Biblia, Das Ist: Die Ganze Göttliche Heilige Schrift Alten und Neuen Testaments Nach Der Deutschen Uebersetzung D. Martin Luthers; Mit Jedes Capitels Kurzen Summarien, Auch Beygefügten Vielen und Richtigen Parallelen: Nebst Einem Anhang des Dritten und Vierten Buchs Esra, und des Dritten Buchs Der Maccabäer.

The first German Bible published in 19th-century America…

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After Saur’s Bibles, this 1805 edition was the first German quarto Bible in America, the first German Bible published in 19th-century America, the first printed outside Philadelphia, and the first printed in Reading, Pennsylvania. In fact, “in typography and general appearance it resembles the Saur Bible, and may be considered a continuation of it” (Wright), as its publisher, Gottlob Jungmann, intended.

In the Bible’s preface, Jungmann observed that after more than 30 years, a Bible had once again been “publicly printed in the High German language, to the honor of the descendants of the old German nation.” Yet he questioned if another would follow: “Whether a Bible in the language mentioned will again make its appearance in these United States, is open to much and great doubt, more especially as the German language is declining in them with such extraordinary rapidity, and is suffering English…” He then reinforced this concern by quoting extensively from the preface of Saur’s 1776 Bible. While Jungmann notes this effort as being the “Erste Auflage” (“First Edition”), he issued no subsequent editions.

In this copy, the “Family Register” bound after the Old Testament consists of six leaves with extensive handwritten entries documenting the Rich family of Winding Hill, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The records trace family genealogy, including births, marriages, and deaths in multiple nineteenth-century hands. The patriarch, Henry Rich (1801–1845) married twice—first to Mary Hains (Haines) in 1822, and later to Maria Walter in 1837. Other family names recorded include Hains, Waltz, Huber, Swartly, Spangler, and Carroll, with connections to Pennsylvania (notably Lancaster and Cumberland Counties), Indiana, and Ohio.

Loosely inserted, a hand-embroidered Victorian bookmark on perforated paper features two images. An upper image resembles a crimson Phrygian cap, symbolizing liberty and freedom.The lower design features a rake and spade intertwined with floral motifs, likely reflecting the Rich family’s connection to agrarian life. Red silk ribbon adds a refined decorative element.

Price: $650.00