginal references, both parallel and explanatory, and a copious selection, carefully chosen, and newly arranged. New York: John C. Riker, 1841. 16mo (11 cm, 4.4"). Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [2], 350 pp.; 4 plts.
$200.00
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A small, hand-size English New Testament based on that of the Polyglott Bible. Riker printed several variations on this edition from 1831 onwards; in this case, the added engraved title-page still gives the publication date as 1831, but the main title shows 1841. The text is printed in double columns with a central column of references, and
illustrated with a frontispiece, an additional engraved title-page, wood-engraved headpieces, and four steel-engraved plates, the latter done by Illman and Pilbrow after various artists.
Provenance: Tipped-in leaf with inked inscription: “Hannah M. Williams / Presented by directive from her grandmother Williams when on her death bed with this injunction to be read with careful attention”; in pencil below is “A precious legacy.” Williams (or a contemporary) apparently took the directive seriously; there are several instances of pencilled bracketing, marks of emphasis, and marginalia in the “precious legacy” hand.
Binding: Contemporary diced-grain red sheep, covers framed in gilt roll surrounding gilt-stamped acanthus and acorn design, spine with gilt-stamped title (“Polyglott Testament”) and decorative motifs, board edges with gilt roll. All edges gilt.
See Hills, English Bible in America, 768 for 1831 ed.; 1841 not listed. Bound as above, rubbed at joints and extremities with front hinge (inside) cracked yet sound. Front pastedown and free endpaper with pencilled inscriptions dated 1853; inscription leaf as above; one front fly-leaf with pencilled annotations (and with hole in lower center). Additional annotations as above; one plate with “My Saviour” pencilled in lower margin. Intermittent mild foxing and a bit of other staining; a few corners bumped. Worn, yes — still luminous in its own way, and an interesting example of two early 19th-century women's engagement with the Bible. (35204)

A Prize Won by
Well-Behaved Master Ireland
Bible. N.T. English. Authorized. 1847. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; with the marginal readings; and illustrated by marginal references, both parallel and explanatory, and a copious selection, carefully chosen, and newly arranged. New York: J.C. Riker, 1847. 16mo (11.5 cm, 4.5"). Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [2], 350, [2 (blank)] pp.; 4 plts.
$200.00
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English New Testament based on that of the Polyglott Bible. Riker printed several variations on this edition from 1831 onwards; here, the text is printed in double columns with central column of references, and
illustrated with a frontispiece, an additional engraved title-page, wood-engraved headpieces, and four steel-engraved plates, the latter done by Illman and Pilbrow after various artists.Prize copy: Front pastedown with presentation bookplate to Neal W. Ireland from New York Sunday School No. 41, for “good conduct and diligent study” in 1847.
Hills, English Bible in America, 1356. Contemporary straight-grained sheep framed in single gilt fillet, spine with gilt-stamped title, moderately rubbed overall with front hinge (inside) cracked and back hinge starting; sewing holding but just starting to loosen. Front pastedown with bookplate as above; endpapers with a few pencilled annotations. Pages gently age-toned with scattered faint spots of foxing; one leaf dog-eared in Ephesians.
An appealing little Testament with a charming engraved presentation plate. (35189)
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 with light restoration; front pastedown with traces of a now-absent bookplate. Small area of front joint (outside) expertly resealed/repaired; the weight of this substantial volume dictates storage on the volume's back, not its lower edge.
A lavishly produced Victorian New Testament, in an impressive binding. (13347)

Marginalia to
the Max, & Other Notes
Bible. O.T. Psalms. Hebrew. 1880. [two lines in Hebrew, then] Liber psalmorum. Textum masoreticum acuratissime expressit ... notis criticis confirmavit S. Baer. Praefatus est edendi operis adjutor Franciscus Delitzsch. Lipsiae: Ex officina Bernhardi Tauchnitz, 1880. 8vo (22.4 cm, 8.8"). [1] f., 82 pp.; manuscript notes bound in.
$1000.00
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This “textum masoreticum” book of psalms, i.e., the traditional Hebrew text, was edited by masoretic scholar Seligman Baer (1825–97) and theologian Franz Delitzsch (1813–90) as part of their Masoretic Bible series, published by Tauchnitz between 1869 and 1895. A truly
unique copy, this particular volume is thickly interleaved with variously sized sheets and tabs containing the fastidious manuscript notes of published author
Walter Robert Betteridge, D.D. (1863–1916), a notable faculty member in the Old Testament Department of the Rochester Theological Seminary who swathed page after page in minute inked marginalia, and added yet more bulk with clippings from related texts — annotated, of course.Among the doctor's publications was an article on “The Accuracy of the Authorized Version of the Old Testament” (1911), including the Hebrew psalms.
Provenance: Donated by Mrs. Betteridge to the seminary library, with institutional bookplate noting this on rear pastedown.
Recent black moiré silk, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Ex-library with bookplate on rear pastedown as above, pressure-stamp on title-page, call number in lower margin of second leaf; paper brittle, dust- or sometimes soot-soiled(?) at edges, and prone to chipping. Replete with scholia, this is
a stunning testament to one scholar's study of the O.T. (31077)
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