1637?] · [London
by (BIBLE IN ENGLISH - PSALMS). KING JAMES I (but more likely) ALEXANDER, WILLIAM. (BINDINGS - BEDFORD)
[London: T. Harper, 1637?]. 172 x 109 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 1/4"). 2 p.l., 157, 178-381 pp. (mispaginated, but complete).
VERY HANDSOME DARK BROWN CRUSHED MOROCCO, INTRICATELY GILT, BY BEDFORD (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers with French fillet frame accented with filigree at sides and at corners of center panel, oblique fleurons at outer corners, raised bands, spine compartments with central fleuron of floral and lancet tools, gilt lettering, densely gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Engraved approbation leaf by William Marshall with arms of Charles I, engraved allegorical title page. Authorized version of the Psalms printed in the margins. STC 2736.5; ESTC S102345. ◆Text lightly washed and pressed (in keeping with bibliophilic fashion at time of binding), isolated faint smudges, but a clean and pleasing copy internally, and in a pristine binding.
This is quite an attractively bound and well-preserved copy of a controversial translation of the “Book of Psalms” that helped set the stage for the English Civil War. Although the approbation and title page credit this English metrical verse translation to James I, scholars believe it was mainly the work of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling (1577-1640). Born in Scotland, Alexander made a name for himself as a poet and playwright before becoming a courtier and officer of the crown. He used his favor and position to attempt several ill-fated money-making schemes, including a failed effort to colonize "New Scotland" in what is now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Another of these schemes involved the present work, which Alexander hoped to make the standard version used in the church, replacing the long-enshrined Sternhold-Hopkins redaction, and in the process making a considerable amount of money. James' successor, Charles I, granted Alexander the right to print the present version for 21 years, and the first edition was issued in 1631. In spite of the king's backing, both English and Scottish bishops roundly rejected it. As DNB tells us, Alexander continued to print editions of the "Psalmes" with revisions meant to appease critics of the work, but before long, the importance of this version of the "Psalmes" and of Stirling himself "were overwhelmed by the wave of resistance to Charles's ecclesiastical policy in Scotland." In 1637, when an edition of the "Book of Common Prayer" was published that included Alexander and James' translation of the Psalms, rioting broke out in Edinburgh. Charles' subsequent mishandling of the situation emboldened the opposition and sparked a series of events that led to his beheading and the English Civil War. ESTC tells us that the present edition was printed in London around 1637, and includes the engraved approbation and title page found in the first edition. Unlike the first edition, however, the text here contains both the translation done by James I and Alexander, as well as the text of the Authorized Version in the margins. Our binder Francis Bedford (1799-1883) managed the firm of Charles Lewis for the latter's widow for five years and then was in a partnership for 10 years with John Clarke before establishing his own bindery in 1851. He shortly became recognized as the leading binder in fashionable West-End London, and his firm enjoyed prosperity not only until his death, but for a decade afterwards, under the ownership of Joseph Shepherd. Bedford bindings are almost always elegantly traditional in their design, as here, and they are consistently so well executed that their appeal to a wide audience has not diminished with the passage of time.. (Inventory #: ST20078)
VERY HANDSOME DARK BROWN CRUSHED MOROCCO, INTRICATELY GILT, BY BEDFORD (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers with French fillet frame accented with filigree at sides and at corners of center panel, oblique fleurons at outer corners, raised bands, spine compartments with central fleuron of floral and lancet tools, gilt lettering, densely gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Engraved approbation leaf by William Marshall with arms of Charles I, engraved allegorical title page. Authorized version of the Psalms printed in the margins. STC 2736.5; ESTC S102345. ◆Text lightly washed and pressed (in keeping with bibliophilic fashion at time of binding), isolated faint smudges, but a clean and pleasing copy internally, and in a pristine binding.
This is quite an attractively bound and well-preserved copy of a controversial translation of the “Book of Psalms” that helped set the stage for the English Civil War. Although the approbation and title page credit this English metrical verse translation to James I, scholars believe it was mainly the work of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling (1577-1640). Born in Scotland, Alexander made a name for himself as a poet and playwright before becoming a courtier and officer of the crown. He used his favor and position to attempt several ill-fated money-making schemes, including a failed effort to colonize "New Scotland" in what is now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Another of these schemes involved the present work, which Alexander hoped to make the standard version used in the church, replacing the long-enshrined Sternhold-Hopkins redaction, and in the process making a considerable amount of money. James' successor, Charles I, granted Alexander the right to print the present version for 21 years, and the first edition was issued in 1631. In spite of the king's backing, both English and Scottish bishops roundly rejected it. As DNB tells us, Alexander continued to print editions of the "Psalmes" with revisions meant to appease critics of the work, but before long, the importance of this version of the "Psalmes" and of Stirling himself "were overwhelmed by the wave of resistance to Charles's ecclesiastical policy in Scotland." In 1637, when an edition of the "Book of Common Prayer" was published that included Alexander and James' translation of the Psalms, rioting broke out in Edinburgh. Charles' subsequent mishandling of the situation emboldened the opposition and sparked a series of events that led to his beheading and the English Civil War. ESTC tells us that the present edition was printed in London around 1637, and includes the engraved approbation and title page found in the first edition. Unlike the first edition, however, the text here contains both the translation done by James I and Alexander, as well as the text of the Authorized Version in the margins. Our binder Francis Bedford (1799-1883) managed the firm of Charles Lewis for the latter's widow for five years and then was in a partnership for 10 years with John Clarke before establishing his own bindery in 1851. He shortly became recognized as the leading binder in fashionable West-End London, and his firm enjoyed prosperity not only until his death, but for a decade afterwards, under the ownership of Joseph Shepherd. Bedford bindings are almost always elegantly traditional in their design, as here, and they are consistently so well executed that their appeal to a wide audience has not diminished with the passage of time.. (Inventory #: ST20078)
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