The First Printed American Bibles
THE FIRST PRINTED AMERICAN BIBLES
Precisely on account of their colonial status, the American colonies were subject to the restrictions of British law. The King James Bible could not be produced legally in America, but had to be imported from England. Production could be carried out only at authorized centers in London, Cambridge, and Oxford. Some American writers took the view that the “privilege” granted by the British crown for the production of the King James Bible applied only to editions without added comments, and, therefore, considered producing annotated and illustrated editions, thus bypassing the copyright difficulty. Yet such schemes foundered. The simple fact was that there was such a scarcity of high-quality paper and printing type in America that the production of a book as large as the Bible was beyond the means of American printers at this stage.
These economic restrictions did not apply to Bible translations in other languages, or to portions of the Bible in versions other than the King James Bible. The first book to be printed in British North America was the famous Bay Psalm Book of 1640, which was a translation of the Psalms undertaken by Richard Mather, John Eliot, and Thomas Weld. John Eliot is also of importance to our narrative for another reason—he was responsible for the translation of the Bible into a Native American language. The largest group of North American native languages is usually known as Algonquian, which includes the languages of the Blackfoot and Cheyenne. Eliot produced the first printed Bible in North America in one of the Algonquian languages. In view of his importance, we may consider Eliot in a little more detail.
John Eliot was born in Widford, Hertfordshire, England, on July 31, 1604. During his time as a student at Cambridge University, he came under the influence of the leading Puritan divine Thomas Hooker. His Puritan views fell afoul of the repressive religious policies of William Laud and he chose to emigrate from England, eventually arriving at Boston in 1631. The following year, he became pastor of Roxbury, a few miles from the center of Boston, where he would remain for the rest of his life.
Eliot was interested in the culture and language of the Native Americans who lived around Roxbury, and made a point of studying and learning Natic (as this regional variant of Algonquian is known). He began to preach in this language, and was able to attract support for his missionary work in the region, eventually managing to gain parliamentary approval in 1649 for the establishment of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England. His translation and production of the Bible into Natic took place over the period 1661–63, using a professional printer, Marmaduke Johnson, sent over from England in 1660 on a three-year contract. The Bible runs to 1,200 pages, and could not have been produced without the technical means and assistance provided from London.
The first complete Bible to be published in North America in a European language appeared in 1743. This was not, as might be thought, in English, but German, reflecting the sizable German immigrant community. Its appearance brought new pressure for an English Bible to be produced locally, rather than having to import one from Europe. In July 1777, a petition was placed before the “Continental Congress of the United States of North America now sitting in Philadelphia” by three local clergymen, requesting the printing of an American Bible. As far as can be seen, no action resulted from this petition. It was concluded “that the proper types for printing the Bible are not to be had in this country, and that the paper can be procured, but with such difficulties and subject to such casualties as render any dependence on it altogether improper.” Instead, it was recommended that twenty thousand English Bibles should be imported from Europe.
The restrictions placed on the production of the King James Bible in North America were, of course, the direct result of the colonial status of the region. It was axiomatic that British publishing privileges applied in the British colonies. However, the political status of the entire region was called into question through growing American hostility to British economic privileges in the region, particularly taxation. The American Revolution (1776–83) witnessed the overthrow of British power, and put an end to any means by which British economic privileges might be enforced.
The scene was now set for the production of an American edition of the King James Bible, free of the kind of restrictions that had proved such a difficulty earlier. In the event, the initiative for such a move came not from any official state or federal body, but from a private individual. Robert Aitken was born in Dalkeith, Scotland in 1734, where he had learned the craft of book production. He established himself in the book trade in the Scottish town of Paisley. Frustrated by his lack of success, however, he decided to make an exploratory visit to America to discover whether he could make a living there.
In May 1769, Aitken and his family moved to Philadelphia, where he established himself initially as a bookseller, and subsequently as a printer and publisher. He established his printing house at the sign of the “Pope's Head,” which was only a few doors away from the coffeehouse that was the gathering point for revolutionary activists. Aitken began to publish the Pennsylvania Magazine in January 1775; a year later, he was entrusted with the publication of the journals of Congress. When Congress withdrew to the relative safety of Baltimore in December 1776, Aitken was urged to follow; Aitken, however, decided to remain in Philadelphia. The British finally withdrew from the city in June 1778. The following month, Aitken advertised an edition of the New Testament in the Pennsylvania Evening Post. This edition had evidently been set up and produced the previous year, as Aitken's accounts make reference to some sales in August 1777.
It is, however, clear that Aitken's real ambition was to produce the first English Bible to be printed in America. Congress itself had been aware of the importance of this step. In 1780, the following resolution, introduced by James McLene of Pennsylvania and John Hanson of Maryland, was passed:
That it be recommended to such of the States who may think it convenient for them that they take proper measures to procure one or more new and correct editions of the Old and New Testament to be printed and that such states regulate their printers by law so as to secure effectually the said books from being misprinted.
Yet nothing seems to have come of this proposal. Perhaps aware of growing interest in this possibility, Aitken presented a “memorial”—a modern equivalent of which might be a “memorandum”—to Congress, proposing a new Bible. He was already known in congressional circles, of course, through his publishing work, and could have every expectation that his proposal would be taken seriously.
Aitken, however, did not wait for congressional approval before beginning his work. The text to be printed was, of course, the King James Bible, with the Apocrypha omitted. The dominant forms of Christianity in the United States at this time were sympathetic to the exclusion of these works, and Aitken saw no difficulty in responding accordingly. In any case, the resulting work would be easier and less costly to produce on account of this omission.
It is perhaps a harsh judgment to suggest that Aitken may have hoped to secure a privilege on the printing of American Bibles comparable to that enjoyed by the King's Printer in England. Yet certain telling indicators point in this direction. Aitken sought congressional approval and endorsement for his text. In the event, this was forthcoming. After an examination of specimen copies by its two chaplains, Congress approved Aitken's Bible on September 10, 1782, allowing Aitken freedom to publish its specific recommendation in any manner he liked.
The United States in Congress assembled highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as subservient to the interest of religion, as well as an instance of the progress of arts in this country, and being satisfied from the above report of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work, they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States, and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.
Aitken promptly inserted the congressional endorsement in the front matter of his text, which he finally published on September 25, 1782. In effect, Aitken's was promoted as an “authorized” version of the Bible, the authorization no longer originating from the king of England, but from the Congress of the United States. Aitken produced ten thousand copies of his Bible, set in brevier type on American-made paper. The work was 1,452 pages in length.
Aitken's Bible did not have the impact he had hoped for. The ending of hostilities with England led to the reopening of trade routes, with the result that imported Bibles from Britain and Europe were once more available—at considerably lower cost. Aitken sought to protect his position and investment, petitioning Congress in 1789 to grant him an exclusive license to print Bibles in the United States for fourteen years. (The parallels with the British privilege system cannot be overlooked.) Congress declined this proposal, clearly believing that a free trade in Bibles was essential. By 1800, twenty-four editions of the English Bible were available. By then, Aitken was in serious financial trouble. In 1791, he revealed to John Nicholson, Receiver General of Taxes for the State of Pennsylvania, that he had sustained a loss of four thousand pounds on his Bible.
Yet Aitken's activities had ensured that the King James Bible—despite its British establishment pedigree—would be the translation of choice of the United States. Even in the closing decades of the twentieth century, American Christianity continued its love affair with this translation. As rival translations—such as the Revised Standard Version—began to gain the upper hand in the period immediately following the Second World War, a staunch defense of the integrity of the King James Bible was mounted by its supporters in the United States. It was argued that the King James Bible was more accurate as a translation, was based on a more reliable text than its rivals, and used somber and sober language appropriate to such a dignified topic. A series of popular polemical works argued that the King James Bible alone represented the authentic “Word of God;” all other versions involved distortions, additions, or other changes detrimental to the reliability of the text. Although these views are typical of a decided minority of conservative American Protestants, they remain an important witness to the continuing respect and admiration in which the King James Bible is widely held.
The production of the “New King James Bible”—which appeared over the period 1979-82—can be seen as an attempt to build on the perceived strengths of the traditional translation, including its “quality of translation” and “majesty of style.” Although perhaps allowing itself to be understood as a new edition of the King James Bible, the work is actually a revision of the text, aiming to retain the “elegant literary style” and “beauty” of the original, while making such minor translation changes as seemed necessary.
The production of the New King James Bible is perhaps one of the most telling signs of the continuing importance of the original translation of 1611. In popular Christian culture, the King James translation is seen to possess a dignity and authority that modern translations somehow fail to convey. Even four hundred years after the six companies of translators began their long and laborious task, their efforts continue to be a landmark for popular Christianity. Other translations will doubtless jostle for place in the nation's bookstores in the twenty-first century. Yet the King James Bible retains its place as a literary and religious classic, by which all others continue to be judged.