Title page of the 1772 edition of the Holy Bible, printed by C. Eyre and W. Strahan in London, England.

Bibles and Encyclopedias The Smith Rare Book Room is fortunate to have a copy of the Geneva or "Breeches" Bible. This bible was printed in 1615 and received its name from its translation of Genesis 3:7 which says "and they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves breeches." Favored by Calvinists, the "Breeches" Bible won approval for use in the Church of England. The bible was used throughout the American colonies and was popular for more than fifty years. In addition to the "Breeches" Bible, the Smith Rare Book Room also has copies of the Baskerville Bible printed in Cambridge, England in 1763, the "Bishop's Bible," and the Book of Common Prayer printed in London in 1707. A beautifully illustrated Book of Hours from the fifteenth century was given in memory of Robert Lauriston Bullard. The recently restored Arabic Bible owned by Omar Ibn Sayyid also highlights the collection.

One of the most valuable holdings in the Smith Rare Book Room is a first edition of the French Encyclopedia edited by Denis Diderot and Jean d'Alembut. Printed between 1751 and 1765, it contains a summary of all contemporary knowledge at that time. This encyclopedia remains one of the primary sources for the study of technology during the Enlightenment. The thirty-five volumes contain hundreds of engravings that depict the various mechanical processes that were transforming the world during the Industrial Revolution.