Biblia, das ist die ganze gottliche heilige Schrift, alten and neuen Testaments nach der Deutschen Uebersetzung D. Martin Luthers.

The Famous Gun-wad Bible

Summary: Germantown: Christop[er] Saur, 1776. 4to (10.25 x 8.25 in). A well-preserved German gun-wad Bible printed by the famous Christopher Saur in Germantown. Complete Bible text with both title pages, boasting wide margins, a strong textual impression, with very few notable flaws. This 1776 third edition consisted of 3,000 copies, many of which were destroyed as sheets were purportedly used for cartridge paper.

Description: Text in two column black letter. Parallel references and short summaries at the head of each chapter. Ruled headers and column dividers. Wide margins throughout. Title (1f.); verso blank; Vorrede (1p.); Verzeichnisz aller Bucher (1p.); Text pp. 1-805; Apocrypha, pp. 806-992; New Testament Title (1p.); Text pp. 3-277; Register (3pp.). 3 and 4 Ezra as well as 3 Maccabees in smaller type (Dddddd3-Iiiiii4) as called for.

Collation: A-Z^4, Aa-Zz^4, Aaa-Zzz^4, Aaaa-Zzzz^4, Aaaaa-Zzzzz^4, Aaaaaa-Iiiiii^4 (Old Testament), A-Z^4, Aa-Mm^4 (New Testament). Complete.

Binding: Attractive contemporary paneled calf over beveled boards. Spine with four blind ruled raised bands. Boards with blind stamped motif and rolled border design. Catches and one locking clasp remain with the other original clasp perished. Professionally re-backed preserving the original boards and spine. Retaining original plain endpapers. Detailed genealogy notes recording births on front free endpaper and first blank from the Baumann family.

Condition: Boards with some light rubbing to edges and leather cracking along top of spine. Pages are unmarked with browning and toning in places – typical in all Saur Bibles as the paper is iron rich. Good margins throughout. Hh3-Hh4 with small closed 2” tear to tail. One of the nicest Saur Bibles we have encountered in some time.

Note: The first Bible printed in the Western Hemisphere was Eliot’s Indian Bible of 1663. The first Bible printed in America in a European language was by Christopher Saur in 1743. Saur erected a mill for manufacturing his own paper and ink. He promoted the reading of the Bible for those who could afford it and those who could not. Saur wrote: “The price of our now nearly finished Bible in plain binding with a clasp will be eighteen shillings, but to the poor and needy we have no price” (Wright, p. 43). Saur died in 1758 and was succeeded by his son of the same name. He built a type foundry which gave him all the type he needed. He issued a second edition in 1763. This 1776 third edition Saur Bible is the first printed with American type. “This edition consisted of 3,000 copies. The Revolutionary War broke out about the time it was issued, and after the Battle of Germantown, Saur, to preserve the residue of his property, and in the supposition that American independence could not be maintained, went into Philadelphia and resided there whilst the British held possession of that city. His estate was subsequently confiscated in consequence, and his books sold. The principle part of this third edition of the Germantown Bible in sheets were thus destroyed, having been used for cartridge paper" (E.B. O'Callaghan, p. 29). Wright asserts that the British troops “destroyed nearly all the copies of the Bible, by converting the leaves into litter for their horses, and by using the paper for their cartridges. Catherine Saur, the daughter of the publisher, secured ten copies, and after they were bound presented them to her children” (p. 47).

References: D&M 4240. Wright pp. 28-54. Evans 14663.

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