The Holy Bible,

extra-illustrated with 140 engraved plates

A fine King James Bible printed the year of the Restoration of Charles II and extra-illustrated with 140 engraved plates.

The first 40 plates comprise William Slatyer's (c.1587-1646) illustrations to the Book of Genesis printed in c.1635. The sequence is numbered in pen to the lower right corner of each sheet, and but for plates 1-2, all are double-page engravings. (See ESTC S4008, which records 6 examples in institutional collections worldwide).

The plates numbered 1-16 feature printed couplets in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and English and include an engraved dedication-page with two poems to King Charles I signed Guliel. [William] Slatyer (c.1587-1646) and Jacob Fl. Van Langeren which follow the engraved title-page with vacant cartouches. Plates 17-40 have captions in English drawn from scripture.

The New Testament is further illustrated by a sequence of 85 single-image engraved plates with captions in English drawn directly from scripture, 14 oval engraved portraits depicting the Holy Family and Disciples, many with manuscript captions in pen, and a portrait of King David enthroned from the engraved title-page to the Psalterium Davidis printed by Robert Young in 1640 (ESTC notes this images was occasionally used as a frontispiece to the Sternhold and Hopkins psalms where it has 4 lines of text below the portrait).

Beautifully bound in the eighteenth-century in straight-grained blue morocco, the covers with flower and wheat-sheaf gilt roll, and Cherubic-head ornaments to the spine. With extensive provenance for the Ball family of Minehead and later Bath, including the Hon. Henry John Ball (d.1874) who served as actign Chief Justice of Hong Kong and later Attorney General of the colony.

Three works in one vol; 8vo (17.5 x 12 cm); illustrated with 140 engraved plates, ruled in red throughout, Old Testament, New Testament and Psalmes titles in woodcut borders, early ownership inscription in pen to title of Common Prayer, extensive manuscript family register to endpapers with tipped-in newspaper obituaries, later endpapers, hinges strengthened at gutter margins, trimmed close to top-margin with occasional minor loss to lettering, first 2ff of Common Prayer tipped to front endpapers, occasional manuscript captions in pen to plates; 18th-century straight-grain blue morocco, flower and wheat-sheaf gilt roll border to covers, spine lettered and tooled in gilt with Cherub-head ornament, all edges gilt, near fine.

ESTC R16969, R210225 & S4008; Herbert 669 & cf.645.