LISTEN NOW (7 Minutes):
The Isaac Collins New Jersey Bible of 1791.
Today’s episode takes us back, once again, to the 1700’s. This time, we’re traveling to the state of New Jersey … and visiting a printer named Isaac Collins.
Collins did his apprenticeship in the state of Delaware with James Adams. Look for my earlier episode that covers the first Delaware New Testament. He then worked as a journeyman printer in Philadelphia, and moved to Burlington, New Jersey, in 1770.
In Burlington, he founded a newspaper called the New Jersey Gazette. This is credited today as being the first newspaper in the state New Jersey. After moving from Burlington, it was published in Trenton from 1778 until 1786.
The Library of Congress web site states that early New Jersey printers typically started their careers as apprentices and journeymen. They did this before establishing shops of their own. Some were fortunate enough to inherit an established family printing shop. As a result, many of New Jersey’s earliest printers trained with established printers. These included Benjamin Franklin and William Bradford. Their businesses were located in the commercial centers of Philadelphia and New York.
In 1787, New Jersey became the third state to join the union. The new government needed local printers and presses. They were crucial for creating and disseminating official government documents.
Early publications largely consisted of almanacs, orations, sermons, and the acts and minutes of New Jersey Government meetings. As the 19th century progressed, new presses and publishers emerged throughout the state. Locally printed literary works appeared more often in the New Jersey marketplace.
This, then, introduces us to Isaac Collins, his print shop at Trenton, and his famous New Jersey Bible: the first Bible printed in New Jersey.
In 1791, George Washington was President. John Adams was Vice President. Thomas Jefferson was Secretary of State. There were 14 states, and the new country had a growing population of four million people. The newly formed United States faced challenges securing Bibles, as England was no longer sending them. Demand for Bibles was high, and supply was very low.
Isaac Collins rose to the task in his Trenton, New Jersey print shop. He pre-sold 3,000 copies before the project was even started … and, before it ended, he had printed 5,000. Collins recruited a legion of the most experienced proofreaders. He later claimed to have had his own children proofread the text 11 times.
The title to his Bible was: “The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments : translated out of the original tongues and with former translations diligently compared and revised.”
After laboring for two years, the finished product was nearly perfect. It had only two errors. One was a misplaced punctuation mark. The other was a broken letter.
Isaac Collins’ Bible was the first to make a significant change. It replaced the “Dedication to King James” found at the front of all Bibles with “To the Reader”.
This new introduction was written by John Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister and signer of the Declaration of Independence. This was then reprinted in many Bibles for decades. In it, Witherspoon gives the history of the Bible and its translation, showing God’s providence in preserving His Word.
In closing, I would like to read an excerpt from the Isaac Collins Bible leaf in my collection. It is taken from 1 Samuel, chapter 17, and concerns the battle between David and Goliath. I will begin with verses 3 through 10. These verses describe Goliath the giant. This interests me because I find the literal possibility of giants fascinating. Both in the Bible and in very early North America.
As follows:
And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.
And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.
And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.
And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
And this is how the battle between David and Goliath began.
So, until we meet again, and for celebratethebible250, this is Francis Douglas. If you would like to learn more about the history of the Christian Holy Bible in America, please like, share, and subscribe.
Additional Posts of Interest:
America 250 Semiquincentennial Bible Celebration 