Description: We possibly hold the largest INCREDIBLY RARE collection of 12 mo School Bibles in private hands worldwide. ************************************************************* ******You will want to read the full description******* ***George W Mentz PUBLISHED 1829 OT 1827 NT*** NOT LISTED IN HILL'S & NONE HELD WORLDWIDE! Holy Bible George W. Mentz PUBLISHED 1829/27 PRINTED BY Mathew Carey in 1818 ****Long S**** "WHAT, A LONG S PUBLISHED IN 1829?!!" You might ask in Surprise! Yes indeed, George W Mentz PUBLISHED the LAST LONG S School Biblein America in 1830! ***This listing is for an EXTREMELY RARE and VERY UNIQUE PRINTING of an early American Bible*** If you follow the lengthy description through entirely and read the details you will understand the asking price! There were two separate Bible printers/ publishers involved in the making of this Bible. George W. Mentz was primarily a printer of German Bibles and books in Philadelphia. Among the MOST ICONIC EARLY BIBLE PRINTERS was Mathew Carey, he was an apprentice of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN himself! Matthew Carey printed and published the first Douay Reims Catholic Bible in America!(an very valuable Bible!) Matthew Carey printed and published his 12 mo "school Bible" from 1802 until 1818 after purchasing the standing type for that Bible from Hugh Gaine. In one of the photos you will find a portion of the listing from Margaret Hills Catalog that explains the 1818 12mo Bible's unique difference from Carey's other 12mo Bibles. (She explains that there was a typo that she is only describing from o'callaghan's catalog, since at that time an 1818 was NOT ABLE TO BE LOCATED DUE TO RARITY. Since we own a Carey 1818, a Mentz 1826, and this 29/27 we can see that it wasn't actually a typo, but a worn out Long S moving back and forth in the case when Carey printed them all, and that is why you can see in one picture an actual correct spelling in that verse...... ALL SIGNATURES MATCH in all three Bibles showing proof they WERE ALL PRINTED in 1818) The colonial style type font was used primarily until about 1805 (the Long S). Matthew Carey printed many 12mo Bibles, to the point of wearing out the letters, that would occasionally need to be replaced. Eventually, the Long S letter became unavailable for purchase creating the need for Carey to use a mixture of Long S and Short S font in his Last printed 12mo. Mathew Carey suffered from mental depression and had a particularly difficult time especially in 1818. It could be supposed that publishing a Bible that did not agree with his high standards May well have contributed causing him to stop the publication of this Bible. Printed sheets of his 1818 12mo were stored up and left unbound until the last of the sheets were used by his son-in-law and son 7 years later, and some were sold at some point, and published in 1826, 1827, 1829 and 1830 by George W. Mentz The 1826, 1827, and 1829 Mentz 12mo Bible were never listed in Hills catalog as having ever existed (only the 1830 is listed in Hills). It is not unheard of to have a Bible not listed in Hills, but 3 print years BACK to BACK UNLISTED in Hills makes these Bible's EXCEEDINGLY RARE indeed! Rarity alone does not equate to value often among bibles, but printing history in early America does. ****The Last PRINTED Long S Bible or book in America was printed by W. Greenough and Son in 1826 (a Recent Discovery that has since been entered in the American Antiquarian Society)....BUT the LAST Long S School Bible was PUBLISHED in America in 1830 by George W Mentz**** Two of the Mentz 12mo Bibles have exchanged hands several years ago, and sold at low prices due to the sellers not having ANY IDEA regarding the history of these Bibles! There is apparently One 1826, two 1827s, and only one 1830 in holding KNOWN worldwide! ****All things considered regarding this bible, it's print history, it's rarity....this is a fair asking price at $2,000.**** As to condition, this Bible is in good condition overall...please review all photos and ask any questions before making an offer. Also, it is COMPLETE TEXTUALLY, and text block is very sturdy. An extraordinarily rare piece of American Bible printing history, with exceptionally good provenance also!
Price: 1600 USD
Location: Guernsey, Wyoming
End Time: 2024-10-17T19:14:18.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Binding: Leather
Place of Publication: Philadelphia
Language: English
Special Attributes: Collector's Edition, first edition
Publisher: George W Mentz
Topic: Christianity, Bibles
Subject: Religion & Spirituality
Original/Facsimile: Original
Year Printed: 1829