Bay Psalm Book

Title page of the copy of the Bay Psalm Book held by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
a page of the Bay Psalm Book in the Houghton Library

The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre, commonly called the Bay Psalm Book, is a metrical psalter first printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Colony of Massachusetts Bay. It was the first book printed in British North America.[1][2] The psalms in it are metrical translations into English. The translations are not particularly polished, and none have remained in use, although some of the tunes to which they were sung have survived (for instance, "Old 100th"); however, its production, just 20 years after the Pilgrims' arrival at Plymouth, Massachusetts, represents a considerable achievement. It went through several editions and remained in use for well over a century.[3][4][5]

In November 2013, one of eleven known surviving copies of the first edition sold at auction for $14.2 million, a record for a printed book.[6][7][8]

  1. ^ Murray, Stuart A. P. (2009). The Library An Illustrated History. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 9781602397064.
  2. ^ "The Bay Psalm Book". World Digital Library. Library of Congress. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  3. ^ Graham, Fred Kimball (2004). "With One Heart and One Voice": A Core Repertory of Hymn Tunes Published for Use in the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, 1808–1878. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 167. ISBN 9780810849839.
  4. ^ Orcutt, William Dana (January 1931). "The Magic of the Book: More Reminiscences and Adventures of a Book-Man". 1 (1). Boston, MA: The University of Chicago Press. doi:10.1086/612887. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ Wallace, Robert (November 22, 1954). "A very proper swindle". Life. Time Inc. pp. 95–106. ISSN 0024-3019.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sotheby's was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ The World's Most Expensive Book? Rare Book Room, abebooks.com Archived 2016-08-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 14, 2013.