Boston's Old South Church to Sell a 1640 Psalmbook

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Jess Bidgood, Historic Bostron Church's Decision to Sell Rare Psalmbook Divides Congregation. New York Times, Dec 25, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/25/us/25church.html

Quote:

The church is "selling a copy of a rare psalmbook, printed across the river in Cambridge in 1640, that could fetch up to $20 million at auction. * * * A staple of services in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the psalms had been painstakingly — and sometimes awkwardly — translated from Hebrew into English by church elders, giving the New World its own religious text. A locksmith inexpertly printed 1,700 copies of the Psalter; it was the first time a printing press rolled in the British North American colonies — and the books were used, abused and discarded. Only 11 copies are known to exist today.

"Old South counts [Samuel] Adams, Benjamin Franklin and the African-American poet Phillis Wheatley as members

Note:
(a)
(i) psalmbook (n): "archaic PSALTER"
(ii) psalter (n):
"the Book of Psalms; also : a collection of Psalms for liturgical or devotional use"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psalter
(b) In the offcial website of
Old South Church
, Click "About" in the top horitontal bar. In th enew page, select two in the menu:
(i) Tour the Church
http://www.oldsouth.org/about/tour-church
(ii) History
http://www.oldsouth.org/about/history
("Standing at the northwest corner of Copley Square * * * The building, formally known as the 'New' Old South Church, is the third home of the congregation, which was gathered in 1669. The building was completed in 1875")

(c) Bay Psalm Book is the first book printed In British North America.

Bay Psalm Book
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Psalm_Book
(The Psalms in it are metrical translations into English)
(i) What is a 'free metrical translation' and what is a 'literal' translation?  Yahoo Answers, 2010.
http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/ques ... 101225121128AAqWyZc
(ii) metrical psalter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrical_psalter
(a metrical translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms)
(iii) meter (music)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter_(music)
(it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented)
(iv) stoat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoat

(d) Thomas Prince
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Prince
(1687-1758; American)
(e) Phillis Wheatley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillis_Wheatley
(1753-1784; the first African-American poet and first African-American woman to publish a book; "Born in Senegambia the present-day Senegal and Gambia], she was sold into slavery at the age of 7 or 8 and transported to North America. She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston, who taught her to read and write")