HARPER'S 1843-1846
ILLUMINATED BIBLE
John Gadsby Chapman, Artist
Joseph Alexander Adams, Engraver
belonging to
Dr. Walter Carey, Batavia, Buffalo, New York

These 2 volumes of 3 volumes of the 1843-1846 Harper's Illuminated Bible belonged to Dr. Walter Cary (1818-1881). Volume 1 is pages 1-400 and volume 2 is pages 441-844. Both complete the Old Testament.

Dr. Walter Cary was born December 21, 1818 and died November 1, 1881 in Marseilles, France.. He was the only child of Trumbull Cary, an agent of the Holland Land Company, and Margaret Eleanor Brisbane. He attended Union College and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

Dr. Cary married Julia Love, the daughter of Judge Thomas Cutting Love. Cary was a man of culture and refinement, and for many decades his house was one of the brightest spots in the social and cultural life of the city.

It was also the home of Cary's vibrant sister-in-law Maria Love.

Dr. Cary was a close frind of President Millard Fillnore and Mrs. Grover Cleveland.

The Cary family met Saint Gaudens while in Paris and at the Saint Gaudens National Historic Site you can find a bronze 9 1/6X6 9/16 inches and also a bronze 9 3/8X6 3/4 inches. Both are in the private collection of Saint-Gaudens.

This Bible would be a great investment for you to donate to a Buffalo historical society or Library. They may even have volume 3 which would have family records.


This is a picture of the bottom of the spine (left) and the top of the spine (right). Both are worn but the pages are together. There are only two volumes (I and II) in this auction which covers the Old Testament. I assume the third volume which would have contained the Apocrypha and the New Testament is in the hands of the Cary family because this volume would have contained the family pages of The Illuminated Bible.


This view shows the gold gilded edges. The top and bottom edges are also gilded. All pages are in very good condition.

signed by Walter Cary
Coat of Arms
Ams-Argentum. Three roses of the field on a Bend Sable
Crest - a Swan ppr.
Motto- Vurtute Excerpertae

The technical description of the present Coat-of-Arms is as follows: Arms is the shield and its devices. Argentum is silver. The bend is the diagonal piece, or band, across the shield. Sable is black. Crest is the figure above the shield. Motto means: Exceptional for valor, selected for courage, or of exceptional bravery. ppr (proper) means natural

This view shows the full view of the endpapers and the bookplates. Both front and rear endpapers are marbled. Also shows a death notice that is included. The obituary is for Trumbell Cary dated June 20th in his 82nd year (born 1787). He was the father of Dr Walter Cary. Trumbull was born in Mansfield, CT 1787 and removed to Batavia, New York in 1805. In 1817 he married Margaret Brisbane. His house became noted for a refined and genial hospitality, unsurpassed even among the opulent homes of Western New York. You can see this 184 Delaware Ave. , Buffalo, NY home at ah.bfn.org/h/cxary184del/source1.html. There are 14 pictures at source1[to 14].html. Mr. Carey was in the assembly and Senate of New York.

The frontispiece on the left and the Old Testament title page on the right were also designed and engraved by John Gadsby Chapman and Joseph Alexander Adams. The frontispiece is titled Meeting of Jacob and Joseph.

The illuminated name in The Illuminated Bible was not named for the illustrations but for the colors that were used in the twelve color plates. Without the picture on the right and the other color pages it would be known as the Harper Bible - not The Illuminated Bible 1846 because as mentioned previously it became known as the 1846 only after all the parts were completed in 1846 and the color pages added.

The prospectus for the Bible said it would be published in 50 numbers, but, it ended up printed in 54 parts of 24 pages each. The parts were published starting in 1843 and ended with part 54 in 1846. In part 54 was included the title page showing 1846 and instructions for binding the Bible. In 1846 the parts were bound together producing what then became known as the 1846 Illuminated Bible.

This particular Bible was bound in three volumes (two included in this listing). It is unknown if there is another two volumes bound like this in existence. A customer could have these parts bound by any bindery. This one is not bound by Harper's. There are only four known covers that Harper's used. These two volumes include parts 1 through 35 plus one folio for pages 841-844. Each part was three signatures of eight pages each and then the three signatures were hand sewn together on the side. Each grouping of the 24 pages clearly show the three holes from the hand sewing at 4.5 inches apart and the placement of these holes vary with each part.


This is Genesis 1:1 and page 1 which shows the work of John Gadsby Chapman's artistry and Joseph Alexander Adams engraving. Credit for both is given at the bottom of the painting.

JA Adams went to Harper's in 1836 and proposed this Bible and from 1836-1843 it was known as the Harper-Adams Bible. Adams was in control of the publication and hired Chapman to draw 1400 of the illustrations that appear in this Bible. In addition he drew over 1000 floriated letters at the beginning of chapters.


In addition to the 1400 illustrations and the floriated letters by Chapman there were 187 5x7 inch pictures in this Bible. The illustrations were bordered by John Chapman but the illustrations themselves have never been identified other than in the prospectus they mention celebrated 'English and French' artists did the work.


This is an example of the 1400 illustrations that Chapman added to the text and one of the floriated letters that appear in this Bible.

These leaves alone are rare. The Haydn Foundation for the Cultural Arts, 1993 featured a folio of 38 leaves from historic Bibles, each archivally matted, presented in four cloth clamshell portfolios limited to 100 sets with accompanying essays. This portfolio included a leaf from The Illuminated Bible 1846 with the other 37 and was priced at $8,800.00. That's an average of $231.58 per leaf. These two volumes contain 422 leaves plus the color pages.

If you want to find value for your Bible, most appraisers will not appraise your Bible unless it is printed before 1700 or before 1800 if printed in America, however they point out rare exceptions exist for an 1841 Hexapla, 1833 Webster or The Illuminated Bible 1846.

Condition: Provenance for bookplate - in very good condition. Individual pages are in very good condition. Covers are worn and still attached. Both spines are well worn. Needs rebinding which would raise value greatly.