[BIBLE, in English] -- [THE MACKLIN BIBLE]. The Old [and New] Testament, embellished with Engravings, from Pictures and Designs by the Most Eminent English Artists. London: Thomas Bensley for Thomas Macklin, 1800.

6 volumes, folio (459 x 367 mm). Half-titles, 8pp. printed list of subscribers, 70 copper-engraved plates after Henry Fuseli, Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West and others (including 2 engraved frontispieces and engraved dedication), approximately 115 engraved vignette head- or tailpieces. (Slight toning, spotting and offsetting, some minor staining and soiling, a few short marginal tears with a few leaves in vol. VI detaching.) 19th-century red pebbled morocco gilt, spines in 7 compartments with 6 raised bands, gilt-lettered in 3, the rest gilt-decorated, edges gilt, red silk bookmarks (spines sunned, a few covers detaching, some minor wear and soiling).

FIRST EDITION of the "Macklin Bible," printed for subscribers, which included the British Royal Family and including the Old and New Testaments of the King James Bible. The font was specially designed for this edition, and words printed in italics are distinguished by a dot under the first vowel of the emphasized word. The plates, dated between 1791 and 1800, were finished 5 days before Macklin's death. The engraved illustrations were principally designed by Philip James de Loutherbourg, with contributions from other British painters, and were produced by 19 engravers, most notably Francesco Bartolozzi, John Landseer, and William Sharp. The largest letterpress printed Bible in English of its time, "the Macklin Bible endures as the most ambitious edition produced in Britain, often pirated but never rivaled" (DNB). Darlow & Moule 982; ESTC T123175; Herbert 1442.

Property from the Dorros Family Collection

[BIBLE, in English] -- [THE MACKLIN BIBLE]. The Old [and New] Testament, embellished with Engravings, from Pictures and Designs by the Most Eminent English Artists. London: Thomas Bensley for Thomas Macklin, 1800.

[BIBLE, in English] -- [THE MACKLIN BIBLE]. The Old [and New] Testament, embellished with Engravings, from Pictures and Designs by the Most Eminent English Artists. London: Thomas Bensley for Thomas Macklin, 1800.