The Bay Psalm Book is the name usually given to the metrical Psalter printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1640, its published title being The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre. The first full-length book to be printed in English in the New World, the Bay Psalm Book was printed on an imported press that had been set up eight years after settlement (that is, in 1638), and which had been used only for pamphlets. Of the 1700 Bay Psalm Books printed (an estimated one copy per eight colonists), a mere eleven are known to have survived. In 1947, the last time a first edition Bay Psalm Book was sold, the price reached $151,000, the highest sum ever paid for a book at that time. One of the most …
1840 words
Citation: Morris, Amy M.E.. "Bay Psalm Book". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 September 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6408, accessed 25 November 2024.]
