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THE PSALTER, OR PSALMS OF DAVID. New-London: Thomas C. Green, 1795.
Rare late eighteenth-century American Psalter printed in New London, Connecticut by Thomas C. Green in 1795. This compact devotional volume contains the Psalms arranged for liturgical use, “pointed as they are to be sung or said in churches,” reflecting the worship practices of the early American Episcopal Church in the years following independence.
12mo. Contemporary full sheep, original binding. Text printed in double columns throughout. Title page present. Complete through Psalm CXL before the commencement of the Morning Prayer section. Lacking the final four leaves at the rear. Binding worn with splitting along the spine and rubbing to extremities; old dampstaining, heaviest toward the lower margins and rear of the volume; occasional staining and wear from use. Despite faults, the text remains generally clean, legible, and remarkably well preserved on strong rag paper. An unrestored survival retaining its original eighteenth-century binding.
Thomas C. Green was among the principal Connecticut printers of the Federal period, and surviving examples of his smaller religious imprints are increasingly difficult to locate in commerce. Unlike many contemporary devotional books that were discarded after generations of use, this example remains substantially intact and offers a tangible glimpse into the religious life of post-Revolutionary New England.
A scarce Connecticut imprint in original binding, desirable to collectors of early American printing, Episcopal history, and eighteenth-century devotional literature.
