Biblia or a Practical Summary of Old & New Testaments. 1728. Wilkin, R. [London]. 1727. Underlined in red and hand corrected to 1728. Black binding.

Biblia or a Practical Summary of Old & New Testaments. Wilkin, R. In S.Paul's Churchyard. [London]. This particular copy has been ruled in red on every page, including title-pages, plates and blank leaves, before being bound. Adomeit records only a single copy that has been decorated in this way (Adomeit copy 1), in fact Adomeit stated that  it "is the only Thumb Bible located that has been so decorated". 1727 hand corrected to 1728. Adomeit reports that other than the rare red underlining and this date alteration, "there seems to be no difference" between copies with the handwritten dates and those without them. [i-iv], [1], 2-153, [154-155], 156-278, [279-84] printed pages (worm cast in lower margin for first few leaves, not affecting the text; text block slightly thumbed; second title-page smudging of two of the 16 horizontal lines; very mild spotting). 16 copperplate engravings, including two frontispiece illustrations, one preceding the Preface and another prior to the main text, as well as two engraved title pages. Issued by printer and bookseller Richard Wilkin, this is the first English thumb Bible in prose, all earlier editions having been in verse, and was very popular with children; illustrations in the Wilkin Bible are "vastly superior" to those in the Newbery edition. Indeed, the plain but finely executed depictions of Biblical subjects, such as Noah, Joshua, and the Nativity, are striking for the boldness of their lines. It is for this and other reasons that Bondy considered the Newbery Bible to be "distinctly inferior in most respects" to Wilkin's Bible. 3 x 4 cm.  Original black morocco (minuscule split on front cover; very little rubbed; inner hinges cracked but holding firm). An image of a title-page from a copy that has not been underlined in red ink is supplied for comparison. Adomeit, B16. Bondy, 33. MyrvoldParmente, 58. Welsh, 1003.   131 firsts2024