$9,225
Bay Psalm Book, The Psalms Hymns, and Spiritual Songs of the Old & New-Testament: faithfully translated into English meeter for the use, edification and comfort of the saints in publick and private, especially in New-England. Boston: Printed by B. Green, for Benjamin Eliot, and Nicholas Boone. Sold at their shops, 1705. Twelfth edition, 16mo, A-Q12, lacking A1: the title page; 505 numbered pages followed by seven pages of music; rare, ESTC locates one copy worldwide, at the University of Virginia library; bound in full contemporary paneled sheepskin over scabbard, rolled tool used inside the central panel on both boards, with blind-tooled ornaments at the corners, unrepaired, with the original metal clasp, marked "SP" inside the catch, decorative engraving to outer surfaces of each catch and clasp piece; ex libris Fitchburg Historical Society, with their withdrawal stamp overlaying the paper bookplate pasted inside the front board; some contemporary inscriptions on pastedowns; small spot where leather was torn away on front and back boards, the binding otherwise intact and structurally functional; text leaves delicate, with marginal chipping, tears, and losses; some pages torn with loss, 4 x 2 3/4 in. The Bay Psalm Book was pressed into constant use by the colonial religious population of New England, as a result, all early copies are worn, rare, or nonexistent. The seven editions printed in Boston between 1702 and 1716 are represented by a total of twelve copies only wo Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2015-11-15
