AA.VV. - Statenbijbel - 1748

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GREAT BIBLE OF THE GENERAL STATES OF THE UNITED PROVINCES OLANDESI BETWEEN CALVINISM, POWER AND MONUMENTAL PRINTING
Imposing Dutch Protestant Bible printed in Gorinchem in 1748, a full expression of religious and political culture of the United Provinces in the Golden Age of the Reformation. This monumental edition of the famous “Statenbijbel,” the official translation approved by the Dordrecht Synod (1618-1619), represents one of the fundamental tools through which the Dutch Republic built its confessional and linguistic identity. The volume preserves the austere and solemn charm of large domestic Calvinist Bibles: strong types, an apparatus of registers and concordances, heraldic engravings dedicated to the House of Orange-Nassau, and an extraordinary contemporaneous binding on wooden boards with dry ferrules and remnants of small metal fittings. The presence of the large heraldic plates dedicated to Willem Carel Hendrik Friso links the book to the political dimension of the Orangist monarchy, turning Scripture into a symbol of civil authority, dynastic continuity, and moral order. The copy, marked by ancient signs of use, marginal gore, and historical restorations, preserves the full material force of Bibles truly read and handed down through generations.

MARKET VALUE
The great Dutch Bibles of the eighteenth century, complete with heraldic plates and preserved in the original contemporaneous binding, show a stable but selective market. Comparable seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Statenbijbel copies, especially in monumental folio with wooden boards and original ferrules, generally range between 1,000 and 3,000 euros, with higher values for copies that are particularly complete, fresh, or of noble provenance. Copies that were actually used but still structurally intact and bound maintain strong interest among collectors of historic Bibles, Protestant culture, and Dutch typography.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary full calf binding on wooden boards, blind tooling on the boards with geometric compartments and floral ferrules, traces of the original metal clasps. Frontispiece with engraved and typographic design, text in Dutch in double column, numerous registers, concordances, and exegetical apparatus. The large engraved heraldic plate dedicated to the House of Orange-Nassau with the motto “Je Maintiendrai,” rampant lions, crown, and princely insignia is present. Backstrip with raised bands and signs of wear. Pages with waterstains, some browning, folds, tears, marginal restorations and signs of use, especially on the first leaves, coherent with the domestic and liturgical nature of the work. In old books with a long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. 27nn; 684; 4nn; 302; 4nn; 344; 4nn; 154; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Statenbijbel.
Te Gorinchem, by Nicolaas Goetzee, 1748.
AA.VV.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The “Statenbijbel” constitutes the fundamental biblical text of Dutch Protestantism. Its origin lies in the Dordrecht Synod’s decision to produce an official translation directly from Hebrew and Greek texts, capable of replacing earlier versions considered imprecise or theologically uncertain. The result was a Bible that played in the Netherlands a role comparable to the King James Bible in the English-speaking world: not only a religious text but a linguistic, cultural, and political foundation of the nation.
This edition of 1748 testifies to the continuity of that project well over a century after Dordrecht. The dedication and heraldic plates linked to William IV of Orange-Nassau clearly show how the Bible was also a tool of political legitimation for the Orangist dynasty. The presence of princely heraldry, dynastic symbols, and the celebratory apparatus transforms the book into an object of representation as well as devotion.
The extremely dense typographic layout, with cross-references and marginal notes, reflects the Calvinist exegetical tradition: the sacred text must be studied, compared, and interpreted through a systematic reading. Large Dutch domestic Bibles like this were often the central book of the home, handed down through generations, annotated, read aloud in public, and kept as a moral heritage of the family.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Editions of the Statenbijbel were numerous from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, but large folio printings with heraldic apparatus and the original binding are today increasingly difficult to find in sound condition. Nicolaas Goetzee, municipal printer of Gorinchem, worked in the tradition of Dutch Protestant typography, characterized by high compositional quality and notable editorial clarity.
The edition reflects the Dutch typographic taste of the late Enlightenment: page monumentality, strong contrast between text and margins, sober yet solemn ornamental devices, and high-impact celebratory engravings. The diffusion of these Bibles contributed decisively to the linguistic unification of modern Dutch.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU / OPAC SBN: censuses of eighteenth-century Statenbijbel editions.
WorldCat: editions “Bybel dat is de gansche H. Schrift” printed in the Netherlands in the eighteenth century.
STCN – Short Title Catalogue Netherlands: records of Statenbijbel editions of the eighteenth century.
Darlow & Moule, Historical Catalogue of Printed Editions of Holy Scripture, sections devoted to Dutch Protestant Bibles.
Herbert, Historical Catalogue of Printed Editions of the English Bible and related Protestant vernacular Bibles.
Studies on the Synod of Dordrecht and the Dutch Reformed Church.