stitching text block of 1777 New Testament

Описание: In this video, I am stitching the text block of the 1777 New Testament.

If you would like to purchase my replica of this New Testament, click the following link. It will take you to my Etsy Shop were it is for sale. I have two in stock. https://www.etsy.com/listing/44302114...

This is my replica of the original 1777 New Testament that was made by Robert Aitken of Philadelphia. It is covered in sheepskin.

Before the American Revolution, it had been illegal to print an English language version of the Bible in the Colonies. Only the Crown could grant permission to print the Bible, and no American printers held a license from the King granting permission. However, when the war cut off shipments of Bibles from Great Britain, thereby creating a shortage, the Colonies’ declaration of independence from the Crown removed this requirement for a license thus opening the way to begin printing the Bible in America.

The war had entered its third year, when on July 7, 1777, a petition signed by three clergymen was introduced to the Continental Congress then sitting in Philadelphia. The transcription follows: “We the Ministers of the Gospel of Christ in the city of Philadelphia … taking it into our serious consideration that in our present circumstances, books in general, and in particular, the holy Scriptures contained in the old and new Testaments are growing so scarce and dear, that we greatly fear that unless timely care can be used to prevent it, we shall not have bibles for our schools and families, and for the publick worship of God in our churches. We therefore think it our duty to our country and to the churches of Christ to lay this danger before this honourable house, humbly requesting that under your care, and by your encouragement, a copy of the holy Bible may be printed, so as to be sold nearly as cheap as the common Bibles, formerly imported from Britain and Ireland, were sold.” Because of more pressing issues relating to the war, this petition was not examined, discussed, nor a report given by the committee until two months later on the 11th of September. That day, the report issued by the committee stated that they had “conferred fully with the printers, etc. in this city and are of the opinion, that the proper types for printing the Bible are not to be had in this country, and that the paper cannot be procured, but with such difficulties and subject to such casualties to render any dependence on it altogether improper…” The committee then recommended that Congress “order the committee of commerce to import 20,000 bibles from Holland, Scotland or elsewhere into the different ports of the Union.”

In the meantime, Robert Aitken had already taken the initiative and stepped in to fill this void. Beginning in 1777, Aitken, at his own expense, began publishing and selling a small duodecimo New Testament, the first English translation of the New Testament to be Made in America. This New Testament filled “353 pages tightly” and measured 5-1/2″ x 3-1/8″. The text was laid out in two columns with chapter and verse numbers, but no headings. The title page proclaims: “newly translated out of the original Greek; and with the former translations diligently compared and revised. Appointed to be read in churches.” With just a few changes, the wording echoes the title page of the first edition of the King James Bible published in 1611, although Aitken omits the King James’ reference to the king! Aitken first advertised his New Testament for sale in the August 28, 1777 edition of the Pennsylvania Evening Post.


If you would like to purchase my replica of this New Testament, click the following link. It will take you to my Etsy Shop were it is for sale. I have two in stock. https://www.etsy.com/listing/44302114...
If you would like to purchase my replica of this New Testament, click the following link. It will take you to my Etsy Shop were it is for sale. I have two in stock. https://www.etsy.com/listing/44302114...