{{Orphan, date=March 2017 A Thumb Bible is a type of

miniature book A miniature book is a very small book. Standards for what may be termed a miniature rather than just a small book have changed through time. Today, most collectors consider a book to be miniature only if it is 3 inches or smaller in height, wid ...

. A usually paraphrased or abridged version of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, it is a devotional volume whose name refers to its size. Many thumb bibles were intended for children and were decorated with pictures. The first Thumb Bibles were published in the early seventeenth century, with several hundred different editions being printed in subsequent centuries.

History

The first known Thumb Bible was written by John Weever in verse form. Entitled ''An Agnus Dei'', it appeared in

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in 1601. It measured 3.3 by 2.7 cm (1.3 by 1.1 in) and contained 128 pages of six lines. In 1614, John Taylor published his ''Verbum Sempiternum'', which also summarised the Bible in verse form. These were designed to provide instruction to children who were not old enough to read the Bible itself. The first Thumb Bible in prose was published in London in 1727, under the title ''Biblia or a Practical Summary of ye Old & New Testaments''. This contained 300 pages and measured 3.6 by 2.4 cm (1.4 by 0.9 in). The term 'Thumb Bible' was first coined by Longman and Co. of London in the mid-nineteenth century, when they used it on the title page of an edition in 1849. Thumb Bibles continued to be printed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Approximately 300 different editions survive. As well as being published in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, versions were printed in French,

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and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Notable Thumb Bibles

*''An Agnus Dei'' (John Weever, 1601) *''Verbum Sempiternum'' (John Taylor, 1614) *''Novum Testamentum Graecum'' (Jean Jannon, 1628/1629) *''Biblia or a Practical Summary of ye Old & New Testaments'' (1727) *''The Bible in Miniature, or a Concise History of the Old and New Testaments'' (1780) *''Bible du Petit Poucet'' (1800)

References

*Bruce M. Metzger, 'Unusual formats', in Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan (eds.), ''The Oxford Guide To Ideas and Issues of the Bible'' (

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Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2002), pp. 118–119.
4000 Years of Miniature Books
*Currie, Alyssa J.
The Victorian Thumb Bible as Material Object: Charles Tilt’s The Little Picture Testament (1839)
" ''Cahiers victoriens et édouardiens'' 84 Automne (2016). Bible versions and translations