The Holy Bible,

the third distinct folio King James

The third distinct folio edition of the King James Bible, printed in large black-letter type, and bound with John Speed's (1552-1629) Genealogies Recorded in the Sacred Scriptures, including his acclaimed double-page map of Canaan.

When James VI of Scotland ascended to the English throne in 1603, he found the country a place of religious discord symbolised by the use of two distinct translations of the Bible. The Bishops' Bible was the official voice of the Church while the Geneva Bible, more Calvinist in tone with extensive study notes and commentary, was preferred by the general populace and the growing Puritan sect. James was keen to heal these divisions and to wean his people off the Geneva which, he felt, encouraged sedition and republicanism.

To this end the King convened the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 where the new English version was conceived. The new, authorised translation, was not initially a success: the Geneva Bible remained prevalent until at least 1644, when the last known seventeenth-century edition was brought to the press. Nevertheless, overtime it grew in popularity, and has widely come to be seen as a towering achievement in the history of English prose, contributing more idioms to our language than many other single source, including Shakespeare, with examples ranging from feet of clay to reap the whirlwind.

Third distinct folio edition; folio (41.5 x 28.5 cm); woodcut general and New Testament titles, the former laid down and the latter supplied from a different copy with 18th-century inscriptions in pen to verso, woodcut initials, decorative head and tailpieces, calendar printed in red and black, three further supplied ff all in the Speed Genealogies comprising A2 (woodcut of Adam and Eve) and [D1-2] (forming the map of Canaan), old paper repairs to margins of 3K3-4, 3O3-4 and final 4 ff in quire 6D, light staining to lower corners of gathering 2F-2H, more significant dampstaining to final three quires, but overall a remarkably well-preserved and clean example; contemporary blind-panelled calf, expertly rebacked, corners and extremities repaired, very good; foliation: A4 B4 C6 D4 (A-C6 [D2]) A-6D6.

ESTC S122467; Herbert 353; DM 273.