1584 Folio Bishops’ Bible with Clasps and All Titles

The Holy Bible, conteining the Olde Testament and the Newe: Of that Translation authorized to be read in Churches.

Description

General title page (1584) printed in red and black. Text in two column black letter. Large 9-line initial and headpiece to Joshua. Title page to Psalms (1584), Apocrypha, New Testament with woodcut border. Map of the Holy Land before Matthew.

Collation

A-Z^8 (-A1), Aa-Zz^8, Aaa-Zzz^8, Aaaa-Bbbb^8, Cccc^6, Dddd^4. Lacks all prelims and with first leaf of Genesis in facsimile.

Binding

Expertly rebacked and recornered in matching brown calf. Boards with blind paneled border and central blind-stamped lozenge, with two later leather straps and clasps. Spine with five blind-lined raised bands and the words “Holy Bible” and “1584” to spine. All edges red. Plain endpapers

Condition

General title page mounted with margins trimmed to borders; Ccc8 lower inner column loss of a few words; two closed tears without loss; a clean and bright copy.

Provenance

Oo2 with “John Doddin his booke” to lower margin.

Note

By the early 1580s, as Bishops’ Bibles became scarce in England, Archbishop Whitgift commissioned Barker to print two editions: a small folio and a large folio. The large folio was intended for wealthier churches, while the smaller edition suited modest parishes. This edition was the first to feature the phrase “Authorized to be read in Churches” on its title page.

References

Herbert 185; STC 2141.