1599 Geneva Bible Illustrated Quarto with Psalter
Key Features
Format: Quarto (8.5” x 6.5”)
Font: Two Column Roman
Binding: Rebacked Brown Calf
Bound With: Psalter
Printer: Robert Barker, London [i.e. Stam, Amsterdam]
SKU: R01
Key Features
Format: Quarto (8.5” x 6.5”)
Font: Two Column Roman
Binding: Rebacked Brown Calf
Bound With: Psalter
Printer: Robert Barker, London [i.e. Stam, Amsterdam]
SKU: R01
Key Features
Format: Quarto (8.5” x 6.5”)
Font: Two Column Roman
Binding: Rebacked Brown Calf
Bound With: Psalter
Printer: Robert Barker, London [i.e. Stam, Amsterdam]
SKU: R01
The Bible, That is, the Holy Scriptures Conteined in the Old and New Testament. Translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke, and conferred with the best translation in divers Languages. With most profitable Annotations…
Summary
The pirated 1599 quarto Geneva Bible. Complete text in Roman font with the full set of Geneva illustrations and maps. With three title pages and bound with the Metrical Psalter.
Description
Composite general title page (1599) with woodcut border comprising twenty-four small compartments showing the tents of the twelve tribes as well as the figures of the twelve apostles. Title is enclosed within a heart-shaped frame. Text in two column Roman font with wide margins throughout containing Tomson’s New Testament and Junius’ Revelation. Complete set of Geneva illustrations and maps. Title to the Second Part (n.d.) with decorated headpiece. Issued without Apocrypha. Similar New Testament woodcut title page (1599). Concludes with a dated colophon (1599) at the end of the Two Tables. Woodcut first chapter initials and decorated head- and tailpieces throughout.
Collation
&^2, A-Z^8, &^6 (first part: Gen-Job), Aa-Qq^8 (second part: Psalms- Malachi), Aaa-Qqq^8, Rrr^2 (New Testament). Complete with both titles.
Binding
Rebacked and recornered in matching brown calf. Retaining contemporary front cover with central gilt lozenge and majority of rear cover laid down. Spine with four blind-lined raised bands and the words “The Bible” lettered in gilt on a black morocco label. Plain endpapers.
Condition
A crisp impression with wide margins throughout; sporadic staining and occasional spotting, mostly to margins; general title page frayed to edges and slightly soiled; H5 (Num 27), R6 (2 Kings 6) piece torn off to outer column with loss of a few words; Hh1-3 frayed to edges without loss; final few leaves of Psalter frayed.
Note
The majority of Geneva Bibles dated 1599 were printed in Amsterdam after King James banned the printing of the Geneva Bible in 1616 to encourage the production of his sponsored translation. The Geneva Bible remained popular and began to be printed on the continent and imported into England. Archbishop Laud banned its importation into England in the 1630s, forcing printers to add a falsely dated title page. The popularity of the Geneva Bible remained steadfast for over three generations, and the vast number of pirated Geneva Bibles available today serve as clear evidence that the King James Bible did not become the dominant text quickly.
References
Herbert 251; ESTC 2176; Wilson’s No. 1.