BIBLE IN ENGLISH: THE GREAT 'SHE' BIBLE. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the N...

BIBLE IN ENGLISH: THE GREAT 'SHE' BIBLE. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New. London: Robert Barker, 1613-1611. Folio (409 x 265 mm). General title and New Testament title (dated 1611) both set within wide woodcut pictorial borders, wood-cut head and tail pieces, calendar and almanack printed in red and black, Engraved folding map of Canaan by John Speed. 17th century mottled calf, spine lettered in gilt; custom leather-backed clamshell case. An attractive, tall copy overall, wanting two leaves in Genealogies [supplied in facsimile and loosely inserted], some stains, chips and tears [mainly marginal], several repairs [also mainly marginal]; Binding restored with new endpapers, leather replacement in portions of spine, joints cracked, but holding with reinforced hinges. Please see condition report for complete collation and detailed condition. THE KING JAMES' GREAT 'SHE' BIBLE, THE SECOND FOLIO EDITION, with the reading in Ruth 3:15 corrected to 'She went into the citie,' and with other errors including Matthew 26:36 where Judas appears for Jesus, but in this copy that error has been a corrected in an 18th century manuscript hand. The King James Great Bible is considered to be the most important English Bible to have been printed. The biblical scholar Francis Fry described the 'SHE' Bible as the first edition second issue without reprints, printed within two years of the first issue to correct typographical errors that were found in the text. The King James Bible was drawn up to reconcile the versions of the bible used by the Clergy, on the one hand, and the laity on the other. The translators, who numbered around 50, were divided into committees based in Oxford. Cambridge and London, and they were instructed to take the Bishops' Bible as their basis and then consult with Tyndale's, Coverdale's, Matthew's, Whitchurch's and the Geneva versions to come up with an authorized text. This copy, although with 2 facsimile leaves in the Genealogies, is otherwise complete and taller than many copies found on the market. 'From about the middle of the seventeenth century until the appearance of the Revised Bible of 1881-5, the King James' version reigned without rival'(Herbert 319). cf. PMM 114; STC 2224. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing