THE FIRST “HOT PRESS” BIBLE IN AMERICA
40
●
(BIBLE IN ENGLISH.)
The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New
Testaments.
Frontispiece. 2 volumes in 1. Large folio (15
3
/
4
x 10 inches), contemporary
calf, worn, boards detached; first two leaves detached with moderate wear on fore-edge,
intermittent foxing and browning, minimal dampstaining on top edge, first leaf of New
Testament torn and stained with slight loss of text, lacking rear flyleaf; 2 pages of Murray
family records facing and on verso of title page. With subscriber leaf, which lists the
original owner.
Philadelphia: Thompson & Small, “from the hot press of
John Thompson,” [1796]-1798
[1,200/1,800]
FIRST HOT
-
PRESS EDITION OF THE BIBLE PRINTED IN AMERICA
, famous for its clarity of
printing. The ink and type were heated and then seared onto the page. This edition also of note
as one of the largest Bibles printed in America in its time, issued in 40 parts over two years.
With a striking frontispiece engraved by Alexander Lawson. “A beautiful edition, and very
well printed”—Sabin 5182. Evans 30066, 31808, and 33408; Hills 62.
The family register listed the parents, siblings, and children of original owner Alexander Murray
(1755-1821) of Philadelphia, with dates through 1870. Murray was an officer in the
Continental Navy, and then reached the rank of commodore in the peacetime navy; he later
commanded the Philadelphia Navy Yard. His son Magnus (1787-1838), listed here, was
twice elected mayor of Pittsburgh.
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●
(BIBLE IN ENGLISH.)
The Holy Bible . . . Correctly Copied from Collins’s
Quarto Edition.
15 plates, title page vignette. Folio, contemporary morocco gilt, moderate
wear; minor ink stain in upper margin, intermittent foxing; extensive genealogical notes and
correspondence dated 1776-1922 on endpapers, flyleaves, family record leaf, and laid in.
New York: William Durell, 1801
[400/600]
The original owner of this Bible was Jacob Schieffelin (1757-1835), a German-American
Loyalist during the Revolution who became a successful druggist and real estate speculator in
New York City from 1794 onward. Other family records are from his Lawrence in-laws and
his Ferris, Pell, and Rogers descendants. Tipped to the verso of the frontispiece is a 1776 letter
from loyalist Effingham Lawrence to his father Richard Lawrence of Bayside, Long Island
dated London, 13 October 1776. The vignette and a plate of Jonah are by Alexander
Anderson. Hills 76.
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