Die Bibel, oder die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testaments, auch der deutschen Uebersetzung D. Martin Luthers. (The Bible, or the Complete Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, after the German Translation of Martin Luther)

Philadelphia: J. G. Ritter, 1827. Hardcover. Good. Two parts, thick octavo. VIII, 1096; 328. Old Testament and Apocrypha paginated continuously; collective title page; New Testament with separate full title page. Text in two columns. Contemporary calf (rubbed); spine with raised bands, gilt title. Wear at spine cap, some loss (3/4 inch) at spine tail. Light dampstain at bottom margin; mild foxing throughout (somewhat heavier at final 50 leaves). A good, complete copy.

Rare early nineteenth-century edition of the Bible in Luther's German translation published in Pennsylvania. Apart from the 1828 New Testament, very few copies of any of the Luther Bible editions published by Johann Georg Ritter (1772-1840) at Philadelphia between 1826 and 1829 survive. In his 1893 pioneering work, The First Century of German Printing in America, Oswald Seidensticker locates no complete Luther Bibles and only two editions of the New Testament which were published by Ritter in 1826 (304 pages) and 1828 (541 pages). These were of course often bound with the Old Testament (along with their full title-page). The 1828 New Testament is the only portion of Ritter's biblical editions that is widely held in institutional libraries. Expanding upon the work of Seidensticker, the editors of The first Century of German Language Printing in the United States of America (1989) assign only four Luther Bible editions (Old and New Testaments bound together) to Ritter, one in 1827 and three in 1829. OCLC, however, locates Luther Bible editions published by Ritter in all four years between 1826 and 1829. A careful comparison of the paginations reveals that Ritter's Luther Bibles appeared in several variants. The 1827 edition was re-issued in 1829 as a "Zweyte Auflage" with 20 additional pages of preparatory material immediately preceding the Old Testament. Variants of the present edition also appeared in which the Apocrypha (160 pages) was separately paginated. (Some surviving copies lack the Apocrypha and only contain the 936 pages of the Old Testament.) Our careful review of OCLC locates only sixteen surviving copies of Ritter's Luther Bibles containing both the Old and New Testaments published between 1826 and 1829. Twenty-four copies of the separately bound 1828 New Testament have survived, as well. The only two copies of our 1827 edition have been located: the University of Waterloo and the Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek. The results of our census are appended below.

Johann Georg Ritter appears to have begun his career in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he printed two German-language works for the firm of William M'Carty (and Davis) in Philadelphia: Geschichte des americanischen Kriegs von 1812 (1817); Hoch-Deutsches reformirtes A B C-und Namen-Büchlein, für Kinder welche anfangen zu lernen (1818). He later moved to Philadelphia and set up his own shop, Der Deutsche-europäischen Buch- und Kunsthandlung. Sammlung religiöser deutscher Gesaenge, which he edited along with J. G. Schmauk, was published in 1824 and has been tentatively attributed to Ritter after his move to Philadelphia; Karl Rudolph Demme's Letzte ehre des Christlichen Predigers in einer Christlichen Gemeine (Philadelphia, 1825) is the earliest work to appear under his imprint. He catered chiefly to the German-speaking Reformed community with religious works, sermons, and elementary school texts. He briefly published in 1825 a periodical edited by Johann Carl Gossler, Philadelphier Magazin für Freunde der deutschen Literatur in Amerika.

Provenance: Stamp of Library of United Theological Seminary at title. Full title and imprint: Die Bibel, oder die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testaments, auch der deutschen Uebersetzung D. Martin Luthers. Mit stehenden Lettern. Philadelphia, in der Deutsch-europäischen Buch- und Kunsthandlung von J. G. Ritter, 1827. New Testament title: Das Neue Testament unsers Herrn und Heilandes Jesu Christi, verteutscht von Dr. Martin Luther. Mit stehender Schrift. Philadelphia, in der Deutsche-europäischen Buch- und Kunsthandlung von J. G. Ritter, 1827.

Refences: O. Seidensticker, The First Century of German printing in America, 1728-1830 (Philadelphia, 1893); Bötte & Tannhof, The First Century of German Language printing in the United States of America, vol. 2 (1808 - 1830), cf. nos. 2878; 3044; 3045; 3046. Not in Darlow & Moule.

INVENTORY

•Die Bibel, oder, Die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testaments (New Testament with separate title page)

1826 - xii, 868, 304 pages (18 cm) - Southern Methodist University, Bridwell Library
"New Testament has special t.p.: Das Neue Testament Unsers Herrn und Heilandes Jesu Christi, verteutscht von D. Martin Luther."

1826 - 2 volumes in 1 (19 cm) - Pennsylvania State Univ; Brigham Young Univ (UT)
"New Testament has special t.p. and separate paging."

1827 - viii, 1096; 328 pages - Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek - [OUR EDITION]

1827 - viii, 1096; 328 pages (22 cm) - Univ of Waterloo Libr (CA, ON) - [OUR EDITION]

1827 2 Aufl. - viii, 936; 328 pages (22 cm) - Baker Univ (KS); American Bible Soc Libr (PA)
"Zweyte Auflage. Mit stehenden Lettern."/ Spine title: Biblia./ The Holy Bible in German./ The New Testament has special title page and pagination: Das Neue Testament unsers Herrn und Heilandes Jesu Christi./ Bound in brown leather, tan end papers, sprinkled red edge, brass clasps (missing), title in gold on spine./ Text printed in verse form, double column, single rule down center of page. Chapter summaries in smaller type, references between verses." [N.B.: Our researches indicate this copy lacks Aprocrypha (= 160 pages), probably separately paginated as Hillsdale 1829 edition below.]

1827 - viii, 1557, [3], 462 p. - Bethel Coll Libr N Newton (KS); American Antiquarian Soc Libr (MA); United Theog Seminary Libr (OH); Library of Virginia
"The New Testament (462 p.) has separate title page./ Printed in two columns./ "Die Propheten, nebst den Büchern, so man Apocrypha nennet, verdeutscht durch D. Martin Luther."-- Page [965]-1557. Shoemaker 28112; Bötte & Tannhof, German printing 2878."

1828 20. Aufl. - viii, 936; 328 pages (22 cm) - Univ. of Virginia
[N.B.: Our researches indicate this copy lacks Aprocrypha (= 160 pages), probably separately paginated as Hillsdale copy 1829 edition below.]

1828 - 1324, 462 pages (23 cm) - Buffalo & Erie Cnty Pub Libr Rare Books (NY); Calvin Col and Theol Seminary (MI)
"New Testament has special t.p. and separate paging."

1829 2 Aufl. - [2], 20, 1096, x, 328 pages (23 cm) 2 Aufl. - Univ of Waterloo Libr (CA, ON)

1829 Zweyte Aufl., mit stehenden Lettern. (23 cm) - viii, 336 [i.e. 936], 160, 328 pages ; 23 cm - Hillsdale Coll. Mossey Libr (MI)
"Apocrypha and New Testament each have special t.p./ Apocrypha has publication date 1829; New Testament has publication date 1828."


•Das Neue Testament unsers Herrn und Heilandes Jesu Christi

1826 - 304 pages (18 cm) - Kansas City Pub Libr (MO); Webster Eden Libr (MO); Franklin & Marshall Col (PA); German Soc of Pennsylvania, Horner Libr

1827 - 462 pages (23 cm) - New York Pub Libr

1828 Neue Aufl. - 542 pages (8vo) - Universiteit Goettingen
[longer title page text: ... Mit kurzem Inhalt eines jeden Capitels, und vollständiger Anweisung gleicher Schriftquellen ; Wie auch aller Sonn- und Festtägigen Evangelien und Episteln.]

1828 Neue Auflage - 542 p. (18 cm) - American Antiquarian Soc Libr (MA)
Shoemaker 32318; Bötte & Tannhof, German Printing, 2970

1828 New ed. - 542 pages - Univ of Ontario Group; Univ of Toronto Thomas Fischer Rare Book
"mit kurzem Inhalt eines jeden Capitels, und vollständige Anweisunggleicher Schriftstellen, wie auch aller Sohn- und Festtägigen Evangelien und Episteln."

1828 - 542 pages (19 cm) - 20 Libraries (19 US; 1 CA)
"Text printed in double column, verse form, single rule down center of page, title centered across top of both pages. Chapter summaries in matching type, references after verses... mit kurzem Inhalt eines jeden Capitels, und vollständiger Anweisung gleicher Schriftstellen, wie auch aller Sonn- und Festtägigen Evangelien und Episteln. (Inventory #: 54126)