152 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE 



Eliot (J.) — Continued. 



Paine, and as might be inferred from the pe- 

 culiar way in which the second edition is en- 

 tered in the catalogue of that society's library 

 printed in 1824. According to Mr. Field and 

 Mr Paine the New York Historical Society 

 and the Long Island Historical Society each 

 possessed a copy of the first edition of the 

 bible. This is a mistake, however, as the only 

 copies ever owned by these societies are of 

 the second edition. Mr. Field also includes in 

 his list of owners of the first edition the name of 

 "Mr. John H. King (deceased), Jamaica, L. I." 

 This refers without doubt to the Hoii. John A. 

 King, of Jamaica, N^. Y., who owned a copy of 

 the second edition only. The copy owned by 

 Col. George W. Pratt was not of the edilion of 

 1663, as stated by a writer in the Historical 

 Magazine (October, 1858), vol. 2, p. 308, but of the 

 edition of 1685. 



■ [Up-Bookum psalmes. 



Cambridge: printed by Samuel Green 

 and Marmaduke Johnson. 1663.] (*) 



32 (?) leaves, 4°. 



Tlie psalter or book of psalms, translated 

 into the Massachusetts Indian language, by 

 John Eliot. At their meeting on the 10th of 

 September, 1664, the Commissioners wrote to 

 the Corporation in England: "The number of 

 Bibles with Psalm books printed were vp wards 

 of a thousand ; of Baxters Call 1000 and of 

 Psalters 500 diners wherof all sorts are dis- 

 posed to the Indians and the rest reddy for 

 theire vse as they can be bound vp and there 

 may bee occation." In the treasurer's account 

 presented to the Commissioners at the same 

 meeting, was one item : "To printing 9 sheets 

 of the Pf?alter at 20s. per sheet," 91. Mne full 

 sheets would contain 36 leaves. As printed in 

 the old testament, the psalter fills nearly 32 

 leaves, beginning on the verso of leaf Err 4, 

 about two inches from the top, and ending on 

 the verso of Cccc 1, at the bottom. Dr. Trum- 

 bull says: "From sign. Ttt 3 to Aaaa 1, with 

 blank verso, " which is a mistake, as that would 

 comprise only nineteen leaves, from Psalm 

 xxxiii. 13 to cix. 22. He aptly remarks, how- 

 ever, that "This charge is too small to include 

 composition, and it is probable that these 500 

 copies of the Psalms were worked from the 

 forms used in printing the Old Testament and 

 were bound up separately." In another place 

 he adds : ' ' Five hundred copies of a Psalter 

 were printed ; that is, probably, 500 extra copies 

 of the Psalms were struck off" from the forms 

 used in printing the Old Testament, and these 

 — with a special title-page perhaps — were sepa- 

 rately bound." !N"o copy of this separate issue 

 appears to be extant. 



Mr. Thomas, in his History of Printing in 

 America (Worcester, 1810), vol. 1, pp. 479, 

 480, says: "The Newengland Version of the 

 Psalms was printed with the Bible ; but I can- 

 not find that the Indian Grammar was pub- 

 lished with either of the editions. It accom- 



Eliot (J.) — Continued. 



panied some copies of the Psalter; i. e. they 

 were occasionally bound together in one vol- 

 ume small octavo [sic].'" 



[VVame Ketooliomae uketoohoma- 



ongash. David. 



Cambridge : printed by Samuel Green 

 and Marmaduke Johnson. 1663.] (*) 



52 (?) leaves, 4°. 



Eliot's complete translation of the metrical 

 psalms ("AUthe-singing songs-of David") into 

 the Massachusetts Indian language. In its 

 preparation he probably used, to a certain ex- 

 tent, the New England version or " Bay Psalm 

 Book," which was a translation into English 

 from the Hebrew, originally made by himself, 

 Thomas "Welde, and Richard Mather, first 

 printed in 1640, and in a new form, thoroughly 

 revised, by Henry Danster and Richard Lyon, 

 in 1651. 



On the 9th of April, 1663, Mr. Boyle wrote 

 to the Commissioners from London : ' 'vpon Mr. 

 Elliotts motion and the goodnes of the worke; 

 wee haue thought fitt and ordered that the 

 Psalmes of Dauid in meter shalbee printed in 

 the Indian language." Mr. Eliot also wrote, in 

 a letter to Richard Baxter, dated from "Rox- 

 bury, this 6th of the 5th [July 6th], 1663," con- 

 cerning the Indian work: "The Psalms of 

 David in Metre in their Language, are going 

 now to the Press, which will be some Diversion 

 of me, from a present Attention upon these 

 other proposed "Works." The Commissioners 

 accordingly replied to Mr. Boyle's letter on the 

 18th of September, 1663, as follows: "The 

 bible being finished . . . wee shall In- 

 deavour to Imploy him [Marmaduke Johnson] 

 as wee can by printing the psalmes and another 

 little Treatise of Mr. Baxters which Mr. 

 Elliott is translating into the Indian language 

 . . . Wee haue ordered Mr. Vsher to pre- 

 sent youer honors by the next shipp with 20 

 Coppyes of the bible and as many of the 

 Psalmes if printed of before the shippes depart- 

 ure from hence." They were finished at the 

 press, probably, in IvTovember or December of 

 the same year. In the treasurer's account pre- 

 sented at the meeting of the Commissioners in 

 September, 1664, was the charge: " To printing 

 the Indian Psalmes 13 sheets at 2 lb. per sheet," 

 26Z. As appended to the bible, they fill just 

 thirteen sheets, including the leaf of rules and 

 the final blank leaf, or 52 leaves in all, signa- 

 tures A to N in fours. For a fuller description 

 see the collation of the Indian bible with the 

 English title. 



Although no separate copies have been found, 

 it is probable that some were bound up in that 

 form, and perhaps with special titles. 



[ ] VVusku I wuttestamentum | nul-lor- 



dumun | lesus Christ | Nuppoquohwus- 

 suaeneumun. | 

 Cambridge, | Printed for the Right 



