Psalms. The Psalms of David, with the Ten Commandments...New York: James Parker, 1767

PSALMS

THE PSALMS OF DAVID, WITH THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, CREED, LORD'S PRAYER, &C. IN METRE...ALSO, THE CATECHISM, CONFESSION OF FAITH, LITURGY, &C. TRANSLATED FROM THE DUTCH. NEW YORK: JAMES PARKER, 1767

8vo (7 x 4 1/4 in.; 180 x 108 mm). Woodcut head- and tailpieces, title-page for The Heidelberg Catechism; some toning, minor foxing, final four leaves of The Heidelberg Catechism torn with loss to text. Later full brown leather, cover decoratively stamped in blind, marbled endpapers.  

First edition in English of the first book of music printed from type in America

The type for the music notes was obtained from Amsterdam. The psalms were translated from the Dutch by John Livingston, and then into verse by Francis Hopkinson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The Heidelberg Catechism appears as an appendix, as issued.

LITERATURE:

Church 1067; ESTC W6234; Evans 10561; Sabin 66448