899 Antique Holy Bible KJV – Victorian Yapp Leather Bible – Illustrated Teachers Edition - Ref x750

1899 antique holy bible – illustrated teachers’ edition – eyre & spottiswoode – full yapp bindinga wonderfully evocative late-victorian holy bible with a particularly appealing piece of surviving social and religious history: an original 1899 east street baptist sunday school, southampton prize presentation label preserved inside the binding.printed by eyre & spottiswoode, printers to the queen’s most excellent majesty, this compact bible contains the old and new testaments, translated out of the original tongues and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by his majesty’s special command.the volume is presented in a handsome black full yapp-style binding, with the flexible covers extending beyond and folding around the edges of the text block. the spine is lettered “holy bible” in gilt, with “illustrated teachers’ edition” appearing towards the foot.what makes this particular copy especially charming is its original presentation label:east street baptist sunday school, southamptonprize for regularity, repetition and good conduct
hand-dated december 1899the inscription records this bible as a genuine victorian sunday school prize, giving the volume a tangible connection to the religious and educational life of britain at the very end of the nineteenth century.detailsdate: 1899 (hand-dated presentation inscription)
period: late victorian
publisher / printer: eyre & spottiswoode
printer designation: printers to the queen’s most excellent majesty
edition: illustrated teachers’ edition
translation: king james / authorised version
contents: old and new testaments
binding: black full yapp-style binding with gilt spine lettering
provenance: east street baptist sunday school, southampton prize presentation
presentation date: december 1899
dimensions: approx. 13.5 cm × 11 cm × 3.2 cmconditionthis is an authentic antique bible more than 125 years old and bears substantial evidence of its long working life.the binding is heavily worn, particularly around the projecting yapp edges, corners, head and foot of the spine. there are areas of loss, fraying and deterioration to the outer covering, clearly visible in the photographs.the gilt “holy bible” spine lettering nevertheless remains attractive and legible.internally, the pages display expected age-related toning, spotting and signs of use. the original 1899 sunday school presentation label has survived and shows age-related foxing and manuscript writing.the photographs form an important part of the condition description and should be examined carefully before purchase. the bible is offered in its present antique condition, with its wear retained as part of its history rather than disguised through modern restoration.a piece of victorian religious historybeyond being an antique bible, this volume is a surviving artefact of victorian christian life and sunday school culture.its 1899 presentation label records the moment it was awarded by a baptist sunday school in southampton for achievement and conduct. more than a century later, the inscription remains with the book for which it was originally written.an atmospheric addition to a collection of antique bibles, victorian religious books, king james bibles, sunday school memorabilia or nineteenth-century christian history, and an unusual historical gift for a bible collector.