1679 HOLY BIBLE 2nd Oxford English Printing ANTIQUE leather THEATER old RARE

  
1679 The Holy Bible printed At the Theatre in Oxford. Appears to be either Herbert #746, since this copy does not contain the Apocrypha, or another unknown printing of the 1679 Oxford English second printing (the first English printing being in 1675). Herbert states that This is perhaps the earliest edition of the English Bible which has dates added in the margins. Job is dated 2400, and the Nativity 4000, years after the Creation. The Bible measures around 7.5" x 5.5" and is about 2 thick. There is an inscription on the top of the main title page that appears to read J. Barker his book bought of M. Some parts of the inscription are not legible to me. You can see the inscription in the pictures. I haven't found anything solid in the small amount of research that I've done on this name. It would be interesting to see if there was a connection to the Barker family that printed the first 1611 King James Bible. There is family history written on the back side of the New Testament title page as can be seen in the pictures. Some of the names include. Thomas Fiddian and Elizabeth Bowyer married at "Diddington" May 30th 1793.

There's another marriage for a Thomas Fiddian and Elizabeth Mason in 1832. There are others that can be seen in the pictures.

Some other details about the Bible include. The rear cover is detached, the front cover is still attached well but should be handled carefully. Appears to be in the original binding with a good bit of wear to the covers, but the detail and decoration on the covers is still very visible and in good condition. It's starting to wear away, but the page edges were clearly gold gilt. Contains the original marbled endpapers. Appears to be textually complete down to the original blank bedsheets.

This copy includes The Whole Book of Psalms collected into English metre, by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, and others, conferred with the Hebrew. Oxford: Printed at the Theater in 1679.

The binding has a bend in the spine as you can see in the pictures, however the Bible feels quite solid aside from the detached rear cover. The pages are very clean for the age. There are three instances of odd ciphers or shorthand writing that can be seen in the pictures. I'm not sure what this is or the reason for it. Overall, this Bible is in good condition for its age, especially considering how scarce of an edition this printing is.

If you have any questions feel free to message me and I will respond as quickly as possible. Thanks for looking and please check out my other book listings! The item "1679 HOLY BIBLE 2nd Oxford English Printing ANTIQUE leather THEATER old RARE" is in sale since Sunday, May 12, 2019. This item is in the category "Books\Antiquarian & Collectible".

The seller is "antiquesandotherfinds" and is located in Virginia. This item can be shipped to United States.

• Region: Europe
• Subject: Religion & Spirituality
• Place of Publication: Oxford
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
• Topic: Bible
• Year Printed: 1679
• Language: English
• Original/Facsimile: Original
• Binding: Leather