Le Nouveau Testament de Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ Imprimé sur l'édition de Paris, de l'année 1805, revue et corrigée avec soin d'après le texte grec

Boston: chez les Libraires Associés (Lincoln & Edmands, imprimeurs). Very Good. 1811. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. 379, [1, colophon] & 4 pages; Contemporary full sheepskin leather, with faint decorative stained pattern on covers, flat spine paneled by simple gilt rules, red label lettered in gilt, edges decoratively stained yellow. 12mo, gathered in sixes (half-sheets). A - 2H6. 379, [1, colophon] & 4 pp. ["Books for Sale by John West & Co., ..."] This is a very good example of the first American edition of the Protestant text of the French New Testament of the Bible, the version translated by Jean-Frédéric Osterwald. Its publication followed by one year the publication, also in Boston, of the first American edition of any New Testament in French -- ["Le Nouveau Testament de Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ, en Français, sur la Vulgate -- translated by Isaac-Louis Le Maistre de Sacy. Boston: J.T. Buckingham, 1810. The so-called "Port-Royal Bible."] At the end, there is a four-page catalogue of books for sale by a number of booksellers in Boston and New England -- ["Valuable books for sale by John West & Co. William Wells, William Andrews, Oliver C. Greenleaf, Edward Cotton, Lincoln & Edmands, Munroe & Francis, James W. Burditt & Co. and West & Blake, Boston. William Hilliard, Cambridge, and E. Little & Co., Newburyport."] Since these two leaves are printed integrally with the text (as leaves 2H5 & 6), it seems logical that the booksellers specifically named in this interesting priced catalogue of books available are also the booksellers who shared the edition of this important Protestant New Testament. The printers are identified by their slug at the foot of the final page of the main text, otherwise blank: "Lincoln & Edmands, imprimeurs, no. 53, Cornhill, a` Boston." This is an excellently preserved, unmarked copy. The binding, almost certainly original, is missing a triangular chip at the head of the spine. There is a small part of the corner of the front free-endpaper torn away (no marks of any sort on this leaf). The title page and the next leaf show faint toning around the edges (transfers from the turn-under of the leather used in binding). There is also one leaf text leaf [Y6 = pp. 275-6] with a portion missing at the lower corner, affecting a few words of the text on each side. This irregularity extends up along the fore-edge as a rough deckle, demonstrating that this is almost certainly a paper flaw, rather than a tear caused by use or abuse of this copy. The paper does display moderate scattered foxing and a few small brown stains throughout, as one might expect from American book paper of the time. The French text is set in double columns throughout -- the columns are separated by a single vertical rule. Scarce in commerce, this edition is fairly well represented in institutional holdings [see OCLC: 7919687]. Not in the 'Catalogue of books contained in the Library of the American Bible Society' - 1855 (see p. 42, where this should be right under the 1810 Boston edition, translated by Isaac-Louis Le Maistre de Sacy.) The American Bible Society did publish its own edition of this translation, just four years later -- [A` New-York: : Imprimé aux frais et sous l'inspection de la société établie dans cette ville sous le titre de "The New-York Bible Society." Chez J. Seymour, imprimeur, John-Street, no. 49., 1815.] And in 1820, the society did issue a version with stereotyped (metal cast) plates -- [Edition stéréotype, revue et corrigée avec soin d'apres les textes hebreu et grec. A` New-York: : Imprimé avec des planches solides, aux frais de la Société biblique americaine par Daniel Fanshaw., 1820.] The many and various descendants of this stereotyped edition are fairly common, but this 1811 letterpress edition is not frequently found. Shaw & Shoemaker 22372. .