Das Kleine Davidische Psalterspiel der Kinder Zions

Baltimore, MD: Berlegt von Shaffer und Maund, 1816. First improved edition [bound with first edition]. Leather Bound. Very Good. 4 1/4 x 6 3/4 inches. [6] + 600 numbered pages. Bound with: Die Kleine Harfe. Baltimore: Berlegt von Shaffer und Maund, n.d. [c.1816]. 56 pages. A rare example of early American German printing. Pages toned and a few stained or dampstained. Bound in contemporary full black leather with remnants of gilt rules on spine. Covers worn and split with loss. Still a very good copy of this rare work with notable provenance from the library of Samuel Hart. Rare Early Baltimore German Psalter from the library of Samuel Hart, which experienced a fire that damaged a number of books. As a result, items from Hart's library are extremely rare. Samuel Hart (1845-1917) was dean of the Berkeley Divinity School, the (un)official "middle way" seminary of the Episcopal Church at Middletown, Connecticut. In 1886, he became the third custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer. In 1892, he became secretary of the House of Bishops. In 1898, he became the fourth historiographer of the Episcopal Church. He served in all three of these offices until his death. (In 1893, he was elected Bishop of Vermont, but he declined the office.) A unique association copy.