18th Century Bibles

The 18th Century Bibles in this exhibition all use the text of the King James Bible of 1611. The Douai-Rheims translation was used in the Catholic Church at this time and a few translators produced new versions in the 1700's, which received little more than scholarly interest. The Bibles shown exhibit a steady improvement in printing, notably in the use of copper etchings to illustrate Bible stories as in the Universal Family Bible of 1777. Myles Coverdale's version of the Psalms, prepared for the Great Bible of 1539, is used in the Prayer Book and Psalms from 1745, which is exhibited.

In the later half of the 18th Century, commentaries, maps and other aids to Bible study were often included with the Bible text, an example is John Brown's "Self Interpreting Bible'' shown here. The Bibles were large compendiums of information about the Middle East as well as theological discussions. Brown's Bible, for instance, has an extensive introduction, which includes ancient history. It also has lists of names, units of measure and lists of phrases and similes many of which are still in common use. These Bibles were study centres and became the focus for family based education.

They were responsible for increasing literacy in the society of that day.

Many of the early settlers to North America came to the new world with very few possessions. The Bible was, however, one of the few items that they brought and was highly prized. Most families kept their Bible in a Bible box to protect it.

The practice of including extensive commentaries and other study materials in the Bible was continued through the 19th Century.