Holy Bible & Book of Common Prayer 1683

6B Holy Bible. Cambridge: Printed by John Hayes 1683

Notes

The Bible was central to the early history of printing in Europe, beginning most famously with Johannes Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible around 1455, the first major book printed with movable metal type in the West. Early printed Bibles were typically in Latin (the Vulgate) and intended for clergy and scholars, but the Reformation in the 16th century dramatically expanded Bible printing in vernacular languages such as German, English, and French. Advances in printing technology, increased literacy, and religious reform movements made the Bible one of the most widely printed and distributed texts in history, with printers refining typography, layout, chapter divisions, and verse numbering to improve usability for study and worship.

Bibles printed in the 17th century reflect both religious consolidation and ongoing conflict, particularly in England and Europe. This period includes the publication of the King James Version in 1611, which became the dominant English Bible due to its literary quality and royal authorization. Seventeenth-century Bibles were often large, expensive volumes, sometimes richly bound, though smaller formats for private reading became more common as printing costs fell. Printers carefully controlled text accuracy, yet errors still occurred—some becoming famous, such as the so-called “Wicked Bible” of 1631—making 1600s Bibles important artifacts for studying religion, politics, and the history of the book.

Description 

Bound with the Book of Common Prayer. Cambridge: John Hayes, 1679 and with The Whole Book of Psalms Collected into English Metre by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins and others / Cambridge: John Hayes, 1679. New Testament dated 1680.  Unpaginated. Handsomely bound in nineteenth century purple calf, double fillet border to upper and lower covers, spine lavishly decorated in gilt. Marbled end papers, all edges marbled. Nineteen pages of hand written notes recording details of the West, Lillington, and Torin families in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 

Dimensions: 9 1/4 x 7 x 2 3/4 inches