American Bible Society

The American Bible Society was founded in 1816 by Christians who were committed to the Bible and to the end of slavery. The first President was Elias Boudinot, who had been President of the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1783. The American Bible Society provided the first Bibles in hotels and the first pocket Bibles for soldiers during the American Civil War. At one time the society was the largest printer of books in America, printing 2,000,000 Bibles in 1915. The ABS moved from its original location in New York to Philadelphia in 2015. The ABS library holds the largest collection of Bibles in the western hemisphere.