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[The Byble in Englishe, that is, the olde and new Testament, after the translacion appoynted to bee read in Churches.]
Description
General title page and prelims in facsimile. The general title is contained within a border similar to that used for Whitchurch's 1549 edition of the Paraphrase of Erasmus. A large twelve-line initial at the beginning of Genesis. Text in two column black letter with 57 lines to the full column. One woodcut in the text of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22. The border of the second part section-title consists of eleven woodblocks: two above and two below are like those used in the earlier Great Bibles, a smaller cut appears immediately beneath the letterpress, and the remaining six small cuts representing New Testament incidents are arranged three on each side. The parts III and V title borders are arranged similarly, except that in the former a larger cut appears immediately beneath the letterpress, and in the latter this block is omitted. The title page of the Apocrypha is printed. The latter portion of part 2, and all of parts 3 and 5 were probably printed by Whitchurch. The rest of the book appears to be printed in a different, though somewhat similar type with historiated initials before the chapters.
Collation
^6, *6, a-l^8 (-a2-6), m^10, A-R^8, S^6, Aa-Ss^8, Tt^4, Aaa-Mmm^8, [unsigned]^2, A-N^8, O^12. Lacks 5 ff. in the OT (Gen 3-15), general title and prelims - all provided in facsimile.
Binding
Black calf with metalwork. Covers with gilt-stamped centerpiece to both boards, and eight metal cornerpieces. Evidence of clasps, retaining hasps. Rebacked in matching style with five gilt-lined raised bands and gilt-tooling to compartments. Endpapers renewed. All edges gilt. Rubbed and scuffed.
Condition
Mostly crisp and clean; first leaf of Genesis and a few other leaves extended; b5 section with second woodcut torn away and replaced in facsimile; final leaf of Job and Malachi laid down; N repaired to margins with headlines cropped; final leaves of Revelation strengthened without loss.
Scarcity
RBH records six copies at auction in the last 30 years, all were incomplete. An incomplete copy recently sold at Sotheby’s for $41,000.
Note
This edition is a version of the "Great Bible," which was first published in 1539. The preliminary leaves, parts III and V, and the leaves from folio lxxxix to the end of part II were almost certainly printed by Whitchurch, with the rest probably being printed in Antwerp or Cologne. There are distinctive differences in the typography of the separate printings.
The pattern set by the Great Bible became normative for English Bibles, and is reflected in the presentation and ordering of the text in both the Geneva Bible and the King James Bible. … The translation of the text offered by the Great Bible is best seen as a judicious blend of Tyndale and Coverdale, with the offending notes of Matthew's Bible removed" (Alister E. McGrath, In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible, pp. 94–95).
References
Herbert 76; STC 2079; ESTC S107004; Luborsky & Ingram, English Illustrated Books 2079.