The Holy Bible, Containing the Old Testament and the New: Newly Translated out of the Original Tongues: And with the former Translations diligently compared and revised, By his Majesties speciall commandement. Imprinted At London By Robert Barker, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majestie. Anno 1613.
THE TRUE FIRST BLACK LETTER QUARTO EDITION OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE, COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE "HE" BIBLE FOR ITS FAMOUS ERROR IN THE BOOK OF RUTH.
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One of the earliest obtainable editions of the King James Bible, with the 1611 first edition with only 50 known surviving copies in its first "He" state (approximately), with very few in private hands and being incredibly rare to the market with correspondingly astronomical prices.
Offered here for sale is the first quarto edition of the King James Bible. There were two editions of this year, the "He" and "She" variants, the "He" being significantly rarer and more desirable for being the first, following the same error in the 1611 first edition in Ruth 3:15 before being corrected to "she" not long afterwards. This copy follows all of the bibliographical text error requirements for this edition, including the reading in Genesis 10:16 of "Emorite", both the Old Testament and New Testament title pages omitting the word "Appointed", and of course the most significant reading of "and he went into the city" instead of "she went..." in Ruth 3:15.
It is also very rare to find this edition with both of the Old Testament and New Testament title pages present, where the vast majority of examples are missing the Old Testament main title page or it is provided in facsimile. Indeed, we have never come across any example of the KJV this early, and have never come across an example with both title pages earlier than 1634. Another aspect that makes this edition particularly special is that both the Old Testament and New Testament are from the 1613 first quarto edition, as is the commentary at the back and the tables which are often lacking, yet are here original 1613 examples and importantly, they are complete. The apocryphal books are also all present in this example, and these were occasionally removed by later owners after the later revisions made to the KJV or for other reasons. This is a complete and original 1613 first quarto edition of the King James Bible and an incredibly rare opportunity for the winning bidder to own this phenomenal early Bible.
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Size: 17 x 22 x 6 cm (approx.)
Condition:
Spine very good, lightly rubbed with some dulling to the gilt on the tooled label with this slightly fragmented. Some shelf wear and rubbing to the foot of the spine. Joints starting but with both boards attached. Boards scuffed with some minor loss to the leather as typical. The binding is probably from the mid to late 1700s with contemporary pastedowns and endpapers. Some minor wormholing through the first few leaves of the book, affecting up to around leaf C3 and occasionally catching a few letters of text. Page edges dulled as typical. Original Old Testament title page present with a significant amount of writing on its reverse side in an early English ink hand with a bit of transfer to the verso leaf A2, with some writing on the reverse of this leaf in the left margin only and a small amount in the blank space of A3, else without any writing through the main text block though with some light pencil drawing to the final leaf reverso of the commentary. Main O.T. title page heavily toned as typical, with the remainder of the text block also toned as typical. A few stains throughout, none of which obscure the legibility of any text though with a heavier ink stain to Genesis 1 offset from the verso as previously mentioned, though the text is still legible. Some leaves trimmed at the edges for the rebinding occasionally catching a few letters of the printed marginalia with one leaf later in the text with some more loss at the edges. Preface for the commentary & tables dated 1578, though with its title page dated 1613.
An excellent example of this very rare book which is usually found in very poor condition given how much these KJV Bibles were used and read through this period prior to the reformation and indeed after it all the way until the present day.
