The Bay Psalm Book The First Book Printed in British North America, 1640

by Haraszti, Zoltan

• ISBN13: 9780486805269
• ISBN10: 0486805263
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2016-08-17
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

The founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony came to the New World seeking religious freedom, and their first publication was a hymnal: The Bay Psalm Book, printed just twenty years after the Pilgrims' arrival. This book, with which the Pilgrims literally sang their praises to God, presents a translation of the Psalms from Hebrew, transposed into metrical rhyme for congregational singing. An instant success, the book was adopted throughout the colonies and remained in use for well over a century. Only eleven known original editions survive, one of which recently sold at auction for a record $14.2 million, making it the most expensive book in the world.
This facsimile of a rare first edition includes a companion volume, The Enigma of the Bay Psalm Book, which provides an academic study of the psalter's history and contents. Both books are encompassed in this single volume, offering readers and collectors a personal edition of a major icon of book history and a great artifact of American culture.

Author Biography

In 1965 Hungarian-born author and scholar Zoltán Haraszti was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship for the study of history. A former keeper of rare books and editor of publications at the Boston Public Library, he is an authority on the library of John Adams.

Table of Contents

per PL 12/9/2015, The Enigma of the Bay Psalm Book goes before The Bay Psalm Book in the ToC. The Enigma of the Bay Psalm Book will provide an historical overview prior to the presentation of the actual text with its subsequent Notes on the Reproduction of the original material. 

 

Per MCW and JG, because the combined books will be scanned, pagination for each will be separate and follow as in origianal copies of texts. Please note that there are NO folios in The Bay Psalm Book facsimile. (note by LCM)

 

 

 

The Bay Psalm Book: The First Book Printed in British North America, 1640

 

Table of Contents

 

The Enigma of the Bay Psalm Book, by Zoltán Haraszti

  

The Bay Psalm Book: A Facsimile Reprint of the First Edition of 1640

     The Facsimile

      Notes on the Reproduction