The Holy Byble, Conteyning the Olde and New Testament. Whereunto is joyned the whole service, used in the Church of England. London: Richard Jugge, 1577, 4to.
A RARE QUARTO BISHOP'S BIBLE, THE LAST TO BE ISSUED BY RICHARD JUGGE. WITH THREE WOODCUT MAPS AND FOUR BEAUTIFUL WOODCUT DIVISIONAL TITLES.
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The Bishop's Bible was the successor to King Henry VIII's Great Bible and was designed to replace the Geneva Bible translation of 1560. It was first printed in 1568 and went through many editions, with the 1602 edition being the base text for the King James Version. The Bishop's Bible was produced because of the content of the marginalia in the Geneva Bible supporting Presbyterianism which sought to replace the government of the church by bishops with government by lay elders of the church, but Henry VIII's Great Bible was the only other available English Bible which was legally authorised for use in England and was translated from St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate rather than from the original languages directly. The Bishop's Bible was produced to fill this void. However, it failed to be as popular domestically as the Geneva Bible and so the majority of copies were in folio format for church use, which is why quarto editions like this copy are very scarce indeed.
"This Bible is particularly interesting from its being the last Bible ever printed by Richard Jugge. This makes the words placed over his printer's device on the last page so significant (cogita mori)" (Herbert). It's a particularly rare edition and contains five engraved maps and numerous engraved capitals as well as attractive divisional titles.
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Provenance:
Circa early 17th century ownership inscription of Richard Blake to verso of 3T3.
Ownership inscription of Charles Hawston (?) to foot of F1 dated 1678.
Circa late 18th century ownership inscription of Thomas Lawton to front pastedown.
19th century ownership inscription of James Lawton to rear pastedown dated June 21 1828.
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Size: 162 x 213 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[(2), [A1], A8, B-N7, O-Z8, Aa-Ii4, Kk-Zz8, Aaa-Fff7, Ggg-Ttt4, A1-P8, Q6, (1)]
Circa 17th / early 18th century full calf, rebacked circa the late 20th century, "Bishops Bible" tooled in gilt to label laid down to spine with "1577" to foot. Attractive on the shelf. Both boards are securely attached, hinges reinforced, the binding is secure and stands without shelf lean. 60 lines plus headline, black letter, text toned with occasional spotting but generally very clean throughout, significantly better than typical extant English Bibles of this period. Lacks all before A8, here provided in facsimile, but with A1 present with extensive restoration. Also lacks N8 and 3F8 (blanks). Minor loss at foot of O2, restored, but catching one verse on each side. A small number of other leaves throughout have minor loss not affecting main text which have been restored, the largest being the top corner of 3B4, small hole to K3 (NT).
[Herbert 150; D&M 112; ESTC S5108; STC 2121]
