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Haverhill’s Museum of Printing is displaying many rare Bibles from its collection through April 30.
The Museum has one leaf from every Bible printed in Colonial America, including the first Bible printed in America—the Eliot Bible of 1663 in the Algonquin Indian language. Because the King James Bible had typographical errors, King James ordered what became known as the 1762 Baskerville Bible. It is considered one of the most beautiful Bibles and the typeface designed for it is named for its designer, John Baskerville, and still used to this day.
There are also giant folio-sized Bibles and pocket-sized Bibles. The so-called Pony Express Bible was small enough to travel with the mail riders racing across the Western Plains. A replica of the Gutenberg Bible allows visitors to see the work that started the process of printing. Leaves from Luther’s German translation are on display and they changed religion forever. “The Book of 1,000 Tongues” has a Bible passage set in every language known in 1939. Many of those languages have disappeared.
While supplies last, the museum is offering a handout that tells the story of the printed Bible throughout history.
The Museum of Printing, 15 Thornton Ave., Haverhill, is open by appointment and every Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.