Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-12-24
Tuesday. December "a. 1859.
PRINTING The BIBLE
How and When the First Copies Were Is
sued In the United States.


sued in the United States.
The sacred history of American
printing, the introduction into the
New World Of the Bible will interest
The earliest publication on this cont.
nent of amy portion OF the Scriptures
was the translation of the New TeSta-
ment into the Natick dialect, the ordi.
nary speech of the Indians at the time
the Pilgrim Fathers landed in 1920.
This translation WIS made by John
Eliot native of England and grad.
uate OF the university of Cambridge.
The work of ranslation, with the aid
OF an Indian, was the labor of eight
years; and il is now conceded TO be
one of the most notable contributions
TO philology ma le in this county.
To meet the demands of cmigrauts
who had largely settled in Penn.
sylvania, the I rSt edition Of the Holy
Scriptures in the German language.
and the first in European tongue,
was printed by Christopher Saur, at
Germantown in l143. 1t is notable
fact Shat neither the Old nor the New
Testament vas ever printed here in
the English language till after this
country had declared independence
so oppressive was the monopoly that
the British government maintained
over the exclusive printing Of the
Bible that il never transferred its au-
.hority 10 reprint il, even Ia her own
colonies and every copy lad 70 bg
imported across the Atlantic. Robert
Aitlien, native Of Scotland, who had
settled as a printer in Philadelphia, is.
sued in l16 an edition of the New
Testament the first in the English
language, with an American imprint.
For this breach OF privilege. Aiticn
was imprisoned After hls release
this Jealous Scotchman announced TO
the members of congress then in scs.
sion his int ton 10 print an edition
of The FL re Bible, al asked for
heir imprmatur, which was readily
granted, together with the certificates
of the clAplaius. the venerable Will.
lam White, the future Episcopal bish
op, and Rev. Or. Uuilied. Here the
action OF congress properly terminated,
and the circulation Of the Bible was,
ever after, left TO the people and 10
their pastors
Aitkens promised edition, copied
FROM the authorized English version,
appeared IN l1S2, printed IN BREWER
type, having ou the title page the sig,
niticant motto Of Virtue Liberty aud
independence, This will always be
priced As the first Bible in the English
language ever printed in America A
perfect copy is preserved among the
treasures IN tie Leuox library. In
i1aJ neat edition of the New Testa-
ment was printed at New York by
Hugh Gainei and another in New
Haven by 4. Morse, the latter replete
with errors on every page. In l1gl the
first folio edition Of Bible, with fifty
copper plates, was printed al Worccs.
ter, Mass. by Isaiah Thomas, the text
revised Dy DR.. Bancroft, father of the
historian and the biographCr Of Wash
ington
IN the same year an edition OF the
Sacred Scriptures was carefully and
correctly printed for the use Of Quak.
ers by uIe Of the Friends Of Trenton,
in New jersey. In 1874 the New Tes.
lament, without the Old, Was issued at
Boston; aud IN l79S the first hot
pressed edition Of a Bible appeared in
handsome form Ut Philadelphia. Ia
colonial days. under British rule,
rigid penal laws were enforced against
the printing OF Roman Catholic
works, ovcn their devotional books
appeared by stealth. One OF the re-
suits Of the Revolution WAS the abso
lutte freedom of the printing press
Current Literature.