Although this pocket-sized psalm book bears no inscription, it was undoubtedly used by a Dutch speaking resident of the Hudson Valley. Published in Amsterdam in 1648, this private devotional features rhymed psalms of Petrus Dathenus for use in the Calvinist liturgy since the mid-sixteenth century. The use of tortoiseshell as a book cover became popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth century for religious texts, small bibles, and prayer books.