1854 RARE PRE-YMCA BIBLE. Presentation Copy from Young Men's Bible Society of Cincinnati.

A very nice early Westward Expansion Bible sourced from one of the most influential hubs of evangelical activity in the emerging West, the Young Men's Bible Society of Cincinnati (Founded, 1834). 

Operating as an active auxiliary of the American Bible Society, it was established during a period when Cincinnati was rapidly growing into the "Queen City of the West" and serving as the primary gateway to the frontier. The society played a crucial role in local benevolence and mass literacy efforts by systematically distributing Bibles and testaments to diverse populations, including German immigrants, riverboat crews, institutionalized individuals, and destitute families across the region. Furthermore, it served as an influential training ground for the city's emerging mercantile and professional elite, channeling the energy of young civic-minded men into organized philanthropy, strengthening the city's Protestant institutional framework, and helping secure Cincinnati's status as a major regional hub for religious publishing and social reform.

A few years later, when the call came to form a local YMCA chapter, the leadership, membership base, and evangelical ethos of the Bible Society directly fed into the new organization. The Cincinnati Y was formed in 1853. While it was not the absolute first chapter in the United States, Boston and New York beat it by a couple of years in late 1851 and 1852, it was the earliest on the frontier and immediately became influential, particularly in the emerging movement in the American West.

Rather than adopting the East Coast models, the Cincinnati association distinguished itself as something quite different. As just one example, they pioneered immigrant outreach. Cincinnati’s chapter revolutionized the scope of the YMCA by recognizing that urban and rural ministry to immigrant populations required practical social services. In 1856, the Cincinnati YMCA organized a German branch and launched the nation's first-recorded English as a Second Language course for immigrants. This shifted the American YMCA from a purely insular spiritual club for native-born Christians into an active, community-facing center where new populations could experience the Evangelical message. This set a precedent that chapters nationwide. 

The handsome, lithographed presentation plate reads in full:

The Young Men's Bible Society of Cincinnati. Instituted A. D., 1834. Officers. E. M. Gregory, President. S. P. Bishop, Vice President. J. P. Kilbreth, Cor. Secretary. T. S. Pinneo, Rec. Secretary. J. D. Thorpe, Treasurer. And Twenty-nine Directors. Depository, No. 28 West 4th Street, Up Stairs, between Main and Walnut, Cin. Geo. L. Weed, Depositary. A Large Assortment of Bibles and Testaments, in the English, French, German, and Spanish Languages, constantly on hand, for sale or distribution. 

The New Testament of Our Lord and Savioiur Jesus Christ, Translated Out of the Original Greek; and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised. New York. American Bible Society, Instituted in the Year 1816. Agate, 32mo. 1854. 

Good - in original cloth, heavily worn with spine cover and portion of front cloth lacking entirely. Ffep lacking, and a few pages with turned corners or a fold. Generally solid. Very handsome plate from the Y.M.B.S.