Printed by Sir D. Hunter Blair and J. Bruce; The Holy Bible 1812

DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION

• Description
• Hardcover | Cloth. Two volume pocket format set bound in red leather-effect cloth boards with a wrap-around fore-edge cover and a single original brass clasp mounted centrally on the front board. Language: English. Size: 13 cm by 7.5 cm.
• Book Condition
• Fair
• Wear to corners, edges and spine ends. Tears to upper and lower wrap-around spine edges with creased and fragile spine ends. Rubbed boards. Tightly bound with intact endpapers and strong hinges. Handmade bookplate to front paste downs. Rear boards have visible marks where clasps have been inserted into the boards. Tipped in provenance slip dated 1911 recording history of previous owners who died in 1859. Clean unmarked pages. Clasp functional although a little stiff to open. One clasp does not close, very fragile clip.
• Dust Jacket Condition
• No DJ

NOTES

• Publishing History
• Sir David Hunter Blair and John Bruce held the prestigious royal patent as King's Printers for Scotland during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Sir David Hunter Blair, 3rd Baronet (1778–1857), was a prominent Scottish landowner and Member of Parliament who oversaw the modernization of Scottish biblical printing. Under his partnership with John Bruce, the firm became the primary authority for the King James Version in Scotland, known for producing technically accurate and portable editions that reached every corner of the British Empire. Their work in 1812 represents the pinnacle of the Regency-era pocket press, combining the high standards of the Edinburgh printing tradition with the industrial capacity required to meet the spiritual demands of a nation at war.
• Provenance
• William Macmath (1844–1922) was a preeminent Scottish antiquarian and bibliographer whose professional career as an Edinburgh legal scholar belied his profound impact on global folk history. While working as a meticulous solicitor, Macmath dedicated over three decades to a tireless collaboration with the Harvard academic Francis James Child, serving as Child’s primary Scottish agent. He single-handedly tracked down and transcribed thousands of rare ballad manuscripts and obscure song fragments from private collections, and Child himself acknowledged that without Macmath’s 'entire devotion,' many of the foundational English and Scottish Popular Ballads would have been lost. Macmath was a founder member of the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society, and his personal library was renowned for its depth in Scottish history and genealogical research.
• Resume
• This 1812 Edinburgh edition comprises the Authorized King James Version of the Old and New Testaments in a rare two-volume pocket format. Issued without illustrations to maintain its portability, the text focuses on providing a clean, scholarly reading experience for the individual believer. The Scottish imprint distinguishes it from the larger contemporary productions in London and Oxford, reflecting the specific liturgical and academic standards of the Church of Scotland. This set is bibliographically enhanced by the tipped-in provenance slip by the Edinburgh scholar William Macmath (1844–1922), whose work with Francis James Child on the English and Scottish Popular Ballads made him one of the foremost researchers of Scottish heritage during the early 20th century.

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