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The debut book printed in what is now the United States was a Puritan hymn collection titled The Bay Psalm Book. Released in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1640 by Stephen Daye, this book featured sacred hymns translated from Hebrew in the Old Testament into English. Due to the printers' lack of typographic expertise, the publication is filled with errors, inconsistent spacing, and a rudimentary layout across its 37 pages. Discover 10 fascinating details about The Bay Psalm Book.
10. The Publication Was Crowdfunded Centuries Before Kickstarter Existed
During the late 1630s, Reverend Joseph Glover and his wife Elizabeth Harris Glover planned to relocate from Sutton, London, England, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They sought the enhanced religious liberties offered by Massachusetts Bay. To fund this move, Joseph delivered sermons to gather funds, which he then used to purchase printing type for establishing a press. Setting up a printing operation was a costly endeavor, requiring not only the press itself but also type, ink, galleys, tables, frames, and paper, all imported from England.
Beyond the contributions from his congregation, Joseph secured £49 for his printing venture from seven friends in England and Holland: Major Thomas Clarke, Captain James Oliver, Captain Allen, Captain Lake, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. Freake, and Mr. Hues. Joseph also invested £80 of his personal funds, allocating £20 for the press and £60 for paper and ink.
9. The Untrained Locksmith Who Unexpectedly Operated a Printing Press
On June 7, 1638, in London, Joseph Glover formalized an agreement with Stephen Daye, an indentured locksmith, appointing him as the press operator. Joseph and Elizabeth departed England with their children, servants, Daye, his family, and three workers. This group, accompanied by a printing press, reached Massachusetts in the summer of 1638, though Joseph did not survive the journey, succumbing to a fever at sea. Elizabeth subsequently set up the press in the Cambridge home of Henry Dunster, Harvard University’s first president.
While most experts credit Daye, aged 44 in 1638, as America’s first publisher, his specific roles at the Cambridge Press remain a matter of speculation. Little concrete evidence exists about Daye, and some historians dispute claims of his apprenticeship under a London printer. However, publisher and author Isiah Thomas (1749–1831) asserts that Daye was an apprentice to a London printer. If Daye was indeed a locksmith with no typographic expertise, it’s possible Joseph couldn’t afford or find skilled typographers willing to relocate from London to New England.
8. The Priciest Book Ever Auctioned
The Bay Psalm Book holds the title for the most expensive English-language book ever sold. In 1947, a copy fetched an astonishing $151,000 at the Parke-Bernet Galleries auction in Manhattan, driven by fierce bidding between Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and The Rosenbach Company, representing Yale University.
On November 26, 2013, the book shattered records once more, surpassing The Birds Of America by John James Audubon (which sold for $11.5 million in 2010) to become the most expensive book ever auctioned. David M. Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group, who also owns a Magna Carta copy, acquired it at Sotheby’s for nearly $15 million. Its rarity and status as America’s first published book contribute to its record—only 11 copies survive today.
7. The Authors Were Far From Skilled Writers
The creators of The Bay Psalm Book were well aware that their translations were subpar. Thomas Welde, John Eliot, Richard Mather, and John Cotton, influential figures in the Massachusetts clergy, aimed for a more precise Hebrew translation than the 1562 Whole Book of Psalms in use at the time. Starting in 1636, Welde, Eliot, and Mather each began converting sections of Hebrew into English verse.
Lacking poetic talent, the writing in The Bay Psalm Book comes across as rigid and overly literal. While 30 clergymen contributed to the book, Welde, Eliot, and Mather were the primary authors. Mather even included an apology in the book for the verses' quality, marking the oldest surviving prose both written and printed in America. Despite historians criticizing the awkward phrasing and forced rhymes, the book’s stanzas aided readers in memorizing hymns during an era of low literacy and scarce book availability.
6. A Woman Took the Reins
In the 1600s, it was highly uncommon for women to own or manage businesses. Some historians attribute the establishment of the first publishing house in the 13 colonies solely to Elizabeth Glover. While her prominent role as the proprietress of the Cambridge Press arose from her husband Joseph’s untimely death, she is often referred to as the Mother of the American Press. Although Elizabeth owned the press, Stephen Daye likely served as its manager.
While the full extent of Elizabeth’s involvement remains unclear, a significant clue lies in the press’s fate after her death in 1643. The Cambridge Press became Harvard’s property and was eventually dismantled. The fact that neither Stephen Daye nor his son Matthew, who also worked there, continued its operations after her passing suggests Elizabeth’s deep financial and operational involvement.
5. The Book’s Influence Reached Europe
In 1640, New England comprised 50 towns and a population of 25,000. Given its use by all Puritans in Massachusetts, The Bay Psalm Book became immensely popular among the religiously inclined colonists. By 1647, Daye and Glover released a second edition, likely because the initial 1,700 copies of the first edition had sold out, exhausting the paper imported from England. Available in stores and churches, the book achieved remarkable geographical distribution, with copies from colonial Cambridge reaching as far as New Hampshire and Barbados through private individuals and commercial publishers.
The Bay Psalm Book remained popular in New England for a century and gained readers in Philadelphia, England, and Scotland. Over 50 editions were published, with half printed in England, highlighting its widespread appeal and unexpected transatlantic success. Ironically, the first book produced by Puritans who fled England for religious freedom became a hit back in their homeland.
4. The Book Is Somewhat Chaotic
Lacking formal training in typography, Stephen Daye and Elizabeth Glover often improvised as needed. A quick glance through The Bay Psalm Book reveals numerous spelling mistakes and irregular spacing. Apostrophes were represented by inverted commas, suggesting the absence of a dedicated type block for apostrophes. To compensate, they flipped the comma block upside down.
The book primarily uses Roman type, with occasional italic fonts, varying font sizes, and Hebrew and Greek characters mixed into the English text. The Hebrew letters, appearing in the preface and elsewhere, were likely carved on custom wood or metal blocks. Some pages were bound out of order, and pagination is inconsistent. Instead of page numbers, the bottom-right corners feature the first word or a fragment of the first word from the next page.
3. A Counterfeiter Attempted (And Failed) to Replicate The Bay Psalm Book
The Bay Psalm Book wasn’t the first publication from the Cambridge Press. While the exact opening date of the press is unknown, Elizabeth and Daye produced a broadsheet of “The Freeman’s Oath” in February or March 1639. This oath, required for men over 20 to become legal citizens of Massachusetts Bay, was printed on poster-like paper. Although 50 copies were made, none have survived.
In 1985, counterfeiter Mark Hofmann tried to forge a replica of “The Freeman’s Oath” and sell it to the American Antiquarian Society and the Library of Congress. Hofmann replicated the ornamentation and typography from The Bay Psalm Book. While awaiting authentication of his forgery, Hofmann faced financial ruin, unable to repay debts or produce documents. Desperate, he constructed bombs and killed two individuals: a document collector and the wife of the collector’s former employer. The following day, one of Hofmann’s bombs detonated in his car, leaving him severely injured. In 1988, Hofmann was sentenced to life in Utah State Prison.
2. Colonial Printers Couldn’t Rely Solely on Book Sales
Print shops were scarce in 17th-century colonial America, limiting reading options and increasing the value of books. Educated professionals like lawyers and clergymen purchased The Bay Psalm Book to celebrate their religious freedom, while parents used it to teach hymns to their children. Every congregation in the Massachusetts Bay Colony relied on it. The book was sold at the Cambridge Press office and Hezekiah Usher’s Cambridge bookstore, New England’s first bookstore. Despite its popularity and multiple editions, the Cambridge Press couldn’t sustain itself on book sales alone.
The Cambridge Press generated most of its income by printing Harvard University materials, a Native American Bible translation, official documents, primers, catechisms, and almanacs. Unlike London print shops, colonial presses often doubled as bookstores. To boost revenue, printers sold stationery, lottery tickets, and small musical instruments alongside books. Booksellers even accepted payments in goods like corn, pork, or beef instead of cash.
1. The Earliest Printed Music in British North America
In 1698, Boston printers Bartholomew Green and John Allen released the ninth edition of The Bay Psalm Book, notable for including the first printed music in British North America. Before this, no printing presses were capable of producing sheet music, so Green and Allen likely had to reconfigure the type to incorporate musical notations. The treble and bass for 13 songs were printed on 63 wooden blocks, each about 1 centimeter (0.375 in) tall and 5 centimeters (2 in) long. Since the treble and bass for the same song occasionally appeared on separate pages, it’s possible the printer lacked musical knowledge, though this could also be attributed to the size limitations of the blocks.
Puritans considered religious music a means to worship God—secular music was seen as a distracting and frivolous waste of time, but sacred music aligned with scripture was valuable. They viewed the book as a direct link to God, singing the psalms to vocalize the literal word of God.
