containing the Old and New Testaments... by the Rev. John Brown.
Glasgow, William Mackenzie, n.d. [c. 1840].
John Brown (1754-1832), minister and theologian was of humble origins and little formal education, and worked as a shepherd in his early years. It was perhaps this background that led him to produce a well annotated bible intended to make it accessible to ordinary men and women:
'The Self-Interpreting Bible remained in print until the twentieth century, in much revised form. Brown transferred lists, tables, and other such aids from his dictionary. The Bible was a far more substantial work, which did not prevent its becoming, as Robert Burns bore out, as familiar in Presbyterian households as John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Thomas Boston's Human Nature in its Fourfold State. Brown's text was furnished with a battery of cross-references, minor marginal notes, short introductions to each book, a summary of contents at the head of each chapter, 'reflections' on each chapter—in effect applying its message to readers—and explanatory footnotes. A lengthy introduction deals with the Bible's authority and inspiration, its interpretation, and biblical history from creation. All were intended, as the title made clear, to make the Bible accessible to the humblest reader, unlike much biblical scholarship today' (ODNB).
Folio (31.7 x 25.7 cm); engraved frontispiece, additional engraved pictorial title (lightly foxed), numerous engraved plates, ownership inscription to first blank, scattered light foxing, occasional age-toning, marbled endpapers; contemporary diced calf, gilt dentelles to covers with triple-ruled border and floral cornerpieces, spine richly gilt in compartments, gilt lettering to second compartment on red morocco ground, lightly rubbed, marbled edges, an attractive example.
'The Self-Interpreting Bible remained in print until the twentieth century, in much revised form. Brown transferred lists, tables, and other such aids from his dictionary. The Bible was a far more substantial work, which did not prevent its becoming, as Robert Burns bore out, as familiar in Presbyterian households as John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Thomas Boston's Human Nature in its Fourfold State. Brown's text was furnished with a battery of cross-references, minor marginal notes, short introductions to each book, a summary of contents at the head of each chapter, 'reflections' on each chapter—in effect applying its message to readers—and explanatory footnotes. A lengthy introduction deals with the Bible's authority and inspiration, its interpretation, and biblical history from creation. All were intended, as the title made clear, to make the Bible accessible to the humblest reader, unlike much biblical scholarship today' (ODNB).
Folio (31.7 x 25.7 cm); engraved frontispiece, additional engraved pictorial title (lightly foxed), numerous engraved plates, ownership inscription to first blank, scattered light foxing, occasional age-toning, marbled endpapers; contemporary diced calf, gilt dentelles to covers with triple-ruled border and floral cornerpieces, spine richly gilt in compartments, gilt lettering to second compartment on red morocco ground, lightly rubbed, marbled edges, an attractive example.
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