Adopt an Artifact – Bishop White Bibles

Bishop William White was the first presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States as well as the Chaplain of the Continental Congress and the rector at Christ Church. His home is located near 3rd and Walnut Streets and is part of Independence National Historical Park. Independence Historical Trust is raising funds to conserve eight historic bibles located in Bishop White’s Library.

The Bibles are part of Independence National Historical Park’s museum collection. The earliest Bible in the collection dates from 1599 and most recent was published in 1821. Among the group is the personal Bible of William Ellery, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Rhode Island, and Bibles printed by Mathew Carey. Carey’s print shop was located just a few doors down from Ben Franklin’s shop on what is now known as Market Street.

How can you help?

To conserve all eight Bibles, we need to raise $5,825. You can choose to give any amount towards the total price of the Bibles

-or-

You can choose to adopt an individual Bible for the price to conserve that particular bible. For individuals adopters, your name will be listed on the website as the adopter of that artifact. For a complete list of the Bibles and their prices, see below.

Bibles Available for Adoption

#1 (1817) The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testament (catalog # 6672)

Object Date: 1817 Site of Origin: Brattleborough, VT. Acquisition Date: 5/2/1966

Conservation Needs: Repair to the leather that is brittle and deteriorating. Repair to the head-cap to prevent further deteriorating and ultimate board separation.

Price to Conserve: $625

#2 (1808) The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testament: together with the Apocrypha. Printed and published by Matthew Carey, Philadelphia. (catalog # 998)

Object Date: 1808 Site of Origin: Philadelphia, PA. Acquisition Date: 8/6/1962

Conservation Needs: Re-backing the volume. repairs to marginal tears and replacement of Fly leaves with periodic paper.

Price to Conserve: $575

#3 (1599) The Holy Bible: Printed at London, [Breeches Bible]. (catalog # 2141)

Object Date: 1599 Site of Origin: London Acquisition Date: 1/1/1951

Conservation Needs: To preserve the binding and to slow deterioration, will build a clamshell case to house the book. Treat the leather and slow deterioration. The current condition of the book tells a story of its history and the people who owned it. The goal is to make repairs that maintain and preserve the current structure and state of the binding.

Price to Conserve: $740

#4 (1806) The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments: translated out of the original tongues. Printed by Matthew Carey, Philadelphia. (catalog # 2141)

Object Date: 1806 Site of Origin: Philadelphia, PA. Acquisition Date: 6/12/1967

Conservation Needs: Consolidate the deteriorating leather. Volume to be re-backed while retaining the original spine and title label.

Price to Conserve: $610

#5 (1783) The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments: translated out of the original tongues. Printed at the Clarendon Press, Oxford. (catalog # 371)

Object Date: 1783 Site of Origin: Oxford, Great Britain Acquisition Date: 1/1/1951

Conservation Needs: Resewing the text block to the original manner using the original sewing stations. Rebound the book using original materials and period fly leaves to be added.

Price to Conserve: $740

#6 (1818) The Holy Bible Translation and notes by Adam Clarke. Volume III (catalog # 12959)

Object Date: 1818-1820 Site of Origin: New York, NY. Acquisition Date: 12/7/1966

Conservation Needs: Reform the spine and restore to its original shape. replace panels with replicas matching originals.

Price to Conserve: $840

#7 (1818) The Holy Bible Translation and notes by Adam Clarke. Volume IV (catalog # 12960)

Object Date: 1818-1821 Site of Origin: New York, NY. Acquisition Date: 12/7/1966

Conservation Needs: Reform the spine and restore to its original shape. Replace panels with replicas matching originals. Headbands sewn and the volume re-backed whilst retaining and conserving the original spine leather.Repair a large tear on the back board.

Price to Conserve: $855

#8 (1818) The Holy Bible Translation and notes by Adam Clarke. Volume II (catalog # 7172)

Object Date: 1818-1821 Site of Origin: New York, NY. Acquisition Date: 12/7/1966

Conservation Needs: Reform the spine and restore to its original shape. Replace panels with replicas matching originals. Treat with consolidating formula to preserve the dry flying leather.

Price to Conserve: $840

About the Conservator

For this project, the Trust will be hiring Byzantium Studios, LTD. Located in Oklahoma.

Founded in 1999, Byzantium Studios produces fine letterpress facsimiles of early printed books. Their focus has been on History of Science. Their most celebrated work was the first letterpress facsimile of Galileo’s “Siderius Nuncius”, published in 2004 with the assistance of the University of Oklahoma.

Recently they have began more artistic and original endeavors. The press owns an Albion and a Vandercook No.4. The studio as a fully equipped bindery capable of producing fine leather work and tooling.

To follow them on Facebook, go to Facebook.com/Byzantium-Studios-Limited

How to Donate

Donating to this project is easy. For credit card payments, scroll to the bottom and fill out the form.

To mail a check, please make payable to Independence Historical Trust and send to the following address:

143 S. Third Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106

Mark in the memo line or include a note that tells us that you are making a donation to the Bishop White Bibles. If you are adopting an individual bible, please include the Bible # and year in your note.

Donate in Honor of Someone

This holiday season, donate in honor of someone in your life who would appreciate supporting the preservation of history. To give a donation in someone’s name, please include their name and contact information (if you want acknowledgement sent to them)* in your note. An acknowledgement of your gift in their name will be given to them.

*Acknowledgment letters will be sent out when donation is received. Trust office can not guarantee mail to be received by a certain date for holiday gifts.