THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS CONSIDERS THE PUBLICATION OF A BIBLE,
1777
by
William H. Gaines, Jr.
The early summer of the third year of the Revolutionary War was a period of crisis for
the struggling colonials. One British army under General Burgoyne had launched an
invasion of New York State from Canada and, having conquered Ticonderoga, was moving
down the Hudson towards Albany. Another, commanded by General Sir William Howe, was
being herded aboard the troopships that were to take them from New York to the Head of
Elk in Maryland, from which they were to march overland to the rebel capital at
Philadelphia. In that city, the Continental Congress was busy with the
varied complex of problems, military, diplomatic, and financial, that were all crying
for attention and action.
There, on the seventh of July, 1777, a petition from a group of Presbyterian clergymen
was received, which called on the Congress to underwrite the printing of an edition of
the Bible for the use of patriot families. This petition was sponsored by the Reverend
Francis Allison, assistant pastor of the first Presbyterian church of Philadelphia; John
Ewing, provost of the University of Pennsylvania; and William Marshall. These gentlemen
were much concerned over the lack of Bibles in the colonies and the difficulty of
importing them from abroad, and they apparently felt that a war for liberty could not be
won by bullets alone. The petition[1] was immediately referred to a committee consisting of John Adams of
Massachusetts, Daniel Roberdeau and Jonathan Bayard Smith of Philadelphia.[2]
The petition, the original manuscript of which appears in the Papers of the Continental
Congress, is printed here below for the first time:
- 1. As the Price of Bibles for the Use of Families and Schools is greatly
advanced beyond what was formerly given for them, thro their Scarcity and Difficulty
in importing them from Europe, it is highly expedient for Congress to order a common
Bible to be printed under their Inspection for the Use of ye
united States of America.
- 2. That as there are about 500,000 families in the united States, each standing
in Need of one or more Bibles, many Thousand Copies of the holy Scriptures are
immediately wanted and ought to be furnished at a moderate Price.
- 3. That as there are not Types in America to answer this Purpose, there should
be a compleat Font, sufficient for setting the whole Bible at once, imported by
Congress at the Public Expence, to be refunded in a stipulated Time by the
Printer.
- 4. That in Order to prevent the Paper Makers from demanding an extravagant Price
for the Paper, and retarding the Work by Breach of Contract or otherwise there
should also be imported with the Types a few Reams of Paper, not exceeding a
thousand, at the Beginning of the Work, to be paid for by the Printer in ye same Manner as ye Types are to be paid
for.
- 5. That a Printer be employed, who shall undertake the Work at his own Risque
& Expence, giving a Mortgage on ye Font & Printing
Materials, with sufficient Personal Securities for his Fidelity, until the first
Cost of ye Font, ye Paper, & such
Sums of Money as the Congress may think proper to advance to him for Dispatch of the
Work, be refunded to the Public.
- 6. That in Order to render the Price of Binding as low as possible, the Congress
order their Commissary General for Hides etc to deliver to the Printer at a moderate
Price all the Sheep Skins furnished at ye Camp, to be tanned
for this Purpose.
- 7. That the Printer be bound under sufficient Penalties to furnish Bibles to
ye Public at a limited Price, not exceeding ten Shillings
each, & to prevent any Retailer, under him in the united States from asking an
higher price on any Pretence whatsoever.
- 8. That, as the greatest Precaution is necessary to preserve the sacred Text
uncorrupted & free from Errors, an accurate & skillful Corrector of the
Press be employed at a proper Salary, to superintend the Impression, untill the
whole Bible be composed: and then that the Frames be carefully locked up in proper
Places prepared for ye Purpose, to guard against an accidental
or designed Alteration of them, and to have them ready for constant Use to supply
the Public Demand.
- 9. That the Printer on no Pretence whatsoever presume to strike off any Sheet of
the Bible, untill the Corrector has examined a sufficient Number of Proofs &
judged it to be sufficiently accurate & corrected: and that this Precaution be
taken as often as any Frame is used after having been locked up for some Time
past.
- 10. That ye most correct Copy of the Bible that can be
found be delivered by ye Congress to the Printer, who shall be
bound by solemn Oath not to vary from it knowingly in his Edition, even in a single
Iota, without first laying the proposed Alteration before Congress & obtaining
their Approbation.
- 11. That the Corrector be bound by a similar Oath, to correct the Sheets
according to that Copy.
- 12. That instead of the old Dedication to King James, a new Dedication to the
Congress be drawn up & prefixed to the Bible.
- 13. That instead of the Words, newly translated out of the
original Tongues, & By his Majesty's special Command, in the Title Page
of our Bibles, it be said, translated from the original
Tongues, and, Printed by Order of Congress.
- 14. That the Printer employed in the Work devote himself to this Business alone;
& that no other Printer in the united States be suffered to interfere with him
in the Printing of that Form or Kind of a Bible, which he has undertaken.
- 15. That after the Bible is published, no more Bibles of that Kind be imported
into the American States by any Person whatsoever.
This was no ordinary printing job which Mr. Allison had proposed and of which Congress
was expected to dispose. Up to 1777, there had been no complete English Bible printed in
the colonies, and the English-speaking inhabitants depended on British presses for their
copies of the Scriptures. There had been Bibles printed in the colonies, but these had
been in non-English tongues and
had been produced in relatively small
numbers. Thus, as early as 1663, Samuel Green and Marmaduke Johnson of Cambridge,
Massachusetts, had issued one such printed in the Maumee tongue, the
lingua franca of the New England Indians. This was the famous and rare Eliot
Bible, prepared by the Reverend John Eliot for the use of Congregationalist missionaries
to the red heathens of Massachusetts. Then, in 1743, Christopher Saur, a Rhenish German
printer settled in Germantown, Pa., issued a Bible in German, the first to be published
in a European tongue in North America. Even Saur had had to use imported paper and type.
However, another edition of the German Bible, which appeared in 1763, was the first to
use American-made paper. Then, in 1776, Saur's son, also Christopher, published the
first Bible to be printed from American-cast types. However, these were all limited
editions, the Saur or German Bible, running only to 1200 copies, while the third or 1777
edition to only 3000.
[3] The
project now before Congress, on the other hand, called for 20,000 English Bibles to be
run off by an American printer at a time when every resource was at least theoretically
devoted to war production. However, the committee to which Mr. Allison's petition had
been referred began studying the most practicable way of solving the problem, and before
arriving at a solution turned to the printers of Philadelphia, inviting them to submit
estimates and to give their advice on the best way to print 20,000 Bibles. This was
quite natural, since at that time many of the competent printshops in the Confederation
were located in that city. Of the other two colonial printing centers, New York was in
the hands of the enemy, while Boston was many days' hard travel from the capital of the
Confederation. At least five printers, all of them Pennsylvanians, submitted estimates
in which every phase of the work, the cost of every piece of equipment and every
material was quoted.
One of those submitting bids was Robert Aitken[4] (1734-1806), a Quaker of Scotch birth, who was already
established in his profession by his work as publisher of the Pennsylvania Magazine and of an edition of the New Testament. Figuring 24 pages
to each sheet and the weight[5]
of type necessary to print one sheet at 144 (6 per page), he estimated a total of 34
sheets (or 4896 wt) for the entire job, then added 600 additional weight of type to
reach an estimated font of 5496 weight of type for the whole. Allowing a cost of 5
shillings per sheet or per 144 weight of type, Aitken set the cost of type alone at 1374
pounds. Although the specifications called for the use of nonpareil type, Aitken,
feeling that this type would wear out sooner than brevier "being of smaller face,"
maintained that 200,000[6]
Bibles could be run off from the latter, and submitted
a sample sheet
of the Bible printed in this type. The types, he thought, should be purchased at the
foundry of Dr. Wilson in Glasgow, for these produced "the best metal and the neatest
letter in Europe." Aitken made no suggestions, however, as to how the embattled colonies
were to obtain this superior metal while Glasgow remained loyal to the Crown and while
the British fleet maintained its blockade.
As for paper, Aitken based his estimates on a total of 200,000 Bibles and called for
146,000 reams, 73 reams sufficing to print a thousand. Since the domestic product seemed
adequate neither in quality nor quantity, he advised that this commodity be imported
from Germany or France and allowed a cost of 15 shillings per ream or a total cost of
10,950 pounds. (At this rate, 20,000 would have cost 1095 pounds.) By way of fixed
equipment, he felt 13 presses, one of which was to be used for running proofs, would be
necessary. These like "penny pies" could be obtained for 10 pounds each in Glasgow, but
for not less than 42 pounds in Pennsylvania. It is significant that he used the lower
figure in totalling up his estimates. Chases, 84 of which were necessary, were
obtainable for 3 pounds each in the colonies but could be had for only 15 shillings each
in that paradise for impecunious printers, the loyal city of Glasgow. A labor force of 6
compositors and 24 printers (2 to a press) could complete the work, Aitken felt, in 20
months. Calculating from the price of leather then prevailing, he estimated the binding
cost per volume at 4 shillings. Arriving at a total cost for the job of 33,281 pounds, 5
shillings and 4 pence (after allowing for a difference of 66-2/3 in the exchange price
of all material imported from abroad), Aitken showed that the actual cost per Bible was
only 3 shillings 4 pence apiece.
Another printer who submitted a bid on the job was Thomas Bradford (1745-1838), son of
"the patriot printer," William Bradford, and co-publisher with him of the Pennsylvania Journal.[7] He submitted two sets of estimates, one for printing
20,000 Bibles and one for 30,000. For the former number, he estimated that 1100 reams of
paper would be sufficient, whereas 2000 reams would be necessary for an edition of
30,000 copies. Bradford, like the other printers, was acutely aware of the paper
shortages within the colonies and advised that that commodity be imported from either
France or Holland, where it was obtainable for 6 to 8 shillings the ream, and expressed
a preference for the Dutch product. His type estimates, which he based on a Bible of 45
sheets, each taking a font of 200, allowed for imperfections and deterioration, for he
called for a font of 10,000 weight. He estimated that 8 hands could complete the job in
6 months, and he fixed the expenses of composition at 14 pounds per sheet and press
costs at 20 pounds. Apart from his estimates and possibly looking to his
own interests in the event that the Congress should award him the contract, Bradford
recommended that no Bibles be imported, once the Congressional edition was completed,
for ten to fifteen years. He was the only one of the five printers to make this
suggestion specifically.
The founder of the Pennsylvania Packet and the man who had
printed the Declaration of Independence, John Dunlap, also entered the competition on
July 10, 1777.[8] Dunlap
estimated that 300 pounds of type would be necessary to set one sheet, but pointed out
that it would be desirable to obtain a total of 8000 weight to set all sheets at once,
since the types were so small and delicate that they would be worn out "if frequently
worked." Paper, which might formerly have been purchased from Great Britain at 10
shillings per ream, posed a problem. Dunlap hoped that if enough could be imported to
begin the job, he would be able to get the remaining stock made in Pennsylvania. The
cost of paper and type was estimated by him at 4000 pounds sterling, and he allowed
$500 for labor. Binding would cost 4 shillings per volume.
Another printer who submitted estimates on the Congressional Bible was Henry Miller
(1702-1782), native of Waldeck, Germany, and publisher of the Wochentliche Philadelphische Staatsbote.[9] Allowing a font of 156 weight for each sheet and figuring
that 35 sheets would be necessary for the work, Miller stipulated a total type weight of
5460, but allowed an additional 1360 to allow for errors. He estimated that the type
alone would cost 1687 pounds 10 shillings, and pointed out that types of good metal and
having the proper depth would be sufficient for two impressions of 10,000 copies each.
While making no estimate of the quantity or cost of paper needed, the German felt that
it should be made by master workmen in that craft, "which will hardly be possible in
this Country at this present time." Pointing out that the number of printers and
compositors would have to be fixed "and their attendance assured" before an estimate
could be made on the time to finish the job, he guessed that it could not be done in
much less than a year. As leather was not to be had, he refrained from making any
estimate of binding costs.
The last of the Philadelphia group submitting bids was William Sellers (1725?-1804),
who had served his apprenticeship in London before he set up his shop in Philadelphia in
1764 and who with David Hall had published the Pennsylvania
Gazette.[10] Sellers
figured on a total font of 6000 weight, which would cost about 1500 pounds sterling. If
these were cut "clear and deep," he felt that they would suffice for two impressions of
10,000 copies each, but a third impression from the same type could not be expected to
be as satisfactory. Calling for approximately 1500 reams of paper, he found no
satisfactory supply
existing in the United States, and thereby implied
the need for importation. As to the time element, Sellers thought that two compositors
might set the whole in nine months, and that two presses could run off 10,000 copies in
the same length of time.
The committee considered these propositions for a little better than two months before
it reported to the Congress. In that interval, the military developments had been
sufficiently disastrous to the American cause that all but the most urgent business was
delayed. By the 25th of August, "Blue Billy" Howe's expeditionary force had established
a beachhead at the Head of Elk in Maryland and was deploying for a strike at
Philadelphia itself. By the tenth of September, that army had defeated Washington's at
the Battle of the Brandywine, and only the Schuylkill river stood between the invaders
and the capital of the Confederation. In the north, the news was not so bad, but it was
bad enough. Burgoyne had advanced almost to the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson
rivers, and though both his right and left wings had been defeated, he was still in a
position to capture Albany and to seize the Hudson Valley for the Crown. Benedict Arnold
and Daniel Morgan were to annihilate this threat at the battle of Bemis's Heights in
late September, but at the time it seemed very likely that Gentleman Johnny's reckless
stroke would succeed.
Thus, on the eleventh of September, Mr. Adams, Mr. Roberdeau, and Mr. Smith submitted
their report on Mr. Allison's petition to a Congress that undoubtedly was more concerned
with the military situation, particularly the one on its own doorstep. The committee,
tacitly considering the advice of the Philadelphia printers, but also, it must seem,
influenced by the nearness of Blue Billy's veterans, reported unfavorably on the
project. Noting that "the proper types . . . are not to be had in this country" and that
"the paper cannot be procured but with such difficulties and subject to such casualties
as render any dependance on it altogether improper," the committee's report dwelt on
"the risque of importing them" and on the uncertainty of any calculations of expenses
"in the present state of affairs." Thus, they recommended that no attempt be made to
import these materials. Recognizing, however, that "the use of the Bible is so universal
and its importance so great," they recommended also that the Committee of Commerce be
ordered to import the 20,000 Bibles from Holland, Scotland "or elsewhere." A motion to
this effect was approved with all four New England states, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Georgia supporting the measure, while New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and both
Carolinas opposed it. The resolution being read a second time, final action was put off
until the nineteenth.[11]
Before that date, however, the body was concerned almost exclusively in finding enough
reenforcements to stop Howe and save Philadelphia. On the eighteenth, the emperilled
legislators discreetly resolved to adjourn their deliberations to the more restful
atmosphere of Lancaster. Two days later, General Charles Grey surprised the usually
vigilant Anthony Wayne in his bivouac at Paoli; Howe slipped across the Schuylkill with
his main body; and on Friday, the twenty-sixth of September, the British marched into
the erstwhile Continental capital. The government in exile at Lancaster returned to
Philadelphia the following summer, but it did not resume the Bible project until 1782.
In that year, the Quaker printer, Robert Aitken, working under Congressional auspices,
produced the first complete Bible printed in English in the New World.[12] But by then, Philadelphia
had been four years restored to American rule, France had recognized the independence of
the revolted colonies, and Yorktown had been fought and won. The new nation, though far
from being out of the political or financial woods, no longer had a well-armed hostile
army on the outskirts of its capital. A printing project, which the exigencies of war
and invasion had made impractical and relatively unimportant, became attainable within a
year after Cornwallis' surrender.
Notes
