First edition. A near fine copy in near fine jacket. An examination of how many different constituencies fought to keep the Bible the preeminent text in the United States as the country's print marketplace experienced explosive growth. The author shows how heated battles had profound consequences for many American cultural practices and forms of printed material. By exploring how publishers, clergymen, politicians, educators, and lay persons met the threat that new printed material posed to the dominance of the Bible by changing both its form and contents, the author reveals the causes and consequences of mutating God's immutable Word. With 52 black-and-white illustrations. From the reference library of Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts with their bookplate included.