The Bible in Wampanoag

Audio: 

The Holy Bible : containing the Old Testament and the New / translated into the Indian language, and ordered to be printed by the Commissioners of the United Colonies in New-England, at the charge, and with the consent of the Corporation in England for the Propagation of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New-England.

Purchased with the Irwin collection, 1900.

PML 5440

Transcription: 

Jesse Erickson:

The printing press used for the Algonquin Bible, Samuel Green’s press, was the first known in the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America, arriving from England in 1638. Elizabeth Glover, the former owner of the press and widow of Reverend Joseph Glover, accompanied it to the shores of the “New World.” Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the press found its place there, eventually becoming an early precursor to Harvard University Press.

By the time the Algonquin Bible was printed, Samuel Green had assumed responsibility for the press. Green sought assistance from Marmaduke Johnson, an experienced English printer who later established Boston’s second printing press. This collaborative team brought the Algonquian Bible to fruition.