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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…
Summary
The famous 1599 quarto Geneva Bible. Complete Bible text in Roman font with the full set of Geneva illustrations and maps. One of the most desirable editions with the text and columns surrounded by black lines.
Description
Begins with the Book of Common Prayer (1639) with printed title page. The printed 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. Second printed title page with woodcut of the Red Sea. 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. New Testament title page (1599) with similar woodcut border as general title. Concludes with a dated colophon (1599) at the end of the two Tables. The Booke of Psalmes by Sternhold and Hopkins with printed title page (n.d.). Woodcut first chapter initials and decorated head- and tailpieces throughout. This copy was likely printed in the 1630s in Amsterdam.
Collation
[par]^4, A^8, A-Z^8, &^6 (first part: Gen-Job), Aa-Qq^8 (second part: Psalms- Malachi), Aaa-Qqq^8, Rrr^4 (New Testament). Bible text complete with all title pages.
Binding
Rebound in modern brown calf. Covers paneled in gilt. Spine with five raised bands. Plain endpapers.
Condition
Text of the BCP cropped reducing headlines; trimmed to fore-edge, sometimes reducing border and infrequently touching sidenotes; Qq4,5 loss to sidenotes at fore-edge; Aaa2 (Map before Matthew) with loss to fore-edge margin not impacting text or map; final few leaves of Psalter frayed and soiled to edges; final signature of Psalter with upper marginal loss. An unusually clean and crisp example of the Pirated 1599 Geneva Bible.
Provenance
Verso to Second Part Title with “Christopher Osbourne His Booke” in contemporary hand.
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 254; STC 2178; Lea Wilson’s No. 78.