1611 KING JAMES BIBLE: THE GREAT 'HE' BIBLE. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and t...

1611 KING JAMES BIBLE: THE GREAT 'HE' BIBLE. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New. London: Robert Barker, 1611. Folio (387 x 263 mm). New Testament title (dated 1611) set within wide woodcut pictorial borders, wood-cut head and tail pieces. Late 18th century half calf over marbled boards. Lacks all preliminaries before Genesis (18 ll) and 43 ll at close, lower fore-edge corner of many leaves with some wear and occasional repair, covers detached and worn, spine perished. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE OF THE KING JAMES 'HE' BIBLE, with the erroneous reading 'and he went into the citie' in Ruth 3:15, corrected to '... she went ...' in all subsequent printings of the Bible. One of the most influential texts in the English language, Thomas Macaulay anointed it 'a book, which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power' (PMM 114). The official work of translation was undertaken by nearly 50 scholars over the span of 1604 to 1611, but it can be seen as the culmination of nearly a century of work, beginning with William Tyndale's New Testament translations, and including the bibles of Coverdale and Whitchurch, the Bishops' Bible, the Geneva Bible, and the Rheims New Testament. 'Appointed to be read in Churches,' the Great 'He' Bible was exposed to public usage (on lecterns) and almost all surviving copies have suffered some manner of damage or loss. The present copy, despite its missing leaves, is a handsome specimen of a book now rare in commerce and private hands. David Norton, the distinguished Bible historian, calls the 1611 King James He Bible 'the most important book in English religion and culture.' ESTC S122347; Herbert 309; Pforzheimer 61; Printing and the Mind of Man 114. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing