The Universal Family Bible: or, Christians Divine Library. Containing the Sacred Text of the Old and New Testament, With the Apocrypha at Large. Illustrated with Notes Theological, Historical, Practical, Critical, and Explanatory; Wherein the mistranslations are corrected the seeming Contradictions reconciled, the difficult Passages explained, and the Sacred Writings displayed in their genuine Purity and Lustre. The Whole Forming a Complete Commentary... by Henry Southwell. London: Printed for J. Cooke, 1778, 4fo.
A HUGE KING JAMES BIBLE IN A BESPOKE BINDING, MADE FOR JOSEPH POPE IN THE YEAR 1780 IN THIS CAMBRIDGE PANELLED STYLE. WITH STUNNING FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT!
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Early bindings with a known commissioner are very rare. The fact that we know who this binding was created for is incredibly interesting. We know this by the gilt name, now quite faded, to the front board with the date 1780. We couldn't find much details on who Joseph Pope was, but to commission such a binding he would have had to have been a man of some means. Perhaps he is a descendent of the writer Alexander Pope? Despite this being a family Bible, there isn't any written family details on the inside as often found - marriages, births, deaths, etc
It's clear that this Bible has been thoroughly used over its near 250 year history, but the inside of the Bible is in remarkable condition without any missing illustrations, and without any juvenile writing often found in similar examples. This is a very unique opportunity to acquire a fantastic very large Bible with the possibility to conduct further research into its provenance.
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Size: 259 x 405 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[iii, B1-2S2; i, 9G1-11Y1, a1-c3]
Lacks engraved frontispiece else collates as complete with 99 large full leaf illustrated plates throughout which are incredibly attractive. Binding rubbed and worn with loss at extremities. Joints split with an early crude repair to reattach the boards to the spine with leather strips to a rebacked spine. Boards are therefore securely attached and open without any issues. First few leaves including main title page folded and slightly detached at the gutter but present. Largely clean throughout the text block with some mild toning.
