King James Bible
King James Bible
BIB.001442
Bible - Printed Book
1611
London, (England)
English
Printed on Paper
16.25 × 11.5 × 4.25 in. (41.3 × 29.2 × 10.8 cm)
On View in The History of the Bible, The King James Bible
First edition King James Bible printed in large folio format by Robert Barker. In 1604, King James I approved the work of a new translation which would be based on the Bishop’s Bible of 1602. Over five years, six committees revised the Old Testament, New Testament, and Deuterocanonical books. In the first edition of the King James Bible, Ruth 3:15 reads “and he went into the citie” because some Hebrew texts have a masculine verbal form, “he went.” This led to its nickname, the “He” Bible. This copy contains the original woodcut title page, New Testament title page with woodcut borders, the genealogies, and the engraved double-page map.
Printed in 1611 by Robert Barker, London. Acquired around 1924 by A. Edward Newton (1864–1940), New York. [1] Acquired by Carrie Estelle Doheny (1875–1958), Los Angeles. [2] Gifted between 1940 and 1958 to St. John’s Seminary Camarillo, California, until 1987. Purchased by Lou Weinstein, Beverly Hills; Privately purchased in 2010 by Green Collection; Donated in 2016 to National Christian Foundation (later The Signatry), under the curatorial care of Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.
Notes: [1] A bookplate on the paste-down indicates that this book belonged at some point to A. Edward Newton, a prominent American book collector. Handwritten notes from Newton, Quaritch, and Francis Fry confirm the book’s authenticity and are dated 1924, suggesting the book was in Newton’s collection at least until then. [2] Another bookplate on the front free endpaper indicates that the book was also part of the famous collection of Carrie Estelle Doheny. When and where Doheny acquired it is not clear at this time.
Selected References: Steve Green, Jackie Green, and William High, "This Dangerous Book" (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2017).
Museum of the Bible Publications:
Jennifer Atwood and Stacey L. Douglas, eds., "Passages: Exploring the Bible in Four Movements — An Exhibition Guide" (Oklahoma City: Museum of the Bible, 2015), 80.
David Trobisch, Jennifer Atwood, Jonathan Kirkpatrick, and Rory P. Crowley, "Verbum Domini II: God’s Word Goes Out to the Nations" (Abilene, Texas: Abilene Christian University Press, 2014), 142-143.
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