Oxford Lectern Bible designed by American typographer Bruce Rogers

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Oxford Lectern Bible
Designed Bruce Rogers (1870-1957)

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Designer Name:	Rogers, Bruce
Title:	The Holy Bible containing 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
Binding:	Hardcover
Book Condition:	VG/NONE (as issued)
Edition:	Limited Edition; One of 1000 Copies
Publisher:	London Oxford University Press 1935
Pages:	1238 - [4], v-xix, [1], 1-1215, [1], 2 leaves
Page Size:	12 by 16 inches
Price:	$35000 (USD)

Very Good/No Jacket - as issued. Limited Edition - one of 1000 copies. Bound in Leather with a gold stamped "IN APPRECIATION / BISHOP CHARLES CLAUDE SELECMAN / BY / MRS. WALTER WILLIAM FONDREN / FEBRUARY 1950" on the front cover. Gold stamped "THE / HOLY BIBLE" on upper spine and "OXFORD" on lower spine.

A bump to one corner, two small cuts caused by the ribbions, closed tears on several pages at the bottom of the page. Please see images. Note that two images of the Title Page are presented. This is to give one an idea of how the lighting may affect the images. If you have any questions, please contact us.

Records going back to 1967 show a minimum of 5 or 6 copies of the 2 volume set (limited to 200 copies) have been sold at auction but I have found only one record of a single volume set being offered (in 2002) and this was actually a 2 volume set put together into a single volume. This lack of the one volume set being available for purchase is probably because most of these single volume sets were in use and have been either been 'used up' or are still in use. In any case, it appears that obtaining a copy of the single volume, especially one in this condition, is much more difficult than obtaining a copy of the 2 volume set in the corresponding condition despite the disparity in the number of copies printed of each one.

Charles Claude Selecman (1874-1958) was an American bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1938. Prior to his election to the Episcopacy, he served as the third President (1923-38) of Southern Methodist University. Author of over 10 books including The Methodist Primer which was first published in 1944 and is still reccommended as an introduction to the Medthodist Faith today.

From http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ricewrc/00024/rice-00024.html "Born at Hazel, Kentucky, Ella Cochrum was in her mid teens when her father died, making it necessary for her to quit school to care for her sister and five brothers. She and Walter Fondren were married on Valentine's Day, 1904 in Corsicana, and soon thereafter moved to Houston, where a son and two daughters were born to them and where they lived for the remainder of their lives. ... The Fondren's interest in aiding worthy institutions led to the establishment of the Fondren Foundation in 1948 to manage the resources of an estate valued at over thirty-three million dollars at the time of Mr. Fondren's death. Prominent among the recipients of this generosity have been St. Paul's Methodist Church, Methodist Hospital, Methodist Homes for Older People and the YMCA, all in Houston and Southern Methodist University in Dallas."

From the booklet An Account of the making of the Oxford Lectern Bible by Bruce Rogers, "...for the size of the leaf, I now learned for the first time, must not exceed the standard dimensions of the folio Bibles used on the brass lecterns of most English churches-and this size was 12 x 16 inches. ...So I proposed to Mr. Milford that he have fifty copies printed for me on larger paper, preferably a hand-made, to which he readily agreed; and eventually two hundred copies were printed on Batchelor's paper in this form, in addition to the printing of 1000 copies on the smaller paper made at the Wolvercote Mill." According to the insert which comes with the booklet, in talking about the additional 200 copies, "The type page is 9 by 13 inches, printed on a leaf 13 by 18 1/4 inches. A volume of this size being inconvient to handle except on a lectern, 200 copies intended for general distribution were divided into two volumes, duplicate title pages and suitable half-titles being supplied. ..."

Comments from around the web

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Lectern_Bible
The Oxford Lectern Bible is a massive edition of the English Bible designed by American typographer Bruce Rogers (1870-1957). The Bible, completed in 1935, was published by Oxford University Press. Each page measures 12 inches ? 16 inches. The type is a special version of Centaur, 22 points, set on a 19 point body so as to save space. The type was set using Monotype's typecasting machine, in a pioneering demonstration that beautiful, well designed books could be produced using modern methods.

It is considered by many to be Rogers' masterpiece, and is recognized along with the other great Bibles, including the Baskerville Bible and the Doves Press Bible.

http://www.arionpress.com/bibpro.htm
... The Oxford Lectern Bible, designed by the celebrated American book and type designer Bruce Rogers (1870-1957) and published in 1935, is generally regarded as the greatest piece of printing in the twentieth century. Rogers modified his own Centaur type in the 22-point size for more compact setting. The resulting pages are spectacular and flawless. Double-column is used throughout. The page size varies: 16 by 12 inches for the standard edition of 1,000 copies, fitting the brass lecterns of Anglican churches, 18-1/4 by 13 inches for the large-paper edition of 180 copies, and 19-1/4 by 14 inches for the unique copy in the Library of Congress. ...

http://www.ucwv.edu/library/rare.aspx [Schoenbaum Library's Rare Books and Manuscripts]
... Baskerville Cambridge Bible. Printed by John Baskerville, Printer to the University. A folio-sized Bible, Baskerville went into debt to print this edition of 1,250 copies. Considered one of the four monumental printed Bibles, the other three being the Gutenberg 42 line Bible, the Doves Press Bible, and the Rogers Oxford Lectern Bible. ...