Reset image Zoom instructions
  • Click anywhere on image to zoom in.
  • The zoomed image is re-centered on the click position.
  • Click on the reset button to return to original image.
  • Hold the shift key and click to zoom out.
  • Hold the alt key and click to re-centre the image without zooming.
Back to auction listing
14•
BIBLE, in English, Authorised Version
[The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New], FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, KING JAMES' GREAT "HE" BIBLE, black letter, double-column, calendar and almanac printed in red and black, woodcut head- and tail-pieces and initials, with Speed's genealogies, without map and 24 leaves (general title and 3 preliminaries, 4D5; NT title, A2, A6, B1, C1, X6, Y5 and Z1-Aa6), approximately 55 leaves with margins repaired or with some loss (substantial to approximately 12), generally good margins, ownership inscriptions of J.J. Wilkinson (1794) inside upper cover, contemporary panelled calf, upper cover detached, worn [STC 2217; Herbert 309; PMM 116], folio (398 x 260mm.), [Robert Barker, 1611]
Sold for £16,800 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHORISED, KING JAMES BIBLE. One of the most significant books in the English language, "a book, which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power" (Macaulay). Its creation involved nearly fifty translators consulting a wide range of sources including Hebrew and Greek originals, earlier Latin versions, the bibles of Tyndale, Matthew, Coverdale, and Whitchurch, as well as the Bishops' Bible, the Geneva text, and the Rheims New Testament.

    This copy of the editio princeps has the "He" reading in Ruth iii.15, 3 lines of text repeated in Exodus xiv.10, and all the other "special readings" used as examples to denote this edition by Herbert.

    Provenance: note inside upper cover "Bible. This valuable edition was given to me with a large library by my kind uncle the Revd. Robert Rawling in 1794. J.J. Wilkinson. This Bible was given to my son - Thomas Henry Wilkinson, 14 July, 1846, J.J.W.".

Category: Books / Books, Maps and Manuscripts

Auction terms and conditions

Lot symbols

• Exempt from tax

Contacts

Simon Roberts Bonhams
Work
Montpelier Street
London, SW7 1HH
United Kingdom
FaxFax: +44 20 7447 7436
Specialist - Books, Maps and Manuscripts

Similar items

BIBLE, in English, Authorised Version The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New