THE COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE by (BINDINGS - 19TH CENTURY PRESENTATION). BIBLE IN ENGLISH - ca. 1860

London: Samuel Bagster, ca. 1860. 305 x 225 mm. (12 x 8 3/4"). 4 p.l., 96, 1001, [1], [2] leaves ("Family Register," blank), 1005-1338, xlvi pp. IMPRESSIVE CONTEMPORARY BLIND-STAMPED BROWN MOROCCO, covers with alternating rows of fleur-de-lys stamps and gothic ornaments separated by multiple plain rules, raised bands, spine compartments with similar tooling, gilt titling, two large and ornate brass clasps extending across the board panels, turn-ins with gilt guilloche roll, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt and elaborately gauffered. With folding table of comparative chronology and five maps printed in colors. Front pastedown with large brown morocco presentation label inscribed in gilt to Rev. W. Acworth, Vicar of Plumstead, dated March 13, 1863. Traces of leather preservative to spine, a hint of wear to the leather, one of the maps slightly browned, but QUITE A FINE COPY, the text clean, fresh, and bright, and the binding remarkably well preserved, with shining brass clasps. This presentation copy of Bagster's critically significant Bible was bound in elaborately decorated morocco for presentation to a vicar who, judging from its condition, vigilantly treasured this gift. First printed in 1827, this Bible was the product of a collaboration between publisher Samuel Bagster, known for his polyglot Bibles, and orientalist William Greenfield. Intended for the serious scholar of scripture, it contains no fewer than 4,000 illustrative notes and 500,000(!) marginal references (along with a general introduction and index). Samuel Bagster (1772-1851) was an innovator in the production of scholarly Bibles, largely out of commercial necessity. When Bagster set up his business in 1794, only the Oxford and Cambridge University presses and the King's printer were permitted to publish copies of Holy Scriptures, unless the texts were accompanied by commentary or annotations. Consequently, Bagster was compelled to add scholarly apparatus to the Bibles for which he saw a commercial need, and in this he was aided by the self-taught philologist William Greenfield (1799-1831). Bagster's sons Benjamin and Jonathan joined him in the business in the 1830s, and Jonathan's son Robert became head of the firm before its centenary in 1894. Our copy was very handsomely bound in the Gothic style that was then in fashion, and that must have seemed especially appropriate for a such a (literally and figuratively) weighty religious tome. Its beauty and its bulk must have discouraged the former owner from using this volume for regular study. Reverend William Acworth (1803-1899) studied at Queen's College Cambridge before serving as curate and then vicar of Rothley. In 1852, he became the vicar of Plumstead, where he remained until his retirement. It seems likely this Bible was a 60th birthday gift from his congregation, or possibly his bishop.