Mar 22, 2007 - Sale 2108

Sale 2108 - Lot 18

Price Realized: $ 69,600
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 30,000 - $ 40,000
THE AITKEN BIBLE (BIBLE IN ENGLISH.) The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments: Newly translated out of the Original Tongues; and with the former Translations Diligently compared and revised. General title, A-Zz12, Aaa-Aaa5; A-Dd5; lacks the terminal text leaf, the front and rear endpapers and the blank between the Old and New Testaments (usually lacking). 2 volumes in one. 12mo, contemporary sheep, worn and dry, small area of loss to leather along rear joint; dampstaining extending from the top affecting the title, preliminaries and much of Genesis, other foxing, browning or staining thoughout, terminal signature detached and chipped at edges. Philadelphia: R. Aitken, 1782; 1781

Additional Details

the first printing of the complete bible in english in america. Fewer than 100 copies of the celebrated Aitken Bible, often referred to as the Bible of the Revolution, are estimated to have survived. It is the only Bible ever to be authorized by Congress. Copies with the general title are very much the exception. Evans 17473; Hills 11; Wright, Early American Bibles pages 51-67; Zinman 4; Sabin 5165.