The Christian's New and Complete Family Bible; . Containing the Sacred Texts of the Old and New Testaments, with the Apocrypha at Large. "The First Family Bible Printed in America." or, the "Woodhouse Bible."

2 vols.[1136] p., [9] leaves of plates. Evans 20960. Hills 16. General title page states, "The Christian's new and complete family Bible. At the bottom states, "Philadelphia: Printed for the Proprietors; and sold by all of the booksellers in the United States., MDCCLXXXVIII. [1788]." The AAS description continues, "Printed in Berwick, England, by John Taylor. The New Testament has a separate title page, with imprint: " Berwick [Eng.], Printed by and for John Taylor; and sold by the booksellers of London, and by all the other booksellers of Great-Britain." Jim Green, a noted authority on this book, and Librarian Emeritus of the Library Company of Philadelphia, states, " We [LCP] have 9 or so copies. Many of the OT & NT title pages say the book was printed in Berwick, England, by John Taylor. Other copies have a London, John Taylor imprint, and some [like this one], have a Philadelphia imprint. All our copies have a Philadelphia Provenance, whatever the imprints say. Taylor emigrated to Philadelphia in 1788, and my theory is that he brought the remainder of his edition with him, perhaps printing Philadelphia title pages for some of them here. What's fascinating is that some of the first sheets of the Old Testament exist in different settings of type, suggesting that more than just title pages were printed here, perhaps because the book was originally sold in parts by subscription, so that all their copies of the first sheets were sold and more had to be printed to make up the deficiencies." The Bible was advertised in the Nov. 4, 1788, issue of the Pennsylvania Packet as "The first family Bible published in America ! Proposals for publishing by subscription, by W. Woodhouse. The Christian's new and complete family Bible.The whole to be completed in seventy-five numbers, at one eighth of a dollar each.Number I will be published on Saturday Nov. 15, which will be given an elegant frontispiece." Advertised in the May 26, 1790, issue of the Freeman's Journal, Philadelphia, as "This day published and sold by all of the booksellers, no. 77 of the Christians's new and complete family Bible. This is the end of the New and Old Testaments. The Apocrypha (which will soon be ready) will therefore be delivered gratis to subscribers; the number of whom is almost one thousand." Nearly identical advertisements were published in the Dec. 2, 1789 issue of the New York Morning Post, and the May 20, 1790 issue of the Maryland Gazette Notes and Condition : I acquired this from one who had acquired it directly from the family in whose possession it had been since 1792. At the top of the title page is handwritten, "Albert Corpening, bot (bought) in Philadelphia, on the fifteenth day of September, seventeen hundred & ninety two. Price eleven dollars." Other family notations as well. On a card, it states "The large English Bibles are the property of O.E. Corpening of Mills River. They have been in the Corpening and Summey families sice 1774, (correction to 1788.) The "1774" was referencing the last of four birth entries on the verso of the title page, clearly in error. Condition: 7 full page plates in the New Testament, 2 in the Old Testament. Pages are overall good condition, with foxing, toning, with the following faults: Lacks frontispiece to general title page; the frontis to the New Testament is present. Short tape mends to a few leaves. "To the Christian Reader" leaf has been professionally restored, with text loss. Small open tears and darkening, professionally restored at the bottom of 4 adjacent leaves, (last three leaves of Joshua, and the first leaf of Judges) with little text loss. In two volumes. This has less plates than some other copies; there is no evidence of any plate removal. Rebound, probably in the first half of the 19th century; I believe that this was originally bound as two volumes. Nice patina to the brown full-leather binding. Tear to one spine label. Bindings are tight, covers are well attached.…