Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1889-12-07
PRINTING THE BIBLE.
How and When tho First Copies wero Is
sued In the United States.

sued In tile United States.
The sacred history of American
printing, the introduction into the
New World of tho Bible will interest
The earliest publication on this CONT
nent of any portion of the Scriptures
was the translation of the New Tesla
ment into the Natick dialect, the ordi-
nary speech of the Indians at the time
TIE Pilgrim Fathers landed in 1920.
This translation was made by John
Eliot, native of England and grad
uate of the university of Cambridge.
The work of translation, with the aid
OF an Indian, was the labor of eight
years; and it is now conceded to be
one of the most notable contributions
to philology made in this country.
TO meet the demands of emigrants
who had largely settled in Penn
sylvania, the first edition Of the Holy
Scriptures in the German language,
and the first in a European tongue,
was printed by Christopher Saur, at
Germantown in 1743. 1t is u notable
fact that neither the Old nor the New
Testament was 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 it never transferred its au-
thority to reprint it, even ip her own
colonies and every copy had to be
imported across tho Atlantic. Robert
Aitken, native of Scotland, who had
settledSas printer in Philadelphia, is
sued in 1717 all editiea of the New
Testament, the Grst in the English
language, with an American imprint.
Fer this breach of privilege, Aitker
was imprisoned. After his release
this jealous Scotcbman announced te
the members of congress then ian SEES
sion his intention TO print an edition
OF The Enisre Bible, and asked fol-
their impTjmatnc, which was readils
granted, tQgether with the cezGifcates
of the chaplains the venerable VIII
Ieiam White, tire future Episcopal bish
+ OPP, and Rev. .Dr. Duiiield. Here til,
action ofcongress properly terminated
and the circulation of the Bible was
ever after, left to the people and t,
5 their pastors.
Athens epromised edition, ,copie,
from the authorized English version
appeared in 1882, printed in brevie,
type, having on the title page the sig
2 nihcant motto of ViltRe Liberty am
Independence. This will always b
:. priced ;as,the first Bible in the EngIisl
language ever printed in America. /
peSfect'dopy is preserved among tn
treasures in the Lenox library. Il
1790a meat edition of the New fiesta
nlent was printed at New York b,
Hugh Game; and another in Ney
J Haven by A. Morse, the latter replet
WIth1errors on every page. In.1791 tn
first folio edition of Bible, with fift
: copper plates, was printed at ANorces
ter, Mass, by Isaiah Thomas, the tex
revised by DR.. Bancroft, fatheref tn
historian and the biographer of Wasl
ington.
! In the same year an edition of tn
Sacred Scriptures was carefully an
<,nr,vpotl5r painted fe,,, the ,llso. of Oual
I. ersshy one of tho Friends OF 1teffHtSoll
! in New jersey. In 1194 the New TIE
t lament, without the Ohl waSissued &
Boston; and Ia 1898 the first he
dressed edition of a Bible appeared i
handsome forln at PHILADELPHIA. ]
t colonial days, under British rul
, rigid penal laws wereonforcod-again
the printing OF Roman GCathol
weeks; even their devotional bool
u appeared by stealth One of the r
i suits of the Revolution was the abs
4 Int freedom of the printings press
- / Gurent Literature.