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A compleat abstract of the Holy Bible
By G.L. a lover of children
About 1715
This charming book, designed for a child’s small hands, is among the rarest and best-loved treasures in the Cathedral Library. It is about three hundred years old and one of only a few known copies. Measuring a couple of inches, and with just a frail paper wrapper as a cover, it is astonishing that it survives at all. William Blades, a renowned 19th century book collector, described children as enemies of books, ‘often guilty of book-murder’. This little book, however, bears only the signs of having been loved too much.
The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century fuelled the idea that people should be able to read the Bible for themselves. Children must be taught to read and be given books to encourage them to lead godly lives. The Bible was required reading; by the mid-18th century, abbreviated versions were being printed especially for children. This early example, a ‘compleat abstract’ of the Old and New Testaments, is ‘done into verse for the help of weak memories’. The delightful pictures, small and crudely cut, are intended to entertain as well as instruct children learning to read.