Bible in Miniature, or a Concise History of Both Testaments
London, Printed for J. Harris, late Newbery, & for Darton & Harvey ('E. Hemsted, Printer, Great-New-street, London'), [circa 1790].
A thumb Bible (44 × 32 × 18 mm), 254, [2] (blank, colophon) pages plus the engraved cumulative title leaf and 14 engraved plates (facing pages 18, 27, 42, 50, 71, 74, 86, 90, 106, 111, 116, 192, 199 and 221, with the relevant page number in the top right corner of each plate).
'Publisher's red morocco gilt, inlays of black morocco in centre of each cover with cross and initials JHS in gilt, within gilt-tooled sun tooling. Elaborate gilt-tooled borders with corner pieces of intertwined arabesques. Gilt-tooled spine, flat back in three compartments, with egg-shaped tools in each compartment. Gilt edges' (Spielmann); the binding is essentially in fine condition, with the contents near-fine.
Spielmann 18 (recording a minor variant printed by 'Darton & Harvey, Gracechurch-Street, London', with 15 plates): 'Very similar to the Newbery Bible [1780], but with some alterations. The preface, for example, starts with the words: "It is not a very pleasant reflection", instead of "It is a melancholy reflection". The illustrations, based on the same design [as the Newbery Bible], have been re-engraved and are much better than the Newbery ones, both in quality and design'. Bondy, page 34.
Item #129739
Price (AUD):
$2,200.00