[TYNDALE, William.] [FRITH, John.] [BARNES, Robert.] The Whole/ workes of W. Tyndall, Iohn/ Frith, and Doct. Barnes, three/ worthy Martyrs, and principall/ teachers of this Churche of England,/ collected and compiled in one Tome to-/ gither, beyng before scattered, & now in/ Print here exhibited to the Church./ To the prayse of God, and/ profite of all good Chri-/ stian Readers. London: Printed by Iohn Daye, and are to be sold at his shop under Aldersgate, 1573. (colophon, 1572)

First edition. Small folio signed in fours and sixes. Black letter; some roman and italic. Foxe’s cut of Tyndale’s martyrdom at [A4]. Collation: engraved title-page [A.i.], A4, B3, C-Y4, Aa-Yy6, AA-EE6, FF-GG4 (GG.ii. is finis of Tyndale, dated 1572, [GG3] is engraved fly-title to the works of Frith); HH6, II4 – three text leaves missing ([II5, 6, and KK.i.) pagination jumps 20-27 (i.e., lacking 21-26)– KK.ii-[6] LL-XX6, YY4 (finis of Frith at [YY4] recto; fly-title to Barnes [*AAa.i*] with half-page woodcut of the 1540 martyrdom of Barnes, Thomas Garret, and William Hierome (Vicar of Stepney) on verso (after Foxe); lacks AAa.i., AAa.ii. – [6], BBb-QQq6, RRr4, colophon [RRr4]recto and woodcut (after Foxe) on verso: “A lively picture describyng the authoritie and substance of God’s most blessed word, weyghing agaynst Popish traditions.”

Tyndale’s work dominates the publication and the Tyndale section includes: “A Preface to the Chistian Reader” by John Foxe; “The Life of Wylliam Tyndall” by John Foxe; (by Tyndale:) “A protestation of the state of soules departed”; Tyndale’s prefaces or prologues to the Books of Moses, the Gospels, the Epistles (including the seminal “Prologue to Romans”; “A Prologue shewing the use of Scripture”; “Parable of the Wicked Mammon”; “Obedience of a Christian Man”; “Practice of Popish Prelates”; “Answer to Syr Thomas More’s dialogues”; “Pathway into Holy Scripture”; “A Fruitfull treatise upon signes & Sacraments”; “Two Notable Letters to John Frith;” etc.

The works of John Frith include: “His Booke of Purgatory”; “An Answer to Rastal’s Dialogue”; “An answer to Syr Thomas More”; “An answer to Fisher”; “A Bulwark against Rastall”; “A Mirrour of Glasse”; “Treatise upon Baptisme”; “An antithesis between Christ and the Pope”; “A book of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ”; etc.

The works of Barnes include: “His Life and Martyrdom”; “Fayth Onely justifieth before God”; “What the keyes of the Church bee, and to whom they were geeuen”; “Free will of man…”; “Of the Original of the Masse…”; etc.

Obviously, a hugely important publication in early Elizabethan society.

17th-Century full calf, paneled in blind and gilt, gilt central lozenge to boards with (unidentified) initials M and B. Old red morocco lettering piece. Paper shelfmarks (V) and (d16) in top and bottom compartments; GIFFORD in gilt at foot of spine. Joint repairs; some splitting but still sound. Remains of perished clasps. Worn at extremities. Very few minor internal flaws: occasional marginal tears; occasional ink notations. [RRr4] with short tear into woodcut; QQq.i. with closed tear into text about 3”. Crisp, clean, luxuriously margined.

An exceptionally appealing Provenance: From the Library of Andrew Gifford – Minister of the Baptist Chapel in Eagle Street, London, and a co-founder and librarian of the British Museum – with his armorial bookplate reading “of the museum” and his shelf numbers; and the Bristol Baptist College Library with their bookplate and shelf numbers.

Andrew Gifford’s will stipulated the donation of his extensive personal library to the Society of Baptists of Bristol (i.e., Bristol Baptist College).

STC 24436.

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Draper & Folsom, Boston, 1782. Hardcover. First American Edition. Small quarto in modern leather; First published posthumously in Edinburgh in 1774, this first publication in America is very scarce. Here Edwards attempts to establish a theology in the form of history to show how events were adapted to promote the work of redemption. Advertisement leaf and at the end.

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This is the largest Geneva Bible ever printed, and the only oversized huge pulpit folio Geneva Bible ever printed, standing a whopping 17 inches tall by 12 inches wide by 5 inches thick.  The grandest and most beautifully typeset Geneva Bible ever printed, this Magnum Opus of Geneva Bibles is known affectionately to collectors as “The Noblest Geneva Bible” since 1938 when the famous Bibliophile Edwin Rumball-Petre referred to it as such in his legendary listing of “must have” antique Bibles.  This is truly one of the most desirable of all rare and antique Bibles that any collector could ever hope to obtain.

A stunning masterpiece of printing history; the 1583 Noblest Geneva Bible is as rare as it is beautiful.  In our nearly 30 years as the world’s largest rare Bible dealer, we have only seen three (3) other examples of this 1583 printing come onto the world market, and it is likely that fewer than two dozen complete copies are extant anywhere today, with nearly all being locked away in collections never to be offered for sale.  The Geneva Bible was the first English Bible with numbered verses, the first Bible with commentary notes in the margins, the first Bible taken to America, the Bible quoted over 500 times in Shakespeare’s plays, the only Bible to ever out-sell and exceed the popularity of the King James Version, and the first Bible offered in Roman typeface … though this 1583 edition retained the beautiful fancy gothic blackletter typeface for its text, with Roman type used for the headlines.

Curiously, while collectors of early King James Bibles consider the 1611 First Edition to be the most desirable edition; it is not the 1560 First Edition of the Geneva Bible which is typically the most sought after by collectors of Geneva Bibles. This is because the 1560 edition is just a regular quarto-sized printing which is not particularly attractive, and with fewer than 10 of the 1560 First Editions extant today, they are essentially unobtainable (not for sale anywhere) and would likely fetch far into six figures if one did come onto the market.  In contrast, the 1583 Noblest Geneva Pulpit Folio Bible stands alone in size, beauty, and overall desirability, making it the edition most highly prized of all Geneva Bibles.

This is a magnificent example, with all pages present including both dated title pages (OT Title nicely remounted).  A few pages have minor edge repairs, and the paper is a bit soft with age just in the lower corner, but overall there is little staining, no cropping of headlines, and nothing missing.  The binding (professionally redone by Starr Bookworks) is an ornately blind-stamped black leather with hand-made marbled end papers.  This is a very pleasing example of the 1583 Noblest Geneva Pulpit Folio Bible.

Our insurance cost replacement value estimate on this Bible is $65,000, however its rarity actually makes it irreplaceable, and its estate liquidation discounted sale price of just $39,000 makes it a very attractively priced treasure for the astute collector seeking a world-class acquisition.

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LIVING CHRISTIANITY DELINEATED, IN THE DIARIES and LETTERS OF TWO Eminently pious PERSONS lately deceased; VIZ MR HUGH BRYAN, AND MRS. MARY HUTSON, Both of SOUTH-CAROLINA.

With PREFACE by the Reverend Mr. JOHN CONDER, AND THE Reverend Mr. THOMAS GIBBONS.

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1808 Charles Thomson’s English-Language
Septuagint and New Testament

[Bible in English.] The/ Holy Bible,/ Containing/ The Old and New Covenant,/ Commonly Called/ The Old and New Testament:/ Translated From the Greek.

By Charles Thomson, Late Secretary to the Congress of the United States. Philadelphia: Printed by Jane Aitken, No. 71, North Third Street. 1808.

First edition. Four volumes, each with general title page and volume title page. Octavo format signed in fours. Complete. Published without The Apocrypha, though the Psalter contains Psalm 151 (unnumbered).

The first English translation of the Greek Septuagint anywhere.

Also the first English translation of the New Testament in the New World.

The first Bible printed by a woman: Jane Aitken, daughter of Robert Aitken who printed the very first English Bible in America (1782), which carried a printed endorsement by Charles Thomson (see note 1 below).

Thomson based this translation on the text of the second edition of the Greek Septuagint printed in England (see note 2 below).

Except for some general very light browning, this copy is in superb condition. Consistently clean and bright and pleasingly fresh. An approximately 3” by 5” area on the general title page of Vol. I is browned from offsetting from a piece of paper formerly laid in; similar offsetting in Exodus 32. Occasional minor flaws or stains (e.g. Vol. IV leaf zz in Colossians).

Old full diced black calf (light wear), lately rebacked to style with simple gilt.

Charles Thomson was born in County Derry. Ireland in 1729 and arrived in the American colonies in 1740 as an eleven-year-old orphan, his mother having died before embarkation and his father having died on the sea crossing with young Charles. He studied ancient languages and theology, and through the influence of Benjamin Franklin received the mastership of the Latin School of Philadelphia.

Thomson kept the records of the Treaty of Easton (1757) on behalf of the Indian tribes and was adopted into the Delaware Indian Nation; he was named by the Indians “Man of Truth.” He served as the Secretary of every Congress from 1774 until 1789. He designed the Great Seal of the United States. It was Thomson who officially informed George Washington of his election to the Presidency. On July 4th of 1776, only two signatures were affixed to the authentication copy of the unanimously adopted Declaration of Independence: those of John Hancock as President of the Congress and Charles Thomson as Secretary. However, when the calligraphic official version that is so well known today was ready shortly thereafter (ready by July 19th and signed by Congress on August 2nd), the Secretary’s signature was not required. After his retirement from public service, Charles Thomson devoted his time to Biblical studies and, specifically, nineteen years to this superb work of Biblical translation. Thomson died in 1824.

Herbert 1514. Darlow and Moule 1006. Hills, EBA, 153. DAB, XVIII, 481-2.

Note 1:
“Whereupon, RESOLVED, THAT the United States in Congress Assembled highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. AITKEN, as subservient to the interest of religion, as well as an instance of the progress of arts in this country, and being satisfied … of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work, they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States and hereby authorize him to publish this Recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.” – CHA. THOMSON, Sec’ry (from the preliminary matter of the 1782 Aitken Bible, “The Bible of the Revolution”).

Note 2:
The Thomson translation is based on John Field’s Cambridge 1665 second English edition of the Septuagint (Darlow and Moule 4701), which similarly supplied a Greek NT to make a complete Bible. The first edition of the Greek Septuagint in England was London: R. Daniel, 1653 (DM 4692).

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The Works of that Eminent Servant of Christ, Mr. John Bunyan… With a Recommendatory Preface by the Reverend George Whitefield. London: W. Johnston and E. and C. Dilly, 1767-68. Two volumes.

Third edition, with engraved frontispiece portrait, five full-page etchings (with four images on each) illustrating The Pilgrim’s Progress, two other full-page plates, two engraved headpieces, and 49 woodcut emblems.

“Bunyan’s genius enabled him, like every great artist, to transcend the time and locale in which he wrote” (Magill, 533). In addition to his classic allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress, this exceptional two-volume folio production also features Bunyan’s Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680), a companion to The Pilgrim’s Progress in which “Mr. Badman is the narrative of another common man who traveled ‘along the primrose path to the everlasting bonfire.’ It, therefore, provides a picture of the life of the English country town in the time of Charles II which is rivaled only by the pictures Defoe has drawn” (Pforzheimer 117). Also contains the highly autobiographical Grace Abounding (1666), “a spiritual exercise, in many ways comparable to the Confessions of St. Augustine… a great work of art” (Magill, 506-10) and other major writings such as: Holy War (1682), Defence of the Doctrine of Justification (1672), Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded (1659) and more. This edition also contains a brief Preface by open-air Methodist evangelist George Whitefield, considered one of the most influential preachers of all time and prime mover of the Great Awakening in America. First published in 1692. Lowndes, 312.

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BUNYAN, John, A Defence of the Doctrine of Justification, by Faith in Jesus Christ Shewing, True Gospel-Holiness flows from Thence; or, Mr. Fowler’s Pretended Design of Christianity, Proved to be nothing more than to trample under Foot the Blood of the Son of God; and the Idolizing of Man’s own Righteousness. …

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The first hot press edition of the Bible printed in America.

In the advertisement, April 30th, 1796, it was proposed to deliver the whole in 40 numbers, at 1/2 dollar each; one of which will be completed every two weeks. The finished work was completed in November 1798. A scarce American Bible.

The title page reads: The Holy Bible, Containing The Old and New Testaments; Together with the Apocrypha; Translated out of the Original Tongues: And with the Former Translations, Diligently Compared and Reviled.

Volume II. Philadelphia, Printed for John Thompson & Abraham Small, [From the Hot Press of John Thompson.] M.DCC.XCVIII.

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First English Edition of John Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis.

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HUGE PRICE DROP JUST ANNOUNCED. 

ORIGINALLY $299,000 … NOW LIQUIDATION PRICED AT ONLY $195,000!

The First Edition of the Matthew-Tyndale Bible, 1537

[Bible in English.] [The Byble,/ which is all the holy Scrip-/ ture: In whych are contayned the/ Olde and Newe Testament truly and purely translated into Englysh by Thomas Matthew.][Printed for R. Grafton and R. Whitchurch of London: Antwerp?, 1537.][per Herbert]

The first edition, the first printing of the Bible called the “Matthew’s Bible” – that is, the William Tyndale Bible (as much as he had completed) seen through the press by John Rogers. “Thomas Matthew” is a pseudonym, not of John Rogers, but of William Tyndale (or perhaps a purely fictional misdirection, since Tyndale’s name, was still outlawed). (For his work on this Bible, John Rogers became the first martyr of the Marian persecutions, being executed in 1555.)

[Per Herbert:] Place of printing is unknown, but evidence points to Antwerp, perhaps the press of Matthew Crom. The Kinges most gracyous lyce[n]ce was obtained by Cromwell at Cranmer’s request despite the translation being predominantly Tyndale’s.

A scan of the professional third-party collation and descriptive write-up is available immediately via email upon request.

Overall, a nice copy, mostly clean and respectably tall.

Modern full calf to style by Starr Bookworks of Arizona.

Herbert asserts that this edition “is generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible” (p. 18).

Herbert 34. DM 17. STC 2066.

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