Beschreibung:

Miniature Bible [English]. The Bible in Miniature, or a concise history of the Old & New Testaments, London: E. Newbery, 1780, [2], 256pp., two engraved titles and 14 engraved plates (offset to text), final leaf with imprint 'Crowder & Hemsted, Printers, Warwick-Square', some spotting to plates and titles, few plates with pale dampstaining, Joshua plate with minor adhesion from facing page (affecting inner border), all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, contemporary red morocco with elaborate gilt decoration, green leather oval onlays to centre of each board lettered in gilt 'JHS', rear cover with small black stain (tiny black spot to front cover), 64mo? in 8s (43 x 30 mm), together with The Bible in Miniature ..., E. Newbery, 1780, first issue (without imprint on final leaf, without full stop after date on general title, and with parentheses enclosing page numbers), two engraved titles and 14 engraved plates (some faint offsetting, few spots), all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, contemporary red morocco with elaborate gilt decoration, green leather oval onlays to centre of each board lettered in gilt 'JHS', front cover nearly detached, 64mo? in 8s (44 x 31 mm), plus two copies of The Bible in Miniature ..., London: W. Harris, 1771, one copy with 2 engraved titles and 10 engraved plates (of 14), blank page 256 with ink manuscript 'John Fugglee His Book January 28 1784', in contemporary red morocco gilt (rubbed and darkened, lacking onlays, front cover worn on foredge), the other with 1 engraved title and 14 engraved plates, in contemporary sprinkled calf, gilt lines to spine, decorative gilt roll to edges, tiny loss & tear to foot of spine, 48 x 31 and 52 x 34 mm respectively, with another 3 copies of the 1780 E. Newbery edition, all lacking one plate (ie. 13 of 14 plates), one copy being the first issue, in calf with gilt line to spine, the other two copies comprise one in calf with gilt line to spine (worn), the other in elaborately gilt decorated red morocco with green oval onlays to each cover, each 46 x 32 mm and smaller (Quantity: 7) Provenance: Ralph Ewart Ford (1897-1974), precision engineer and founder of Fords (Finsbury) Ltd. In Bedford. A member of the Bibliographical Society, he formed one of the largest collections of English Bibles in England. During the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, a selection of the rarest and most important early English Bibles from Ralph Ford’s collection went on display in a touring exhibition across England, including the Chapter House at Westminster Abbey. Bondy pp.33-34. First item: This is one of the 'rarer issues' that bear an imprint on the final leaf.