AN ORIGINAL GENEVA "BREECHES" BIBLE DATED TO THE YEAR 1588, PRECEDING THE KING JAMES VERSION BY DECADES!
A REMARKABLE SURVIVING EARLY EXAMPLE IN A CONDITION SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN TYPICALLY FOUND.
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A very rare original 1588 "Breeches" Geneva Bible, so named for the reading in Genesis 3:7 describing Adam and Eve as having made "breeches" to cover their nakedness instead of "aprons" or "loincloths".
The text ends on fo.554 thus following Herbert 170 (dated 1581), but this is the 1588 reprint of that edition [Herbert 197]. The New Testament title page is dated 1588 and we can date the Old Testament to the same year bibliographically. Interestingly, this was the last Geneva Bible which Christopher Barker printed himself, the subsequent printings were done by his "deputies". A lovely very early English Bible.
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The History of the Geneva Bible:
The Great Bible (named for its large page size and first ordered by Henry VIII in 1538) was restored to the churches after Elizabeth I's succession halted persecution of Anglicans and Protestants, but the Geneva Bible, imported from Europe and not printed in England until 1576, quickly surpassed the Great Bible in public favour. The Geneva Bible was the first Bible in English to add numbered verses. It was also one of the first to include extensive commentary notes, which were later deemed to be "seditious" by King James when he banned the Geneva Bible not long after the publication of the King James Version in 1611.
King James despised the revolutionary and "seditious" Geneva Bible. He thought the Geneva Bible's study notes on key political texts threatened his authority, so he outlawed it and ordered a new translation of the Bible - the King James (Authorised Version). While the King James Version is an excellent translation, it was edited and authorised by the Government. The Geneva Bible was not. It was truly a Bible by the people and for the people.
The Geneva Bible is unique among all other Bibles. It was the first Bible to use chapters and numbered verses and became the most popular version of its time because of its extensive study notes. These notes were included to explain and interpret the Scriptures for the common people and laid the foundation for a Republican form of government. For nearly half a century these notes helped the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland understand the Bible, as well as the peoples of America...
When the Pilgrims arrived in America in 1620, they brought the Geneva Bible with them. You can see why this remarkable version with its profound study notes played a key role in the formation of the American Republic, and its influence on the development of Western thought, politics, government, society generally, and literature (the Geneva Bible is often called 'The Bible of Shakespeare' for example).
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Size: 173 x 220 x 65 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[A2-3Z10, A1-I8]
19th century half calf over cloth backed boards, the spine with a newer tooled morocco label with a contemporary (to the binding) gilt date to the foot. Spine a little rubbed but shows very attractively on the shelf. Joints slightly rubbed but with both boards securely attached, the binding secure and without shelf lean. Shelf and edge wear as typical, page edges coloured red with the top dulled as typical. Very rarely, this copy is without any attached bookplates or ownership inscriptions. Endpapers replaced. Very clean throughout the text block though mildly toned as typical. Some loss to the edges of the first 9 leaves, in places just catching titles and marginalia but with the main text unaffected. Lacks main title page and first leaf of Genesis else the Old and New Testaments both collate as complete. Lacks all after I8 of the second table, first table collates as complete.
A truly excellent copy, internally the cleanest Geneva Bible we have encountered to date.
[Herbert 197]
