Dungeness Books, LLC

The Holy Bible, Containing the Old Testament and the New… [and] A Brief Information concerning Two Witnesses … published in High Dutch … translated into English by … John Sparros, 20 page manuscript.

SUMMARY

A 1660 Restoration Bible in an ornate binding, with many hand-colored copperplate illustrations, a bound-in manuscript title on parchment, and a hand-written treatise.

DESCRIPTION

Three full-page hand-colored plates precede the title: the illuminated arms of Charles II, the arms of the Grocer’s Company, and a hand-colored engraved portrait of Charles II. Ruled in red, with the engraved title hand-colored and printed titles (general title, New Testament, and Psalter) also ruled in red with gilt and yellow highlights.  With an additional hand-written title bound in on manuscript parchment reading “This Holy Bible was thus Adorned with Historicall Pictures in the Year of Christ 1660 by the Care and Cost of Thomas Batt of Dowgate London Citizen and Grocer” (also signed C. Cocker Ser in miniscule hand). On the facing page is a hand-written note regarding Emblems signed by T.B. Text in two column Roman Font, all ruled in red. Without the Apocrypha as issued. With a total of 43 hand-colored plates in the Old Testament (4 full page, 38 half page, with a dedication to Charles II by the engravers William Slatyer and Jacob van Langeren as the 2nd numbered plate in the Old Testament). An additional 133 unnumbered hand-colored plates either of a single scene or figure in the New Testament. Bound with the Whole Booke of Psalms with title page (1649) by Sternhold and Hopkins. At the end of the Psalter is another hand-colored engraving of Charles, this time within a heart surmounted by three crowns. Bound with a 20 page handwritten treatise, which is a personal contribution of Batt’s who endorses it: “Transcribed by me Tho. Batt out of an English manuscript translated out of the High Dutch Tongue December the 9th 1660.”

COLLATION

A-Z^8, Aa-ZZ^8, Aaa^4. Complete.

BINDING

Contemporary black morocco with ornate onlays of red morocco and intricate gilt tooling. Spine with five raised bands and elaborate tooling to compartments. Metal decorative corners. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. The binding is very likely the work of the Naval Binder, so named because he worked for the Naval office. Bindings that originate from this shop are known by their gilt-tooled onlaid corners, as well as pointed oval centers. A similar 1673 Bible currently at the British Library by the Naval Binder shares a few small tools in common with this copy.

CONDITION

Front hinge worn; some loss to onlays; some tears to a few plates; Pp7 with tear into foot of text, some marginal thumb-soiling.

REFERENCES

Similar to Herbert 670; STC 527. The Henry Davis Gift: A Collection of Bookbindings. British Museum Publications, 1983.

NOTE

A London citizen’s passionate tribute to God and to his newly-restored King. The added expense of the hand-colored illustrations, the ornate binding, and the bound in 20-page manuscript was commissioned by Thomas Batt. Batt was a citizen of London and a member of the Worshipful Company of Grocers. Batt may have intended it to be a gift for a fellow Grocer or for his own family. This extra-illustrated copy contains at least three suites of engravings; a Restoration Bible of historical significance and truly a work of art.

“A concordance, that is to saie, a worke wherein by the ordre of the letters of the A.B.C. ye maie redely finde any words conteigned in the whole Bible, so often as it is there expressed or mencioned.”

The first edition of the first complete Bible concordance in English. Engraved title page, engraved initials and printer’s devices. Full page woodcut of Henry VIII on final leaf (frequently lacking).

Collation: A^6, A-Z^6, Aa-Zz^6, Aaa-Vvv^6, Xxx^1. Lacking Bb4.

Text in three column black letter font. Woodcut title page with portrait of King Henry VIII above title and printer’s device below. Dedication to King Edward (3 pp.) with engraved woodcut initial. Introduction to the Reader (2 pp.) with engraved woodcut initial. A Table Expressing By Plaine Letters (1 pp.) and a full page woodcut of the printer’s device (1 pp.). A blank leaf (A6). Text ends on colophon. A full page woodcut portrait of Henry VIII by his favorite artist Hans Holbein the younger, first published in 1548.

STC 17300, ESTC S114449

John Marbeck (or Merbecke) was a musician at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for over 50 years. In addition to his many musical accomplishments, Marbeck had a keen interest in theology. He was unable to afford a printed English Bible and thus created a manuscript copy of his own by hand. He also began work on a Biblical concordance during a time when King Henry had just passed The Act of Six Articles, reasserting traditional Catholic doctrine. His house was searched, books and manuscripts were found, and his nearly completed work of the concordance was taken and now placed his very life in jeopardy. He was sentenced to death in 1543 but received a royal pardon, enabling him to return to St. George chapel and begin his work anew. He completed the first concordance of the whole Bible in 1550, though this printed version is somewhat abbreviated to conserve paper.

Provenance: The signature of William Kythe appears on the final leaf. This is very likely William Kethe – a Marian exile, scholar who translated the Geneva Bible, and musician who contributed with influential verse translations of the Psalms.

Bound in a contemporary dark sheep and recently re-backed. Blind paneled covers with faded gilt ornaments to corners. Spine with five raised bands and a red gilt lined label with the words “A Concordace – J. Marbeck.”

Overall condition is VERY GOOD. Pages are quite crisp and clean with minimal staining. Wide margins. Minor staining to title page. Tiny worm hole to tail of first and last few leaves. Small tear in Ii3. Ppp3 – Vvv6 shows damage to foot of gutter which has been reinforced and repaired at corners. Bookplate of collector Robert J. Hayhurst. Sheep on covers is beginning to delaminate.

A scarce copy of a first edition English concordance with woodcuts and great provenance.

The Holy Bible, Containing the Old Testament and the New: Newly Translated out of the Original Tongues: And with the former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised. By His Majesty’s Special Command. Appointed to be Read in Churches.

The famous and monumental “Vinegar Bible” also known as the “Baskett full of errors,” and generally acknowledged as the most magnificent Bible printed in England. The text is the King James Version of the English Bible and was printed in large folio by John Baskett at Oxford in 1717-16. The volume is adorned with numerous beautifully engraved head and tailpieces depicting scenes from the Bible (about 60 in total, about 1/4 of a page each), further adorned with engraved initials. Includes the famous typographical error in the headline of Luke XX that reads “The Parable of the Vinegar.”

Collation: (*)2, *2, a-b2, c1, A-Z^6, Aa-Zz^6, Aaa-Zzz^6, Aaaa-Pppp^6, Qqqq^4, (Old Testament) [A]-[X]^6, Y^4 (New Testament). Complete.

Comprises the complete text of the Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament, along with the two title pages and the preliminaries. Both titles display beautiful engravings, with the general title showing a particularly fine view of Oxford.

Bound in polished black calf with elaborate gilt tooled border design. Gilt fillet rolls and central gilt lozenge on covers. Spine with six raised bands and extensive gilt tooled compartments. A red gilt tooled label with the words “Holy Bible”. Plain endpapers.

Herbert (942) calls it "A magnificent edition, printed in large type. With many plates at the beginning and end of books, engraved in steel from the designs of various artists. Some of the initial letters are similarly engraved ... "

This edition is the more elaborately illustrated 'A' variant with Two general titles, the first one - engraved by Du-Bose- represents Moses writing the first words of Genesis.

Famously, John Baskett set out to print the most beautiful, largest, and finest illustrated Bible ever printed, and he largely achieved his vision with this masterpiece of typography and illustration, printed in 1717 (Old Testament and Apocrypha) and 1716 (New Testament). Harry Carter, the historian of Oxford printing, states that "only Baskerville's Bible is its equal among English Bibles for beauty of type, impression, and paper."

Equally famously, however, the glory of the typography was not matched by the accuracy of the proofreading, and the text is filled errors. The most famous of these errors was the misprint in the headline of Luke XX, which ought to have read “The Parable of the Vineyard.” Instead, the text  reads “The Parable of the Vinegar.” As a result, this edition of the Bible has, since its first appearance, been known as the “Vinegar Bible.” The bounteous nature of the edition’s misprints has also led to its appellation as the “Baskett full of errors” (playing upon the printer’s name).

Overall Condition is VERY GOOD PLUS. Infrequent foxing, mostly to margins. Some browned leaves on occasion. Qq5 small ½” piece loss to margin. Bbb3 with 3” closed tear to tail impacting a few letters. [g]6 with 1” taped tear to head. [s]1 with 1” small tear to margin at tail.