The King James Version of 1611, also known as the Authorized Version of the Bible, has been proven throughout history to be the greatest of all English translations. The beautiful English prose contained in the King James Bible has had supreme influence in society, and is widely considered to be the greatest literary masterpiece known to man. When King James the Sixth of Scotland succeeded Queen Elizabeth the First of England after her death, many different translations of the Bible were in existence, including the Bishop’s Bible, the Great Bible, and the Geneva Bible. To settle various religious grievances, King James called the Hampton Court Conference in January of 1604. During the Conference, Dr. John Reynolds, a Puritan leader and Oxford scholar, “moved his Majesty, that there might be a new translation of the Bible, because those which were allowed in the reigns of Henry the Eighth and Edward the Sixth were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the Original.” King James then replied, “I wish some special pains were taken for an uniform translation, which should be done by the best learned men in both Universities, then reviewed by the Bishops, presented to the Privy Council, lastly ratified by the Royal authority, to be read in the whole Church, and none other.”
In 1611, Robert Barker, printer to the King, printed the first edition of the King James Bible. He chose blackletter typeface which was difficult to read. In his rush to complete the printing several printer’s errors were made, not the least of which was changing she to he in Ruth 3:15. It is estimated that 1500 to 2000 Bibles were printed in that first edition. Today only 174 remain and of those less than 50 are complete. A later printing in 1611 corrected some of these errors. Our facsimile is of a rare original First Edition ‘He’ Bible.
Product Dimensions: 12" wide x 6.25" deep x 16.75" high
Product Weight: 27.75 lb.
