Physical description
A large heavy brown leather 1880 Self-Interpreting Holy Bible with ornate hinged gold embossed corner protectors on the right side of the front and left on the back covers. The title, Holy Bible is printed in a lowered indented star shaped decorative surround, around the edges of the letters in the middle of the front cover. The spine has four bands across it with Holy Bible printed in gold lettering at the top. The beautifully coloured title page is very decorative all over with tan, pale green, dark green and white patterns. Opposite is a black and white plate depicting Moses in his basket in the bulrushes with his mother hiding behind him. There is a plain black and white title page too with full details, including publisher and other details. At he front, information about the Reverend John Brown is included over several pages as well as details of his Monument Inscription in Haddington Churchyard 19th June A.D. 1787, aged 65 years. There are many black and white, plus coloured plates included throughout the Bible. Pp. 1123 (Bible) At the back are many additional inclusions: Alphabetical Index, A Collection of names given to Jesus Christ and others, The Psalms of David in Metre, Hymns and Passages of Scripture Paraphrased. In all a most complex Bible for the family.
Publication type
non-fiction
Summary
“AS FAMILIAR IN PRESBYTERIAN HOUSEHOLDS AS PILGRIM’S PROGRESS”: ILLUSTRATED LATE VICTORIAN EDITION OF JOHN BROWN’S SELF-INTERPRETING BIBLE. Brown's Self-Interpreting Family Bible. London: John G. Murdoch, circa 1875. Thick folio (9-1/2 by 13 inches), contemporary full dark brown morocco, beveled edges, all edges gilt, brass trim, clasps and catches. Illustrated late Victorian family Bible— the beloved King James text, augmented by John Brown of Haddington’s comprehensive Bible study aids— with a total of 36 plates (25 in color) handsomely bound.
First published in 1611, the King James Version of the Bible has exercised an incalculable impact on piety, language and literature throughout the English-speaking world. "Other translations may engage the mind, but the King James Version is the Bible of the heart" (Campbell, 275). It is probably the text most commonly found in decorative family Bibles such as this one, which has a total of 36 plates, including an engraved title page, a 12-page family register, the Lord's Prayer, two maps and nine other plates all printed in color.
The Rev. John Brown of Haddington was "a tirelessly faithful pastor"—"For eight months of the year he delivered a lecture, two sermons, and an exercise each Sunday"—and also a prolific author. He is best remembered for his Self-Intepreting Bible, first published 1778, which became "as familiar in Presbyterian households as John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Thomas Boston's Human Nature in its Fourfold State" (DNB). Without Apocrypha. Separate New Testament title page.
Scattered foxing to text, binding very handsome with elaborate brass clasps and catches.
