Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a good book, well-made, well-printed, with historically interesting text. If you enjoy reading the KJV, this book will be a pleasure to own. If you are a KJV-only Protestant, this book is required reading.
This book is a 2005 facsimile of the 1833 Oxford University Press rendition of the 1611 first edition, "The Holy Bible, an Exact Reprint Page for Page of the Authorized Version Published in the Year MDCXI." It contains a word for word, line for line, page for page rendition of the 1611 body text of the Authorized Version, according to the 1833 Oxford consensus. There is an informative modern 53-page summary of the history of the English Bible and of the Authorized Version.
The original 1611 Authorized Version went through many subsequent editions and re-printings. The publishers removed typos, added others, greatly expanded the use of italicized phrases, and in general continued in the spirit of the original translators. After 200 years, determining the text of the original 1611 became difficult because copies had deteriorated, and printers and bookbinders had mixed and matched leaves from various printings to repair or edit existing books. By the 1760's there were a number of slightly different text traditions, fixed in place today mostly by the definitive 1769 "Oxford Edition." Most modern "King James Bibles" are based on the 1769 work, almost always with major editorial deletions made by modern editors who pick and choose what to include from that 1769 rendition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Neither the complete 1769, nor the modern condensed "King James Bibles" correspond exactly with the 1611 Authorized Version, as reading this book will easily show.
The body text of this very nice book is printed in 6-point 19th century Roman and Italic fonts, not the original 17th century black-letter and Roman of the first Authorized Versions. The spelling is 17th century, but after ten minutes of reading you'll do fine. It contains the main and the New Testament frontispieces, the illuminated capitals, the running page headings, and the chapter summaries of the 1611. It contains the Epistle Dedicatorie to King James and the preface "Translators to the Reader," the latter in eye-straining 4-point Roman font. It includes the Calendar, the Almanac, the Easter calculator, and readings for holy days and evening and morning prayer, all of these latter in the old black-letter, apparently lifted from an original 1611. It also contains the original 1611 typos (e.g. Exodus 14:10), the idiosyncrasies (LORD vs. LORD), and the shorter list of italicized phrases. These will all be different in a modern "King James Bible."
The body text includes the Protestant Apocrypha (not the Roman Catholic or various Orthodox Apocryphas, all of which are somewhat different). The Apocrypha is included between the Old and New Testaments without comment, and is extensively cross-referenced to the other books by the original translators of the Authorized Version. The other books in turn contain some 102 cross-references to the text of the Apocrypha in the Old Testament, and 11 in the New Testament. Make up your own mind whether contemporary "King James Bible" publishers are justified in deleting these books and the cross-references to them while claiming that their modern printings contain the "complete original text" of the 1611.
This book also contains the marginal notes of the original 1611, which are also usually deleted by modern publishers, or replaced by very different new ones. These notes were included by the original translators who explain in the preface that they provide alternate translations for Greek or Hebrew words that they didn't understand, or didn't agree on. The translators also used them to point out where different original source texts had different but equally-likely wordings for the original scripture. The translators considered these notes very important, and say so at length in their front-matter paragraph, "Reasons moving us to set diversity of senses in the margin, where there is great probability of each." For instance, Romans 3:25: "Whom God hath set forth to bee a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousnesse for the remission of sinnes, that are past, through the forbearance of God," might be also read, according to the translators, "Whom God hath foreordained to be a propitiation...for the passing over of sinnes that are past..." Similarly, Romans 5:17, where, "For by one man's offence, death raigned by one..." could just as well be, "For by one offence, death raigned by one..." And so on.
This book is a medium-sized but perfectly useable Bible, well-enough made for everyday reading. My library copy is bound in nice brown leather soft-cover and is printed on onionskin, with a single ribbon bookmarker. It comes in a stiff yellow cardboard box. It is a good book to own, and is no harder to read than William Shakespeare. If you are curious as to what the Authorized Version originally said, you can pay $4000 for an original 1611, or $25.00 for this one. At the very least, this book will provide you with original source material to compare with any modern "King James Bibles" you might already own.
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400th Anniversary EditionFor 400 years, the Authorized Version of the Bible--popularly known asthe King James Version--has been beloved for its majestic phrasing andstately cadences. No other book has so profoundly influenced our languageand our theology. Over time, however, the text has suffered subtle andoccasionally troublesome alterations. This edition preserves the original1611 printing. Word for word and page for page, the text with its originalmarginal notes, preface, and other introductory material appears as it firstdid. The sole concession to modernity is a far more readable romantypeface set by nineteenth-century master printers."A valuable and essential addition to every Bible library."--John R. Kohlenberger IIIFEATURES * The only word-for-word facsimile of the original 1611 Authorized Versionon the market* Original preface and translators' notes* Alfred Pollard's classic essay on pre-1611 English translations and the history of the Authorized Version* New essays on the enduring impact of the KJV and the Apocrypha* Handsome page design with decorative initials* Page-edge gilding and ribbon marker (genuine leather only) * Clear type is convenient to read and reference* Special logo on book spine and packaging commemorates the 400thAnniversary* Includes the ApocryphaA special Bible for collectors,students, and everybody whocherishes the King James Version
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