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Whole booke of Psalmes faithfully translated into English metre.

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Whole booke of Psalmes faithfully translated into English metre.

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Summary

The first book printed in British North America, commonly known as the Bay Psalm book. Translated by Richard Mather, John Eliot, and Thomas Weld, among others. The preface is possibly by Mather, but could be by John Cotton. Cf. Zoltan Haraszti, The enigma of the Bay Psalm book, 1956, p. 12-27.
Printed at the press in Cambridge, Mass., supervised by Stephen Day (variously Daye). Day's son Matthew may have been responsible for the actual printing. Cf. ESTC.
Title from the Bay Psalm book, a facsim, reprint of the first ed. of 1640 [Chicago, 1956].
Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.
Evans 4
ESTC (RLIN) W15144
NUC pre-1956 NBi 0026282
"Faults escaped in printing."--p. [295].
LC copy is the Van Sinderen copy, described in the Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 24, 1967, p. 186-[187], 204-205; see also Zoltán Haraszti, The enigma of the Bay Psalm book [Chicago, 1956] chapter X.
LC copy imperfect: t.p. and 18 leaves wanting.
LC copy accompanied by envelope containing related clippings, photocopies, and notes related to LC's copy, ca. 35 items.
LC copy not examined, vj23 2006-12-12
RSL card lists call number BS440.B4 1640 Copy 1 in the American Imprint Colletcion. LAC ecr 2019-01-28
LAC brd 2018-12-03 update (2 cards)
LAC ecr 2019-01-28 no edits (1 card)

The same Faith that compelled Puritans to leave England for the New World, prompted them to commit this text to print before all others. Printed at the press in Cambridge, Mass., supervised by Stephen Day, The Bay Psalm book is the first book printed in British North America. Day's son Matthew may have been responsible for the actual printing. The book represents what was most sacred to the Puritans: a faithful translation of God's Word, to be sung in worship by the entire congregation. Other Protestant denominations relied on selected paraphrases of the Scripture, but the Puritans believed this could compromise their salvation. A London printer, Stephen Daye, came with the press and established a printing office in Cambridge. The residents of the colony asked John Eliot, Thomas Welde, and Richard Mather to undertake a new translation from the Hebrew of the Book of Psalms, for use in the colony’s churches. Mather was the translator and was assisted by about 30 other New England ministers. The book was first printed in 1640 and remained in use for more than 100 years.

date_range

Date

01/01/1640
place

Location

cambridge
create

Source

Library of Congress
copyright

Copyright info

Public Domain

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