18th Century Bibles & Other Literature

The above cut of Pentacost is from a 1715 Bible for the Illiterate.

This collection of copper engravings by 17th century engraver, Frederick Hendrik van Hove, could have been bound and sold separately, like the one that was published in 1716 in London, or as a set of illustrations bound into a copy of the Bible as was our original 1715 Bible printed in Oxford. We have also decided to reproduce these engravings as part of our complete Bible as well as a separate book of biblical engravings.  This set of biblical cuts was “intended to help the young ‘attain to the knowledge of the historical and most remarkable passages’ of scripture.”

Since a large number of the people were illiterate, the pictures were done in such a way as so anyone who had heard the story, or event, would recognize it immediately. Usually, the image was drawn with the climax of the story largest and in front, and then the other parts of the story were drawn smaller and somewhere in the background, making one complete image. That way, all the points of the story were there to help the person remember what they were looking at.

There are different sizes and bindings available of this Bible. More on this Bible can be found here.

The goal of 18th Century Bibles and other literature is to preserve historical accuracy and to present the great Christian literature of the 1700s to as many living history enthusiasts as possible.

Copy and photos from 18th Century Bibles where more items can be found.