THE BOOK OF REVELATION
 The Holy Bible, Oxford: Printedby John Baskett |
And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things that must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the prophecy of this book. Revelation 22:6-7 |
The Book of Revelation has a long history itself.
For Christians of the early Church, the events in the Book of Revelation
primarily symbolized the actions of Christ and His Church and only symbolized
political events secondarily. This view has its source in the twentieth
book of Saint Augustine of Hippo's City of God.
The Bibles of Roman Catholics, such as the two Latin Bibles on display here,
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were often illustrated with woodcuts that depicted John's vision so that even the illiterate could understand the events it symbolized. For Protestants such as John Foxe, however, the Book of Revelation described the political events in which he was engulfed, namely, the struggles of the English Reformation.
Foxe's
Book of Martyrs was arguably the most widely read book in English after
the Bible itself, and its depiction of the war of the Church and the Antichrist
set the tone for English and American apocalyptic preachers for 250 years.
Carried across the Atlantic by the first American settlers, Foxe's book
bequeathed a historical timeline that allowed them to interpret current
events in light of the events of the Apocalypse, as we see in "The Order
of Time" from an English Bible circa 1607. This timeline was so pervasive
in American life of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that it could
well be said to stretch from the cradle to the grave, and beyond to the
resurrection of the dead.
The two "Hieroglyphick" Bibles on display were used
to teach young children
verses from Revelation, and a Bible
from 1726 depicts the resurrection of the dead 
from
Revelation 20:12 on its title page. This timeline culminates in the great
battle with the Antichrist, whom American and English Protestants identified
with the Catholic Church, as the illustration of Foxe's book makes clear.
A Curious Hieroglyphick Bible: Printed at Worcester, Mass 1788
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A New Hieroglyphick Bible, with Devotional Pieces for Youth
Gift of N. Willis.
2. Biblia Sacra vulgatÊ editionis, Sixti V. Pont. Max. iussu recognita atque edita. Venetiis: Apud Iuntas, [1627].
Gift of Reverend William Wyllie.
3. The Bible, that is, The Holy Scriptures contained in the Old & New Testament. [London]: Imprinted by Robert Barker, printer to the Kinges Most Excellent Maiestie. Cum privilegio, [1607].
Gift of Mr. H.R. Pratt.
4. The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, newly translated out of the original tongues and with the former translations diligently compared and revised. By His Majesty's special command. Oxford: Printed by John Baskett, Printer to the University, 1726.
5. A Curious Hieroglyphick Bible. Or, Select passages in the Old and New testaments, represented with emblematic figures, for the amusement of youth: designed chiefly to familiarize tender age, in a pleasing and diverting manner, with the early ideas of the Holy Scriptures: to which are subjoined, a short account of the lives of the Evangelists, and other pieces/ illustrated with nearly five hundred cuts. [Worcester]: Printed at Worcester, Massachusetts by Isaiah Thomas and sold at his bookstore, 1788.
6. A New Hieroglyphick Bible, with Devotional Pieces for Youth/ containing four hundred cuts, by Adams. New York: Published by J.C. Riker, 1849.
Gift of Reverend William Wyllie.
7. St. Augustine of Hippo. Diui Aurelij Augustini De summa Trinitate libri quindecim opus prorsus diuini cui Theologice veritates illuminati doctoris Francisci Maronis aptissime conectutur. Basileae: Iohanis Koburger, 1515.
From the Stone Typography Collection.
8. John Foxe. The New and Complete Book of Martyrs. Or, An universal history of martyrdom containing the whole of Fox's Book of Martyrs originally composed and written by the Rev. and celebrated Mr. John Fox, the whole newly revised, corrected, modernized, and improved with editions and great improvements by Paul Wright, D.D. London: Printed for Alex Hogg at the King's-Arms, No. 16. Paternoster Row, [1784].
Gift of Mrs. Patricia J. Edgerton.