[Americana] (Zinman, Michael) The American Bible: Original Leaves from Rare and Historic Bibles...

Ardsley, New York: The Haydn Foundation for the Cultural Arts, 1993. In four volumes. First and limited edition, #98 of only 100 numbered sets. Collected, described, and with a preface by Michael Zinman; introduction by Mark Noll. Comprising 38 leaves from various historic American Bibles, each loose as issued and in original large folio presentation mats with accompanying explanatory text leaves; mats housed in original large grey cloth portfolio boxes, each with gilt red morocco labels, scattered light soiling to cloth. Original printed prospectus laid in. A handsome and almost as-new set.

This landmark publication collects leaves of some of the most important Bibles in the history of North America and the United States, and spans over 200 years, from 1663-1878. It includes leaves from important Bibles, including the first Bible printed in America, The Eliot Indian Bible (1663); the first English Bible printed in America, by Robert Aitken (1782); the first Catholic Bible printed in America, by Matthew Carey (1790); the first illustrated Bible, by Isaiah Thomas (1791), and many more. Each leaf was removed from incomplete Bibles from the collection of bibliophile Michael Zinman. "The original leaves are divided into four groups: first, Bibles in the languages of the native peoples of America; second and third, Bibles in English from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and fourth, Bibles in other languages." (from the prospectus). An impressive production.