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Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 5,000
Bible, English, translated by Julia Evelina Smith (1792-1886) The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments; Translated Literally from the Original Tongues.
Hartford, CT: American Publishing Co., 1876.
First edition, large thick quarto; in the original brown textured cloth boards ruled in blind and lettered in gilt, with Smith's name on the front board, neatly rebacked, 9 1/2 x 6 1/4 in.
Smith of Glastonbury, Connecticut used her knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew to translate the whole Bible into English, the first woman to complete this scholarly feat. She spent eight years on her translation but did not publish for another twenty-one years. "Julia's enthusiasm for this project shows in these words: 'I cannot express how greatly I enjoy the work of translating, and now the real meaning of different texts would thrill through my mind, till I could hardly contain myself.' According to one account, she often became so absorbed in her labors that she did not hear the dinner bell and had to be called to the table by her sisters." (Quoted from Emily Sampson's With Her Own Eyes: The Story of Julia Smith, Her Life, and Her Bible, Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006.)
