Description

Hitchcock’s New and Complete Analysis of The Holy Bible: Or, The Whole of the Old and New Testaments Arranged According to Subjects in Twenty-Seven Books. Copyright 1869. Revised and edited by Rev Roswell D. Hitchcock. Published by A. J. Johnson, Mulberry Street, NY, 1870. Half-leather bound. Illustrated. Believed to be first edition. A very unique copy of this comprehensive work from 1870. Aside from the text and stunning steel engravings / illustrations, this particular book has interesting pieces laid in from the original owner. Folded nto the family record section in the back is the original owner’s marriage certificate, dated 1862 – the Civil War era. The couple was married in VT and lived in NH. The records are filled in with beautiful penmanship of the time. The owner’s daughter appears to have died very young, and there is a beautiful poem dedicated to her in this section. I am unable to recognize the poem; though it may be another’s words or a famous lyric, it is touching. There is also a handmade / hand stitched bookmark laid in that says “Holy Bible,” along with a small canvas handmade piece that says “From James” in the family record section. This copy has a lot of personal touches and history of the family, relics of another century. There is also a pull-out color map in the back of the book. All outer edges of this heavy and substantial book are gilt. The book measures 7.25” x 11” and nearly 3” in depth. Overall, this is a quite good copy for its age with rich history to behold. Condition: The covers, edges, and corners have some wear and scuffing, as shown. The spine has areas of denting and frayed edges, top and bottom. The internal pastedowns may have been replaced at some point. There is some debris on the pastedowns and a stamp of the previous owner on the ffep. There is some foxing on the plates / illustrations and tissue guards and sporadically to some of the text pages, especially the text ones near the illustrations and tissue. The vast majority of pages, however, are clean, overall, save for occasional small marks or stains. No writing noted in the text pages (except for the family record pages). The binding is quite good for its age and holding. There is a small section of pages towards the rear that have lightly folded corners towards the bottom. The page that houses the handmade bookmark has tanning in that area. The bookmark ribbon portion has signs of age and frayed / worn edges.