1599 Pirated and Illustrated Geneva Bible

The Bible, That is, the Holy Scriptures Conteined in the Old and New Testament. Translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke, and conferred with the best translation in divers Languages. With most profitable Annotations…

Description

Text in two column Roman font containing Tomson’s New Testament and Junius’ Revelation. Complete set of Geneva illustrations and maps. Title to the Second Part (n.d.) with decorated headpiece. Issued without Apocrypha. The New Testament title page (1599) with woodcut border comprising twenty-four small compartments showing the tents of the twelve tribes as well as the figures of the twelve apostles. Title is enclosed within a heart-shaped frame. Concludes with a dated colophon (1599). Bound with The Booke of Psalmes (n.d.) with printed title page and tailpiece. Woodcut first chapter initials and decorated head- and tailpieces throughout. This copy was likely printed in the 1630s in Amsterdam.

Collation

A-Z^8, &^6 (first part: Gen-Job), Aa-Qq^8 (second part: Psalms- Malachi), Aaa-Qqq^8, Rrr^4 (New Testament). Complete.

Binding

Rebound in dark brown calf. Original blind paneled covers laid down featuring blind lines and rolls with corner fleurons. Spine with five blind-lined raised bands and the words “Holy Bible” lettered in gilt. Plain endpapers.

Condition

General title and one preliminary leaf soiled, frayed to edges, and laid down; A1 edges repaired without loss; A2-7, B1 trimmed, perhaps supplied from another copy; D6 lower corner repaired; Q3 closed tear into text; New Testament title with red highlights and marginal upper loss; light, mostly marginal staining; Psalter lacking final leaf of Prayers.

Provenance

“Eleanor Foster 1780” to verso of New Testament title in beautiful calligraphy. Prayer in contemporary hand to verso of Psalter.

Note

Most Geneva Bibles dated 1599 were printed in Amsterdam following King James's 1616 ban on printing the Geneva Bible in England, intended to promote his sponsored translation. Despite the ban, the Geneva Bible remained popular and was printed abroad, then imported into England. In the 1630s, Archbishop Laud prohibited its importation, prompting printers to add falsely dated title pages to circumvent restrictions. The Geneva Bible's popularity endured for over three generations, as evidenced by the vast number of pirated copies available today, highlighting that the King James Bible did not immediately become the dominant text.

References

Herbert 251; STC 2176; Lea Wilson’s No. 1.