Description
The Full-Size 1611 King James “Super-Deluxe” Edition
Genuine Leather Hand-Made Heirloom Binding With 1568 Bishops’ and 1560 Geneva Bible Facsimile
Measuring the exact size of the original 1611 printing: an enormous 17 ½ inches tall by 12 inches wide by 5 ½ inches thick (including its slipcase), and weighing so much (30 pounds) it nearly takes two people to comfortably move it, this is the finest reproduction of the 1611 ever undertaken. We even faithfully reproduced the small quantity of decorative red ink in the prefatory section.
Constructed of the highest quality of thick burgundy red leather with extra-heavy-duty stitching and large raised spine bands with gold spine stamping… no detail was overlooked. It also comes with a custom-made protective slipcase. Over $100,000 went into the set-up for the production of this magnificent creation. It’s just like the real ones… visually IDENTICAL to an original 1611, and actually made out of the exact same materials as an original 1611… except that it is absolutely brand new and costs less than half of one percent of the price of the last 1611 sold at auction.
These massive pulpit folios make a great centerpiece for the communion table or the entryway in a church. They are also quite popular as centerpieces for private home libraries. If you are looking for something that will make people stop and stare… this is it! Photographs cannot adequately show what a stunning and magnificent display piece this enormous folio is.
If you want a huge, full-size exact replica of the original 1611 King James Pulpit Folio First Edition Bible, and it’s got to be bound in the finest genuine full-grain leather – just like the original was – this is your best (and only) option being offered by any Bible publisher today. It’s simply breathtaking.
1560 Geneva Bible
The Geneva Bible was the “Bible of the Protestant Reformation” and the Bible of the Puritans and Pilgrims. It was the first Bible brought over on the Mayflower to America. The Geneva Bible is the Bible upon which America was founded. You can imagine that most early American colonists, who were fleeing the religious oppression of the Anglican Church (Church of England), wanted nothing to do with the King James Bible of the Anglican Church!
Textually, the Geneva Bible offered several radical never-before-seen changes: It was the first Bible in English to add numbered verses to each chapter of scripture. Also, the Geneva was the first Bible to introduce an easier-to-read “Roman Style Typeface” rather than the “Gothic Blackletter Style Typeface,” which had been used exclusively in earlier Bibles. Another curious innovation in Geneva was the first “Study Bible” with extensive commentary notes in the margins.
The Geneva Bible is the version quoted hundreds of times by William Shakespeare in his plays. Also called the “Breeches Bible,” the Geneva Bible is the only Bible ever able to outsell and exceed the popularity of the King James Bible, as it did in the early 1600s until its printing ceased in 1644. One of the greatest ironies of history is that Protestants of all denominations today embrace the King James Version of the Bible (which reads 90% the same as the Geneva), even though the King James Version is not a Protestant Bible (it’s Anglican / Church of England). Most Protestants have never even heard of the Bible of their own heritage: the Geneva Bible. It was produced by John Calvin, John Knox, Myles Coverdale, John Foxe, & other English refugees in ever-neutral Geneva, Switzerland… fleeing the persecution of the Roman Catholic Queen “Bloody” Mary in England. Mary would not tolerate the Protestant Geneva Bible, which proclaimed the Pope an “antichrist” in its commentary notes.
Both the Regular and the Deluxe Editions of the 1560 Geneva Facsimile Reproduction are the same on the inside and are the same size, measuring approximately 11 inches tall by 8.75 inches wide by 3.25 inches thick. The Regular Edition is bound in hardcover burgundy bonded leather with gold stamping along the spine.
1568 Bishops’ Bible
Queen Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne of England in 1558 brought reform to the church. Only a handful of the bishops appointed by King Edward VI survived Bloody Mary’s vicious assault and reign of terror. The Bible was forbidden under Mary’s rule, but when Elizabeth took over – men and women everywhere could read the Bible again.
Archbishop Matthew Parker, the dean of Lincoln and chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother, was the ideal candidate to organize and execute a new translation. He initially supported and endorsed the reading and teaching of the Geneva Bible but became increasingly hostile toward the translation due to its attack on the authority of bishops.
In 1563, a massive project was started. The translation was an exceptional ask done by fewer than ten bishops. The translators relied on the 1550 Stephanus Greek New Testament, the 1528 Pagninus’s Latin, and Munster’s Hebrew of 1535. On September 22, 1568, the work was introduced to the Queen, and church endorsement soon followed. The Bishops’ Bible has numerous carved woodcuts, and it is still considered a landmark in printing achievement.
The Bishops’ Bible, an extraordinary and stunning book, could never gain the popular support that the Geneva translation held in the hearts and minds of the people of England.
The Bishops’ Bible, however, is the second Bible published by the Church of England (the first being the 1539 Great Bible of King Henry VIII, and the third being the 1611 King James Bible of 1611). While the King James Bible has enjoyed more than a thousand times the popularity of its “rough draft”… the Bishops’ Bible… it remains a fact the 1568 Bishops Bible, with its dozens of beautiful illustrations, is much more visually spectacular than the 1611 King James Bible, which has no textual illustrations at all.
This most complete and accurate reproduction done to date stands nearly 17″ tall and is 12″ wide. It weighs over 30 pounds. This is a limited-time offer on this work, and it will be a collector’s item for centuries.
