Description
Eliot Indian Bible Leaf, 1663. EZEKIEL 29:5-31:10. Eliot Algonquian Bible, a/k/a “Eliot Indian Bible,” printed in Cambridge [New England, USA], 1663. FIRST EDITION. Sm quarto, 7.5″ x 5.75″. Printed by S. Green and M. Johnson, Cambridge, MDCLXI [1663]. References: D&M 6737; O’Callahan 1663. See John Wright, Early Bibles in America, 1892. Leaf: EXCELLENT condition, very clean; closed tear to outer margin. That this is a true first edition is determined by the lack of a summary before each Chapter as well as the unique signature Bbbbba, an exact match in all respects to the Georgetown copy PDF. In comparison, Eliot’s 1680 2nd edition Bible is a complete revision of the first. The 1663 whole Bible from which this leaf comes, in the [Algonquian Indian] Massachusett language, being translated from a Geneva Bible, is the first published whole Bible in early America, and the first whole Bible ever printed for missionary purposes! The translator, John Eliot, is also known for publishing the Bay Psalm Book of 1640. Of the 1000 or 1500 original printed copies of this 1663 first edition, only 39 are known to remain. Extremely Rare.
Leaf (reversible, set in an archival sleeve) and COA are set in a museum-quality Bifold Portfolio of black linen cloth and burgundy silk moire.
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