A Big Book for a Little Baby

By Mackenzie Warren

It’s not every day that a 25-pound book gets delivered to the office.

12 inch ruler for scale

The newest addition to the PhilaLandmarks collection is a Powel Family Bible, generously donated by Dorothy “Babe” Powel Kehres, a descendant of John Hare Powel, Elizabeth Powel’s nephew and heir. This Bible is not the typical “family Bible;” it does not have annotations of significant life events, such as births, marriages, and deaths, for family members. The only writing is a dedication from Elizabeth Willing Powel in which she gifts the Bible to her great-nephew Samuel Powel. Moreover, this book is not even the typical Bible. It is a lectern Bible made big and printed in large font for use in church services. Having one for personal use in the 18th century was a sign of large personal wealth. This Bible is a “Baskerville Bible,” one of 1,250 copies printed by notable printer John Baskerville at Cambridge in 1763 (If you ever used the font “Baskerville,” you can thank John for inventing it). The Bible from the printer came as a folio, a set of loose sheets of printed paper, and would need to be professionally bound in order to become proper book.

At first, we were confused. Why would Elizabeth give such a big and fancy book to a newborn? The only clues we had were the dedication, Samuel Powel’s (of the Powel House) bookplate, and a very small “1793” written on the lower corner of a blank page. The dedication reads:

This sacred Volume of divine origin [containing all that can console us for the deprivations, and calamities incident to this fleeting life; - and also all that can give a well founded hope of a blessed immortality,] is presented by Elizabeth Powel to the dearest Object of her tenderest solicitude, her great Nephew Samuel Powel; who was born at Powelton, on the 14th day of August 1818 at Noon; he being the Child of John, and Julia Powel; who, she flatters herself will feel it a sacred parental duty on their part, to inculcate on their Childs mind, at an early age, a reverence for, and the necessity of an attentive perusal and observance of the valuable precepts contained in this inestimable Work; so justly distinguished in the Writings of Sir W.m Jones. A Gentleman pre-eminent for virtue, wisdom, piety, taste, and literature.

The opinion of Sir William Jones concerning the sacred Writings is delivered in y.e following words.
“I have regularly, and attentively read the Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion this Volume independent of its divine origen [sic]; contains more sublimity, and beauty, more pure morality, more important History, and finer strains of poetry, and eloquence, than can be collected from all other Books in whatever language, or Age they may have been composed.”

Elizabeth Powel
May the 2d 1819

 We had a lot of questions. Did Samuel Powel purchase the Bible in the colonies or abroad? Did Elizabeth buy this specifically for her great nephew in 1819 and add Samuel's bookplate? Did the Powels buy this at some point and never use it? Was this something to be displayed a sign of wealth? Did it live in the bookshelf next to all of her other books?

I got in contact with Jim Green, Librarian Emeritus of the Library Company of Philadelphia, and asked if he could provide some historical context for the Bible. According to him, it wasn’t uncommon for the general public to purchase lectern Bibles and that the Baskerville Bible was more widely distributed than normal lectern Bibles due to its quality and aesthetics. This would have been something the Powels would show off in their house. The binding and marbled pages are in a lavish style that places the work in England before the Revolutionary War as this quality of binding didn’t occur in Philadelphia until after 1790. He also said that it was unlikely that Elizabeth would have posthumously added Samuel’s bookplate and that Samuel would have added it himself when the Bible was in his possession. However, it is possible that Elizabeth added the year 1793 onto a blank page after Samuel died and the Bible passed into her possession. One example of this practice is that Benjamin Rush’s son James wrote Rush’s name and the year he died (1813) in all of Benjamin’s books. Based off Jim’s expertise and without further evidence, our best guess was that Samuel purchased the Bible while he was spending time abroad in England and the European continent.

You can imagine our excitement when at our 92nd Annual Meeting at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) we found one more clue. The library staff at HSP kindly pulled some of their archival documents relating to the PhilaLandmarks houses for our members to view, which included Samuel Powel’s financial ledger, 1760-1793. I was paging through the ledger and found a payment to Reverend Jacob Duché:

1769 Novemr | To Cash paid for Books & imported for him from London…£17.2.10 ½

Powel family papers, Library Company of Philadelphia.

We were thrilled to find this piece of information. Though not definitive, this might mean that Samuel didn’t purchase the Book while he was in London, but rather he had Duché purchase and bind the book for him and then bring the Bible back to Philadelphia for the Powels (Samuel and Elizabeth Powel married August 7, 1769). Putting all the evidence together tells the story of interpersonal relationships surrounding this object. As friends, Duché purchased the Bible on Samuel’s behalf. Adding his bookplate and displaying it showed those who visited the Powel House the wealth and cultural taste of the Powels. Elizabeth adding “1793” was an act of mourning and remembering her husband. Finally, the dedication and the gifting of the Bible to a new generation ensured a continuing connection over this object.

Thank you again to Babe for keeping this 260-year-old treasure safe and bringing it back home to the Powel House.

Update August 2, 2023

Thanks to scholar and friend of PhilaLandmarks Samantha Snyder, we have new information about the Baskerville Bible. She found a receipt of payment from Samuel Powel to Jane Cannon on October 8, 1777. It reads, “Received October 8, 1777 of Samuel Powel Four pounds Ten Shillings for a Stove & Four Guineas for a Baskerville Bible in full of all Demands.”

Powel Family Business Papers, 1724-1778, The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera, Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

I am thrilled that my previous theory is now disproven. We can say with much more certainty how the Powels came into possession of this Bible. Moreover, we know exactly how costly this book was 14 years after publication and during the Occupation of Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. During the colonial period, American colonists used many different forms of currency including the British pound and Spanish dollar. One British pound was made up of 20 shillings and 1 shilling was made up of 12 pence or pennies. A guinea was a gold coin that was worth 1 pound and 1 shilling. We can compare Samuel’s purchase to the going rate of goods during this time by referencing Sarah Logan Fisher’s journal. Fisher (1751-1796) was a Quaker woman who kept a journal during the Occupation detailing the experience of living under martial rule during the war. Between October 23 and November 1, 1777, she purchased 1 pound (lb.) of sausage for 2 shillings, 6 pence; 2 cows for £15 each; and 1 bushel of potatoes for 10 shillings. A bushel measure of volume equivalent to 8 gallons which means a bushel of potatoes is roughly 60 lbs. If Samuel Powel wanted to pay for the Baskerville Bible in potatoes, he would need 264 lbs. of potatoes. That’s a lot of potatoes!