HOLY BIBLE 1603 BREECHES Antique GENEVA Black Letter COMMON Prayer PSALMES Psalm

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You are bidding on one of the most coveted pieces of Christian Literature ever made...Presenting...a beautifully bound Original 1603 "Breeches" GENEVA Holy Bible! ALSO BOUND WITH C ONCORDANCES, 1603 and REMNANTS of the BOOK of COMMON PRAYER & Whole Book of Psalms, also dated 1603! THE BIBLE: Tranflated according to the Ebrew and Greeke, and conferred with the beft tranflations in divers languages. London: Imprinted at London by Robert Barker Printer to the Queenes most excellent Maiestie, 1603. REVELATIONS BY JUINUS WITH COLOPHON OF 1600. This book is bound in ORIGINAL boards, with a nicely relaid spine , with raised bands and the gilt titl e, a s shown , Boards worn overall with some rounding and rubbing to leather,as shown, but still hinges intact, measuring roughly 9 x 7 x 4 inches. There a few signatures and i nscriptions, as shown, all from the early 1600s . This is the legendary Breeches Bible : translated in Genesis 3:7 as "and they sowed figge-tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches." (This less precise translation was glossed in the margin with a more accurate, albeit longer, translation.) The accepted meaning is "coverings" (the KJV has "aprons"). The Bible is printed in black letter font, two columns with frequent notes and marginal commentary. The Bible is complete, however there are pages lacking at the start of the Book of Common Prayer in the front, and later in the Psalms some lacking at the rear, see details below. Concordance s complete. This is a truly historical find, and is a treasure that only few can call their own. FIRST LEAF OF GENESIS HAS A LOSS AT THE BOTTOM, Nn5 [JEREMIAH VI-28] HAS A LOSS' Kkk1 and 2 [ FIRST LEAVES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT] HAVE A LOSS AT THE TOP. Ppp 6 [ JOHN XIII.24- XIV.27] HAS HALF OF THE LEAF MISSING. BOUND WITH: THE REVELATION OF SAINT JOHN THE APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST, WITH A BRIEFE AND LEARNED COMMENTARIE, WRITTEN BY FRANC. JUNIUS. 22 PAGES + COLOPHON LEAF DATED 1600. AND: TWO RIGHT AND PROFITABLE CONCORDANCES... A1-L2.AND AN INCOMPLETE STERNHOLD AND HOPKINS PSALTER LACKING ALL AFTER PSALM 72.AN INCOMPLETE COMMON PRAYER IS BOUND IN AT THE FRONT LACKING ALL BEFORE a2. The first two leaves of the Common Prayer have been relaid, there are some losses and grubby marks throught the Common Prayer, the last blank page has owner's inscriptions. Some slight marginal and corner losses throughout, one leaf at the beginning of Job has a loss in the top corner and an archival repair, some small tears some with repairs. The Psalter is stainerd and the last few leaves have been relaid. History: With the onset of persecution by English Queen "Bloody Mary" (Mary I) against Protestants in the 1550s, many fled to Geneva to practice their faith free of fear and persecution. Among such Protestants were Myles Coverdale and John Knox, as well as noted Reformer and theologian John Calvin, and others. Several of these Protestants, including Myles Coverdale, William Whittingham (Calvin’s brother-in-law), and John Knox, worked on a version of the English Bible which was named after its home city – the Geneva Bible. This Bible became one of the most historically notable English Bibles to be issued prior to the King James Version. It was translated from the original Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek, and was a Bible of many firsts – the first to divide chapters into numbered verses, and the first to add study notes. Many of these notes were written by John Calvin, and would later be criticized for their Calvinistic or distinctively Reformed doctrine. It was also printed in a more manageable size, good for personal study and carrying. This Bible was first published in 1560, and in 1576 would also be published in England – the very land from which the Reformers had originally fled two decades earlier. Not only was this Bible significant at the time of its printing, but it would also be used by other historically significant figures. William Shakespeare alone quotes from it over five thous... read more

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