In the late 1780's in London, Robert Raikes was burdened for the multitudes of children who worked in the factories in slave-like conditions six days a week. They had no formal education and no time to attend school, so Raikes started a "Sunday School." The Bible was the textbook, and also the Book used to teach the children to read. Despite some criticisms, the movement grew exponentially. John Burton was a young man who became a teacher for Raikes' Sunday School somewhere around the turn of the century. He wrote simple hymns to teach the children truths in a way that they could easily memorize, since they couldn't read. One of these was "Holy Bible, Book Divine." Like the song says, "Precious Treasure, thou art mine."
https://wordwisehymns.com/2012/04/13/holy-bible-book-divine/
https://thescottspot.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/holy-bible-book-divine-written-in-1803/
