1569 First Quarto Bishops’ Bible with Clasps

[The Holi Bible.]

Description

Lacks all before Exodus 11:8. Text in two column black letter. Full-page woodcut of the Tabernacle (F1), Table (H3). Title before Joshua with large woodcut of Jugge’s device. Full-page Map of Canaan (Q1). Printed title to the Apocrypha. Map of the Holy Land before Matthew. 1 Corinthians 7 – Revelation 22 shorted and inserted from an octavo Geneva Bible.

Collation

E-Z^8, Aa-Kk^6, A-X^8, Y^4, Aaa-Mmm^8, Nnn^6, A-K^8 (-A1). Begins at E1 (Exodus 11:8) and ends at K8 (Romans 15). Lacks title before Psalms and New Testament title.

Binding

Rebacked brown calf. Boards with brown blind-paneled calf and corner fleurons. Two (later) working clasps. Spine with four blind-lined raised bands and a red gilt-lined morocco label with the words “The Holi Bible” and a date of 1569 lettered in gilt.   

Condition

Rubbed; intermittent staining; six ff. with marginal closed tears; T6 (1 Sam 20) upper piece torn with six lines of text loss; Gg-Hh stain to half of text; D4 (Ps 91) half of text torn away; A (in NT) with frayed edges; B6 lower corner loss of four lines of text.

Provenance

Note to front pastedown reads “H.M. This is the 2nd edition of the Bible printed in 4to by R. Jugge, the Queen’s printer, in 1569. This is the 2nd edition of Parker’s Bible, the 1st edition was a splendid folio in 1568. See Lewis’ hist. of the Bible.”

Note

The first edition of the Bishops’ Bible printed in quarto format. This smaller edition was printed just one year after the impressive first folio, enabling the clergy to study from this version in their homes. The first quarto retains a few full-page woodcuts in the text. USTC records 13 copies in holdings.

References

Herbert 126; STC 2105.