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ANTIQUARIAN BIBLES 
I:
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE BIBLES, TESTAMENTS, & “PARTS” (Part
A) (Part B)
II: POLYGLOTS & ANCIENT LANGUAGES (Part
A) (Part
B)
| III: NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES
IV: MODERN
LANGUAGES NOT ENGLISH OR AMERIND (Part
A) (Part B)
V: BIBLE STUDY AIDS, COMMENTARY, &
“RELATED”
(Part A) (Part B)
 |
NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES
A CATALOGUE
ORDERED BY DATE
|
Sorry!
we have just suffered/enjoyed a bit of a “clean-out” here
. . .
But, this is an area in which usually we are strong.
If it's an area in which you're interested, please let us know . . .
we'll let YOU know, when the “shelf” revives!

The Eliot Indian Bible A Leaf from Daniel/Hosea
Bible. Algonquian. Eliot. 1663. Mamusse wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God naneeswe Nukkone Testament kah wonk Wusku Testament. Ne quoshkinnumuk nashpe Wuttinneumoh Christ noh asoowesit John Eliot. Nahohtãoeu ontchetãoe printeuoomuk. Cambridge [Mass.]: Printeuoop nashpe Samuel Green kah Marmaduke Johnson, 1663. 4to (19 cm; 7.5"). [1] f.
$2000.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
A leaf from the first edition of the Eliot Indian Bible — the first complete Bible printed in the New World, the first complete Bible in an American Indian language, and “the earliest example in history of the translation and printing of the entire Bible in a new language as a means of evangelization” (Darlow and Moule).
The text is Daniel 12:3 (being the end of Daniel's apocalyptic vision of the end days) though Hosea 1–3:5 (with its promises/foretelling of Israel's destruction). It is printed in roman brevier type, in double-column format, with generally 62 lines per column. It took 139 and a half weeks to set the type and print the Bible.
The Bible was a monumental undertaking and achievement in its day and it remains an American monument today.
Evans 73; Wing (rev. ed.) B2755; ESTC W38287; Darlow & Moule 6737; Pilling, Algonquian, 139–152; Pilling, Proof-sheets, 1175–77; Winship, Cambridge Press, pp. 208–44. Removed, inner margin slightly irregular; edges chipped (never approaching text) and light soiling.
Definitely, a treasure. (26071)

A Composite New Testament in
CHEROKEE
Bible. N.T. Cherokee. Worcester & Boudinot. [Composite New Testament, as below]. Park Hill: Mission Press, 1842–59. 12mo (13 cm; 5"). Various paginations.
$9350.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Bible. N.T. Matthew. Cherokee. 1850. Worcester & Boudinot. The Gospel according to Matthew, translated into the Cherokee language. Fifth edition. [bound with several others, as below]. Park Hill: Mission Press, Edwin Archer, pr., 1850. 12mo (13 cm; 5"). 120 pp. [also bound in] Bible. N.T. Mark. Cherokee. 1857. Worcester & Foreman. The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark. Translated into the Cherokee language. Park Hill: Mission Press, Edwin Archer, pr., 1857. 12mo. 72 pp. [with] Bible. N.T. Luke. Cherokee. 1850. Worcester & Boudinot. The Gospel according to Luke. Translated into the Cherokee language. Park Hill: Mission Press, Edwin Archer, pr., 1850. 12mo. 134 pp. [with] Bible. N.T. John. Cherokee. 1854. Worcester & Boudinot. The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to John. Translated into the Cherokee language. Park Hill: Mission Press, Edwin Archer, pr., 1854. 12mo. 93, [1] pp. [with] Bible. N.T. Acts. Cherokee. 1842. Worcester & Boudinot. The Acts of the Apostles. Translated into the Cherokee language. Second edition. Park Hill: Mission Press, John Candy, pr., 1842. 12mo. 124 pp. [with] Bible. N.T. Romans. Cherokee. 1859(?). Worcester & Boudinot. [drop-title] The Epistle of Paul to the Romans. [Park Hill: Mission Press, Edwin Archer, pr., 1859?]. 12mo. 55, [1] pp. Bible. N.T. Corinthians. 1858. Worcester & Foreman. The Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians. Park Hill: Mission Press, Edwin Archer, pr., 1858. 12mo. 125, [1] pp. Bible. N.T. Philippians. 1859(?). Worcester & Foreman. [drop-title] The Epistle of Paul to the Phlippians.[ Park Hill: Mission Press, Edwin Archer, pr., 1859(?)]. 12mo. 43, [1] pp. Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul. 1844(?). Worcester & Foreman. [drop-title] The Epistles of Paul to Timothy. [Park Hill: Mission Press, John Candy, pr., 18?44(?). 12mo. 24 pp. Bible. N.T. James. 1850. Worcester & Boudinot. The General Epistle of James. Translated into the Cherokee Language. Park Hill: Mission Press, Edwin Archer, pr., 1850]. 12mo. 16 pp. Bible. N.T. Peter. 185?. Jones & Jones. [drop-title] The Epistles of Peter. [Park Hill: Mission Press, Edwin Archer, pr., 185?]. 12mo. 24 pp. Bible. N.T. Epistles of John. 1843. Worcester & Boudinot. he Epistles of John. Translated into the Cherokee Language. Park Hill: Mission Press, John Candy, pr., 1843. 12mo. 20 pp. Bible. N.T. Revelation. 1850. Worcester & Boudinot. The Revelation of John. Chapters I–V and XX–XXII. Translated into the Cherokee Language. Park Hill: Mission Press, Edwin Archer, pr., 1850. 2mo. 28 pp.
Creating composite New Testaments composed of mixed editions of the separately published Gospels and other books of the New Testament in Cherokee was a common practice at the Park Hill Mission Press in the middle of the 19th century. The main translators were Samuel A. Worcester, a medical missionary, and Elias Boudinot, a Cherokee who had been educated at the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut. His name at birth was Galagina, but at the school he adopted the name of its chief benefactor. Evan Jones was a Welsh-born missionary who spent 50 years among the Cherokee; John B. Jones was his son and was educated at the University of Rochester and then worked with his father as a missionary among the Cherokee until his death in 1876. The Rev. Stephen Foreman was a Cherokee Presbyterian minister and politician, born in Georgia in 1807, the son of John Anthony Foreman, of Scotch descent, and his Cherokee wife Wattie. He attended Union Theological Seminary in Virginia and Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey.
The first complete New Testament came from the press of the American Bible Society with a publication date of 1860, but it seems not to have really been published until 1862.
Present are 13 separately published works containing 23 books of the N.T. in Cherokee using Sequoyah's syllabary (generally called the “Cherokee alphabet”) and printed at the famous Park Hill mission press. Absent from the present offering are Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, and Jude only. The first three of these were printed as a unit, while Jude was a stand-alone.
There is one illustration, a crucifixion, in John.
This is the most complete composite N.T. in Cherokee that we have ever had in our more than a quarter century dealing in American Indian language materials and Bibles.
Matthew: Pilling, Proof-sheets, 4224; Newberry Library, Ayer Indians, Cherokee-7; not in Darlow & Moule. Mark: Not in Pilling, Proof-sheets (no edition listed); not in Newberry Library, Ayer Indians, (1850 edition listed); not in Darlow & Moule (1858 edition listed). Luke: Not in Pilling, Proof-sheets (no edition listed); not in Newberry Library, Ayer Indians, Cherokee-9; not in Darlow & Moule 2439. John: Pilling, Proof-sheets, 4228; Newberry Library, Ayer Indians, Cherokee-10; not in Darlow & Moule (1838 edition listed). Acts: Pilling, Proof-sheets, 4230; Newberry Library, Ayer Indians, Cherokee-7; not in Darlow & Moule. Romans: Not in Pilling, Proof-sheets; not in Newberry Library, Ayer Indians; not in Darlow & Moule 2446(?). Corinthians: Not in Pilling, Proof-sheets; not in Newberry Library, Ayer Indians; Darlow & Moule 2445. Philippians: Not in Pilling, Proof-sheets; not in Newberry Library, Ayer Indians; Darlow & Moule 2447 (?). Epistles of Paul: Pilling, Proof-sheets, 1214; Newberry Library, Ayer Indians, Cherokee-15; not in Darlow & Moule. Also see North & Nida, Book of a Thousand Tongues (1972), 215 for the publication of the various books of the Bible. Modern black morocco, covers diced and blind-tooled, spine with gilt ruling/beading and a neat gilt spine-label. Most of the Bible parts are browned and more than a few have waterstains. Despite these not uncommon faults we are proud to offer this volume, for we know just how scarce an item it is. (25891)

A New Testament in
CHIPPEWA
Bible. N.T. Ojibway. O'Meara. 1854. Ewh oowahweendahmahgawin owh tabanemenung Jesus Christ, keahnekuhnootuhbeegahdag anwamand egewh ahneshenahbag Ojibway anindjig. Toronto: Henry Rowsell, 1854. 8vo (20.5 cm; 8"). 766 pp.
$1375.00
First edition of this translation of the King James version of the New Testament into the Ojibwa (a.k.a., Chippewa) language; it had been proceeded by the translator's version of the Gospels, in 1850, and by two other complete New Testaments. The translator, Frederick O'Meara (1814–88), was active in translating the Bible, hymns, and the Book of Common Prayer into Ojibwa. He was a member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel mission to the Chippewa and served for many years at the mission on Great Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. The first complete translation of the New Testament into Ojibwa appeared in 1833 and was the effort of Edwin Jones, a surgeon in the U.S. Army (with the help of John Taylor, a U.S. army interpreter). The second translation was by Henry Blatchford and appeared in 1844. O'Meara's is the third translation and the first printed in Canada.
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Pilling, Proof-sheets, 2830 (who lists it as by James rather than Frederick O'Meara); Newberry Library, Ayer Collection, Chippewa-32; Darlow & Moule 3034; Evans, Masinahikan, 570. Recent black moiré cloth, spine with burgundy gilt-stamped leather title and publication labels. Soiling variously and mostly lightly, throughout, mostly to edges and corners; upper outer corner of initial blank repaired some time ago and some leaves at center with tip of lower outer corner chipped (nibbled) away; a few central leaves creased.
A copy not “fresh,” but still worthy. (21121)
For a NEW unillustrated, PDF-format list of 100 Bibles, Testaments,
& Bible Parts in Non-European Languages, click here.
Micmac
Matthew
Printed by
“Megumagea' Ledakun-Weekugukemkawa
Moweome”
in “Chebootook”
(i.e., Halifax)
Bible.
N.T. Matthew. Micmac. 1871. Rand. Pela kesagunoodumumkawa tan tula
uksakumamenoo westowooklw' sasoogoole clistawti cotenink, Did Megumoweesimk.
Chebootook: Megumagea' Ledakun-Weekugukemkawa Moweome, 1871. 12mo. 126 pp.
$750.00


Following the successful early efforts of the 1850s to translate
Matthew, John, Luke, Genesis, Acts, and the Psalms into Micmac, the 1860s were
spent using the new tools and in learning from errors in the first efforts.
The 1870s saw major efforts at revision: Matthew and John were the first
to be revised. Printed at Halifax, Nova Scotia, they have a pronunciation
guide printed on the verso of their title-pages. We are proud to offer "Matthew"
in this new version, which Darlow and Moule state is a revised edition of No.
6781, published in 1853.
Pilling, Algonquian, p. 420; Banks, p. 95; Evans 521;
Darlow & Moule 6788. Not in Newberry Library, Indian Linguistics in
the Edward E. Ayer Collection. Contemporary black cloth in imitation of
pebbled morocco. Binding lightly spotted. Overall an impressively good copy.

First CHEYENNE N.T.
The Cheyenne Translators Have BEAUTIFUL NAMES
Bible. N.T. Cheyenne. 1934. Zemona hoemao maheon-hoestomohestova: zeenano ninitaehaman na nivostanevstomanehaman Jesus Maheonxostaanas. [New York: American Bible Society], 1934. 12mo (18.5 cm; 7.375"). [1] f., ii pp., [1] f., 666 pp.
$300.00
Cheyenne is an Algonquian language (Algic family). Its speakers live in Oklahoma and Montana, having originally lived in Minnesota until the westward expansion of the Anglo population led to life on reservations.
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This is the first New Testament in the language. The translator was Rodolphe Charles Petter(1865–1947), a Mennonite missionary, assisted by Anna Wolfname, Susie Woundedyeyes, Chief Standingelk, and other Indian informants. The verso of the title-page reads: “The New Testament in Cheyenne, translated by Rev. Rodolphe Petter, D.D. from the Greek, with careful comparison with the Latin Vulgate, and other versions.”
North & Nida, Book of a Thousand Tongues (1972), 216. Publisher's black fabrikoid in very good condition, with title gilt on cover. Endpapers, title-page, and some other leaves with smoke-smudges to top and/or fore-portions; preface leaf separated but present. All edges red with top ones darkened. (25292)
For
much more NATIVE AMERICANA including
mission-born linguistic
works, catechisms,
hymnals, etc. click here.
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