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Detail from a page of the King James Bible (London, 1611)
About the Collection

Overview

The Quayle Bible Collection was assembled by Bishop and former Baker University President William A. Quayle over his lifetime and given to the University upon his death in 1925. The Quayle Collection contains illuminated manuscripts, early printed Bibles and early editions of the major translations of the Bible into English, and other works exhibiting the history of printing and the book arts.

The Quayle exhibit is graced by the Urishay Room, the drawing room of a fine 17th century English country home with a large stone fireplace, hand-carved oak panels and 17th century furnishings.

The Collection

The core of the Quayle Rare Bible Collection was a gift of the estate of Bishop William Alfred Quayle, a Baker alumnus who later served as Professor and President before going on to a career in the Methodist Church.

The original collection comprised about 250 Bibles. Through the years, additions of Bibles, of items illustrating the history of Bible translation, of manuscripts and illumination, and of printing as well as related items have brought the collection to about 500 items.

Taking a look chronologically, the collection has example of ancient writing and materials – clay tablets, scrolls, papyrus. A few medieval manuscripts and illustrated leaves show developments in the late middle ages (11th through 14th centuries).

There are about a dozen incunabula from the original collection. The holdings include an Eggesteyn Bible, two Coberger Bibles (one a first edition), and two Froben Bibles.

Certainly one strength of the collection lies in the representation of early translations into English. Although we don’t have a Wycliffe manuscript which was the precursor of the other early translations (we have only a facsimile) we do have early examples of the other major early translations. These include

  • Matthew’s Bible (an early edition)
  • Taverner
  • Coverdale Bible, the second edition
  • Tyndale
  • Genevan Bible
  • Bishop’s Bible
  • Douai-Rheims
  • King James, a first edition, and a number of other early editions

There are some examples of printing in eighteenth century America, also. A couple of leaves of John Eliot’s translation of the Bible into an Indian language published in 1661, Cotton Mather’s Magnalia Christi, books printed by Christoph Saur, Robert and Jane Aitken and others demonstrate the lively state of our early publishing industry.