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Exceptional 1736 King James Bible printed at Oxford by John Baskett, Printer to the University, containing extensive 18th-century handwritten family records associated with the Appleby and Cornell families of colonial Long Island, New York, together with a collection of early handwritten devotional manuscripts and ephemera preserved within the volume.
This is much more than an early printed Bible. It appears to have served for generations as a family Bible, genealogical register, devotional book and repository for personal papers.
1736 JOHN BASKETT OXFORD BIBLE
The main title page reads:
“The Holy Bible, Containing the Old Testament and the New: Newly Translated out of the Original Tongues… By His Majesty\'s Special Command. Appointed to be Read in Churches. Oxford: Printed by John Baskett, Printer to the University. MDCCXXXVI.”
Printed in 1736 during the reign of George II, the volume contains the King James Bible together with substantial Church of England material, including the Book of Common Prayer/liturgical material, Psalms, royal prayers and declarations, and an extensive biblical index.
The New Testament bears a 1735 imprint, which is consistent with the known configuration of this 1736 Baskett edition.
ORIGINAL 18TH-CENTURY FAMILY REGISTER
Of exceptional interest are the handwritten family records entered directly into the Bible.
Among the clearly legible entries are:
Thomas Appleby
Born 1709
Died October 5, 1794
Mary Appleby
Born June 19, 1714
Died December 23, 1780
Thomas Appleby
Born August 19, 1753
Katterin / Catherine Appleby
Born August 22, 1756
Elizabeth Appleby
Born August 10, 1759
An earlier entry also appears to record the marriage of Thomas Appleby and Mary Cornell/Cornwall in 1746.
The entries were written in different inks and hands and appear to have accumulated over time, consistent with the Bible being maintained as a working family register rather than the genealogy being copied into the volume at a much later date.
MARY CORNELL APPLEBY & COLONIAL NEW YORK
The Mary Appleby recorded in this Bible can be identified with unusually strong confidence as Mary Cornell Appleby (1714–1780).
Published genealogical records independently identify Mary Cornell, daughter of Caleb Cornell and Elizabeth Hagner of Cow Neck, Long Island, as the wife of Thomas Appleby and give her exact dates as:
Born June 19, 1714
Died December 23, 1780
These are the same exact dates recorded by hand in this Bible.
Mary was therefore born in what was then the British Province of New York, decades before American independence, and lived through the Revolutionary era.
THE HISTORIC CORNELL FAMILY
Mary Cornell Appleby belonged to the historic colonial Cornell family, established in America during the 17th century.
Published Cornell genealogies trace the Cow Neck/Long Island Cornells into the larger early American Cornell family. This is the same extended Cornell family from which Ezra Cornell (1807–1874), co-founder of Cornell University, descended.
Mary was not an ancestor of Ezra Cornell; rather, they belonged to different branches of the larger Cornell family sharing earlier colonial ancestry.
The significance here is therefore genealogical: this Bible preserves an original 18th-century manuscript record of one branch of the historic Cornell family, rather than being a later printed genealogy.
No claim is made that Ezra Cornell personally owned or handled this Bible.
EARLY MANUSCRIPTS PRESERVED INSIDE
A remarkable group of loose handwritten papers and ephemera was found preserved between the pages and is included with the Bible.
These include several early devotional and religious manuscripts, apparently saved by generations of owners.
Among them is a handwritten piece headed “Thomas Ellwood verses,” containing devotional verse associated with the English Quaker writer Thomas Ellwood (1639–1713). This is presented as a period manuscript copy of the verse, not as an autograph manuscript in Ellwood\'s hand.
Another manuscript ends with the attribution “Hervey” and contains devotional reflections concerning poverty, illness, charity and death, apparently copied from devotional literature.
Additional manuscript material includes religious and memento-mori verse, including:
“Oh what is Death: ’tis Life’s last Shore / Where Vanities are vain no more…”
and another handwritten piece beginning:
“Hark from the tomb a doleful sound…”
Together these manuscripts provide a fascinating glimpse into the private religious and devotional practices of the Bible\'s early owners.
DAVID LAMBERSON RECEIPT / DEVOTIONAL MANUSCRIPT
One particularly interesting manuscript illustrates how paper was reused during the period.
One side is an early commercial account headed approximately:
“Bot. of David Lamberson”
and records purchases of textiles including calico, red coating and muslin, with prices calculated in the traditional pounds/shillings/pence system.
It concludes:
“Rec\'d Payment D. Lamberson.”
The reverse of the same piece of paper was subsequently reused for handwritten devotional material, apparently explaining why this otherwise ordinary commercial receipt was preserved within the Bible.
A David Lamberson is documented in Revolutionary-era Queens/Long Island records, although the identity of the individual who wrote this particular receipt has not been conclusively established.
NEARLY THREE CENTURIES OF USE
Taken together, the family register and loose manuscripts transform this volume from simply an early Bible into a surviving 18th-century family and devotional archive.
The Bible was printed in Oxford in 1736 and became associated with an identifiable family living in colonial Long Island, New York. Births, deaths and other family events were recorded within it, while prayers, devotional verses, accounts and other papers were preserved between its pages.
The volume was eventually discovered in the Bronx, New York, where it had survived nearly three centuries after its printing.
This approximately 290-year-old Bible remains in remarkably appealing, authentic antique condition, showing the expected evidence of generations of use while retaining a strong overall presence.
The original-style leather binding displays considerable age-related wear, rubbing and areas of leather loss, particularly along the spine, edges and corners. The binding remains intact overall, although some sections and preliminary leaves are loose or weakened.
The interior is quite well preserved considering the age of the volume. The printed text remains dark, crisp and highly legible, with many pages presenting exceptionally well for an early 18th-century book. There is expected age toning, occasional foxing and staining, edge wear, small tears and other signs of nearly three centuries of handling.
The handwritten family register remains remarkably legible, including the important 18th-century Appleby/Cornell birth and death records.
The accompanying manuscript papers survive in varying condition with expected folds, toning, staining, edge wear and occasional losses, but the handwriting remains substantially legible and the collection retains tremendous historical character.
The Bible is being preserved as found, and no attempt has been made to clean, erase, modernize or otherwise alter the historic inscriptions or manuscript material.
The volume has not been professionally collated leaf-by-leaf, so absolute completeness cannot be guaranteed.
Considering its 1736 date, extensive use as a family Bible, surviving manuscript genealogy and accompanying handwritten material, the volume presents as an exceptionally evocative survivor of the 18th century.
Please examine the numerous detailed photographs, which provide the best representation of the Bible\'s condition and form an important part of the description.
