Jonathon Byrd Collection No single book has had a more profound
impact and influence on Western culture than the Holy Bible. The
period of discovery, settlement and development of English
speaking America by the Europeans, of course, brought with it
the Bible. However, the rights of its publication in the New
World were fiercely guarded, and of some considerable value. As
such, no Bible in the English language was permitted to be
printed in the Colonies, and this stricture held firm until the
Colonies revolted in 1776 (although Bibles in languages other
than English were permitted and three German Bibles were
published before the Revolution). Once the shackles were
removed, the production of the Bible in America blossomed and
over 2000 editions of the Bible and Testament were printed in
the United States before 1900. Surprisingly, many of these
Bibles are very rare, and there have been few significant
collections formed that show the breadth and variety of the
printing of these works. The Bibles here describe