Synopses & Reviews
“An American Bible is an extremely compelling piece of cultural history that succeeds in making rich rather than schematic sense of the major dramas that lay behind the production of over 1,700 different American editions of the Bible in the century after the American Revolution. Gutjahr’s book is especially powerful in demonstrating how nineteenth-century efforts to purge the Bible of textual and translational impurities in search of an ‘authentic’ text led ironically to the emergence of entirely new gospels like the Book of Mormon and the massive fictionalized literature dealing with the life of Christ.”
—Jay Fliegelman,
Stanford University
During the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century, American publishing experienced unprecedented, exponential growth. An emerging market economy, widespread religious revival, educational reforms, and innovations in print technology worked together to create a culture increasingly formed and framed by the power of print. At the center of this new culture was the Bible, the book that has been called “the best seller” in American publishing history. Yet it is important to realize that the Bible in America was not a simple, uniform entity. First printed in the United States during the American Revolution, the Bible underwent many revisions, translations, and changes in format as different editors and publishers appropriated it to meet a wide range of changing ideological and economic demands.
This book examines how many different constituencies (both secular and religious) fought to keep the Bible the preeminent text in the United States as the country’s print marketplace experienced explosive growth. The author shows how these heated battles had profound consequences for many American cultural practices and forms of printed material. By exploring how publishers, clergymen, politicians, educators, and lay persons met the threat that new printed material posed to the dominance of the Bible by changing both its form and its contents, the author reveals the causes and consequences of mutating God’s supposedly immutable Word.
Review
"A fascinating journey through the history of the Bible in America, unprecedented in its scope, erudition, and imagination."Jon Butler, Yale University
Review
"An American Bible is an extremely compelling piece of cultural history that succeeds in making rich rather than schematic sense of the major dramas that lay behind the production of over 1,700 different American editions of the Bible in the century after the American Revolution. Gutjahr's book is especially powerful in demonstrating how nineteenth-century efforts to purge the Bible of textual and translational impurities in search of an 'authentic' text led ironically to the emergence of entirely new gospels like the Book of Mormon and the massive fictionalized literature dealing with the life of Christ."Jay Fliegelman, Stanford University
Review
"Gutjahr not only presents a fascinating and comprehensive picture of the Good Book's history, but brilliantly illumines the explosive world of 19th-century printing and marketing."New England Quarterly
Review
"An American Bible is a major achievement. . . . It is also an engrossing and readable book . . . rich in detail and color."Christianity and Literature
Synopsis
“An American Bible is an extremely compelling piece of cultural history that succeeds in making rich rather than schematic sense of the major dramas that lay behind the production of over 1,700 different American editions of the Bible in the century after the American Revolution. Gutjahrs book is especially powerful in demonstrating how nineteenth-century efforts to purge the Bible of textual and translational impurities in search of an ‘authentic text led ironically to the emergence of entirely new gospels like the Book of Mormon and the massive fictionalized literature dealing with the life of Christ.”
—Jay Fliegelman,
Stanford University
During the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century, American publishing experienced unprecedented, exponential growth. An emerging market economy, widespread religious revival, educational reforms, and innovations in print technology worked together to create a culture increasingly formed and framed by the power of print. At the center of this new culture was the Bible, the book that has been called “the best seller” in American publishing history. Yet it is important to realize that the Bible in America was not a simple, uniform entity. First printed in the United States during the American Revolution, the Bible underwent many revisions, translations, and changes in format as different editors and publishers appropriated it to meet a wide range of changing ideological and economic demands.
This book examines how many different constituencies (both secular and religious) fought to keep the Bible the preeminent text in the United States as the countrys print marketplace experienced explosive growth. The author shows how these heated battles had profound consequences for many American cultural practices and forms of printed material. By exploring how publishers, clergymen, politicians, educators, and lay persons met the threat that new printed material posed to the dominance of the Bible by changing both its form and its contents, the author reveals the causes and consequences of mutating Gods supposedly immutable Word.
Synopsis
“A fascinating journey through the history of the Bible in America, unprecedented in its scope, erudition, and imagination.”—Jon Butler, Yale University
“This pathbreaking study of the production of Bibles in the early history of the United States is a splendid effort in every way.”—Mark A. Noll, Wheaton College
Synopsis
Looks at the publishing history of the Bible in nineteenth-century America.
Synopsis
This book examines how the Bible, first printed in the United States during the Revolutionary War, underwent many revisions, translations and changes in the nineteenth century as different editors and publishers adapted it to meet changing ideological and economic demands, and how others fought to keep it pre-eminent.
Table of Contents
Figures; Preface; 1. Production; 2. Packaging; 3. Purity; 4. Pedagogy; 5. Popularity; Postscript; Appendixes; Notes; Bibliography; Index.