1599 Illustrated and Pirated Geneva Bible
Key Features
Format: Quarto (8.25” x 6.75”)
Font: Two Column Roman
Binding: Rebound Brown Calf
Bound With: Psalter
Printer: Robert Barker, London [i.e. Stam, Amsterdam]
SKU: R26
Key Features
Format: Quarto (8.25” x 6.75”)
Font: Two Column Roman
Binding: Rebound Brown Calf
Bound With: Psalter
Printer: Robert Barker, London [i.e. Stam, Amsterdam]
SKU: R26
Key Features
Format: Quarto (8.25” x 6.75”)
Font: Two Column Roman
Binding: Rebound Brown Calf
Bound With: Psalter
Printer: Robert Barker, London [i.e. Stam, Amsterdam]
SKU: R26
[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…]
Description
The general title page (1599) in facsimile 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. The first leaf of Bible text (Gen 1-2) provided in facsimile. Text in two column Roman font, printed within a ruled border, and 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. Concludes with a dated colophon (1599). Bound with The Booke of Psalmes by Sternhold and Hopkins (n.d.). Woodcut first chapter initials and decorated head- and tailpieces throughout. This copy was likely printed in the 1630s in Amsterdam.
Collation
[par]^4 (-[par]^4), A-Z^8 (-A1), &^6 (first part: Gen-Job), Aa-Qq^8 (second part: Psalms- Malachi), Aaa-Qqq^8, Rrr^4 (New Testament). Lacks general title and first leaf of Genesis, provided in facsimile.
Binding
Rebound in brown calf. Spine with four recessed bands and gilt tooling to compartments. Endpapers renewed. All edges gilt.
Condition
Clean with occasional spotting and marks; lacks prelims; NT title page laid down; Psalter lacks all after Psalm 140.
Provenance
“John Martin Junio Feb 5th 1709” across colophon at the end of the Tables.
Note
Most Geneva Bibles dated 1599 were printed in Amsterdam following King James's 1616 ban on printing the Geneva Bible in England, intended to promote his sponsored translation. Despite the ban, the Geneva Bible remained popular and was printed abroad, then imported into England. In the 1630s, Archbishop Laud prohibited its importation, prompting printers to add falsely dated title pages to circumvent restrictions. The Geneva Bible's popularity endured for over three generations, as evidenced by the vast number of pirated copies available today, highlighting that the King James Bible did not become the dominant text immediately.
References
Herbert 254; ESTC 2178; Wilson’s No. 78.