Artifact: King James Bible Cambridge Edition
Materials: Bible
Dimensions:
Date: 1760
Origin: London
Collection: ThatPeskyCommoner via Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Ledger Entry: Bible
Department: Literacy
Customer: William Boylestone
Ledger Page: 127
Imported From: Bibles were most frequently imported from England until 1782, when the first Bible was printed in America.
Product Description
The Bible is the Christian holy book consisting of the Old and New Testaments. It was one of the most common books in the American colonies and was often the only book a household owned. It was used for religious devotion, to learn life lessons, and as a basic text to learn reading.
Citation: Hugh Amory & David D. Hall, ed., A History of the Book in America: Volume One: The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000).; Monaghan, Jennifer E. Learning to Read and Write in Colonial America: Literacy Instruction and Acquisition in a Cultural Context. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2005.
Historical Price: 14 shillings; Modern USD: $163
Product Variations
The databases record twenty-eight purchases of Bibles, including gilt, large, and plain Bibles. They range in quantity from one to four Bibles. In terms of price, these ranged from one shilling five pence for one unspecified Bible to twenty-four shillings for one large Bible.
