They came, in colonies settled around Jamestown, with the
pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in the Massachusetts Bay, and they began what we would term the America of today. There would be treaties with the Indian nations and battles amongst warring tribes. There would be contests of wills between colonies funded and founded by British, Spanish, and French concerns. But this would be the century that began true settlement, for all its wonder and hardship and harbinger of a nation that would come.
1640 - The first book is printed in North America, the Bay Psalm Book, at Cambridge for the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Thirty elders in the Massachusetts Bay Colony wanted a book of one hundred and fifty psalms metered for singing that they would transcribe from the Hebrew and printed in a book. The Great Migration for the colony had been ongoing in the 1630's. It wouldn't be as easy as it might, or might not sound. It would serve the purpose, in the reformed church, as sacred text sung in a liturgy and it was important to them to be able for the growing congregation to sing. Joseph Cotton, Richard Mather, and John Eliot were among the elders. It is said that the works were translated from the Hebrew by Richard Mather, John Eliot, Thomas Weld, and others. Mather is usually credited with writing the preface, although that might have been written by Joseph Cotton.
Reverend Jose Glover resigned his post in Surrey, England, and with his wife Elizabeth, sailed for the colony in 1638 with the materials necessary for printing the book. He sailed with a printing press, two hundred and forty reams of paper, and slightly worn type.
The Reverend did not survive the trip, however, leaving the chore of printing the first book to his wife. Elizabeth Glover moved the operation to Cambridge, Massachusetts and set their apprentice, or more accurate, indentured servant, Stephen Daye, to begin the process. Daye worked diligently, with assistance from his son Matthew, but was not trained as a printer, but a locksmith. His spelling and press work were inconsistent and the book contained many typographical errors. But even with those errors, the book became a large part of their services, allowing the Puritan congregation to sing the Scripture Psalmes in English.
The Bay Psalm Book Today
Despite the spelling, it was a remarkable achievement by Stephen Daye and Elizabeth Glover to print the first book in British North America. It was monumental in the arc of building a society in New England. Seventeen hundred books were printed. It was three hundred pages long. Today, only eleven remain, six complete with a title page. One of the books today sits in the Library of Congress, no title page edition. This copy had twelve pages removed to complete a version held in the New York Public Library. The Library of Congress version came from Reverend Thomas Prince of the Old South Church library in Boston, as did the Rubenstein copy.
Where are the other copies? Old South Church in Boston, Harvard University, John Carter Brown Library, American Antiquarian Society, Yale University, New York Public Library, Rosenbach Museum and Library (Philadelphia), Huntington Library, and Bodleian Library.
And then there is the Rubenstein copy. The David M. Rubenstein copy was the first sold on the private market in sixty-six years when he bought it in November 2013. Sotheby's sold it for the Boston Old South Church for $14.2 million, which retained its other copy. His book has been rebound and includes the title page. The only written work that has sold for more is a notebook by Leonardo de Vinci for $30.8 million. The previous Bay Psalm Book that had been sold in 1946 went for $151,000, which, at the time, was a record price as well.
As noted in the source data below, Elizabeth Glover got no credit for its printing, something that would be doubtful today. Stephen Daye as the actual printing mechanic got full credit. He remained at the Cambridge Press until 1649, and handed the press to his assistant Samuel Green. Green continued the Cambridge Press through 1692 and published thousands of religious texts, including the famous Eliot Bible. His family would continue in the tradition of printing in the colonies for the next two hundred years.
Image above: Montage (left) Title Page of the Bay Psalm Book, 1640, Stephen Daye. Library of Congress; (center) illustration of Reverend Richard Mather, 1675, John Foster. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons; (right) Preface to the Bay Psalm Book, 1640, Stephen Daye (Richard Mather/Joseph Cotton). Courtesy Library of Congress. Image below: Psalm 23 from The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre, 1640, Stephen Daye. Courtesy Library of Congress. Info source: Library of Congress; rosenbach.org; "Bay Psalm Book is most expensive printed work $14.2m," 2013, bbc.com; "Bay Psalm Book: Why the L18m prince tag?," 2013, Aidan Lewis, bbc.com; Wikipedia.
History Photo Bomb
Harvard House, 1899, Detroit Publishing Company. Courtesy Library of Congress.
Painting of Oliver Cromwell, 1656, After Samuel Cooper. Courtesy National Gallery via Wikipedia Commons.
ABH Travel Tip
You can visit much of the Pre-Revolution history of the United States throughout the many trails and historic sites of the nation. And don't miss out on the Native American history throughout Florida or other regions. The history of the nation and North America comes from the culture of the many tribes that made up the mosaic of human culture in each state. They were here before the majority of us, after all, and their history is an amazing collection of wonder, beauty, and dedication to the land that sits beneath us.
Montage of old New Sweden home (left), Nothnagle Log House in New Jersey, built 1638, 2010. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons; and drawing of New Amsterdam, Painting of Oliver Cromwell, 1656, After Samuel Cooper. Courtesy National Gallery via Wikipedia Commons.
