It was the first Roman Catholic version and only the second English-language translation of the Bible printed in the United States.
[1] Carey was an expatriate Irish journalist who established himself as a printer and publisher in Philadelphia around 1784.
In 1789, he announced plans to print the first American Catholic Bible and solicited subscriptions.
Among Carey's enthusiastic supporters was John Carroll, the nation's first Roman Catholic bishop (consecrated in 1789), who promoted Carey's project and himself ordered twenty copies.
[2] He also published many editions of the King James Version, each carefully planned, formatted, and innovatively marketed.