Reading the Bible
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‘In the beginning was the Word’: the Bible (1)
The notion of the Bible printed in England, in English, was familiar well before the King James Bible was issued in 1611. Shown here is one of its earliest predecessors and a source consulted in its translation, the ‘Matthew’s Bible’, translated by Thomas Matthew (an alias for John Rogers, an assistant of William Tyndale, or for Tyndale himself), essentially made up from the work of Tyndale and of Miles Coverdale. The King James Bible was the work of 47 named and seven unknown translators, working in six teams. As King James had disliked the notes in the Geneva Bible, criticising them as ‘very partial, untrue, seditious, & savouring too much of dangerous and traitorous conceits’, the notes in the Kings James Bible are confined to resolving linguistic difficulties and pointing out parallel passages. Most of the Bible was printed in black letter, already archaic at the time and intended thereby to give a sense of authority; roman type is used for editorial matter, such as words inserted by the translators and chapter summaries. The Bible included the Old Testament Apocrypha. For the first ten years, all copies of the King James Bible were accompanied by John Speed’s biblical Genealogies. The King James Bible did not become the predominant English Bible until the middle of the seventeenth century. It attained the status of a great book in the mid-eighteenth century, a status it maintained until the end of the First World War. The handsome red morocco binding and gilt, gauffered edges of the edition from 1867 shown here testify to its prestige in the Victorian era. This Bible is in roman type, with editorial insertions in italic. It is published by the British and Foreign Bible Society and, in keeping with their policy adopted in 1826 to reduce costs, excludes the apocrypha. This copy has been inscribed on 3 May 1869 to James Clarke Lawrence (1827-1890), Lord Mayor of London, by the President of the Bible Society, the seventh Lord Shaftesbury.
The Byble, which is all the Holy Scripture[Antwerp: M. Crom for R. Grafton and E. Whitchurch, London], 1537
[E.M.W.] 020 fol. (SR)
This is one of the earliest predecessors of the King James Bible and a source consulted in its translation. It is called the ‘Matthew’s Bible’ because it was translated by Thomas Matthew (an alias for John Rogers, an assistant of William Tyndale, or for Tyndale himself), essentially made up from the work of Tyndale and of Miles Coverdale. .... more
The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament and the NewLondon: Robert Barker, 1611
[S.L.] I [Bible - 1611] fol.
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The genealogies recorded in the Sacred ScripturesJohn Speed
London, 1611
[S.L.] I [Bible - 1611] fol.
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The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New TestamentsOxford: Oxford University Press for the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1867
[D.-L.L.] G9.1 [1. English - 1867] fol.
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‘In the beginning was the Word’: the Bible (2)
The sheer size of the Bible militated against careful proofreading, and from the first edition of the King James Bible onwards, errors abounded. These could render reading an unexpected experience, such as in the so-called Printers’ Bible (‘Printers [for ‘princes’] have persecuted me without a cause’ (Psalm 119, 161)), the ‘Large Family’ Bible (‘Shall I bring to the birth and not cease [for ‘cause’] to bring forth?’ (Isaiah 66, 9) and the Wicked Bible, in which ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’ was printed in 1631 as ‘Thou shalt commit adultery’ (Exodus 20, 14). The scholar William Kilburne claimed to discover nearly 20,000 errors in a single 24mo edition from 1653 (shown) and published the results in a pamphlet, Dangerous Errors in Several Late Printed Bibles to the Great Scandal, and Corruption of Sound and True Religion (1659). The ‘Murderers’ Bible’ (1795) displayed is so-called for the substitution of ‘k’ for ‘f’ in Jesus’s statement in Mark viii, 27, rendering it ‘Let the children first be killed’ (for ‘filled’). Bibles have been glossed since antiquity, with the commentary sometimes far outweighing the Biblical text. The King James Bible from about 1860 contains selections of the popular early-eighteenth-century commentary written by a leading Presbyterian minister, Matthew Henry (1662-1714). That this particular copy was read is clear from the imprint of a bookmark. Bibles are traditionally the likeliest books to contain manuscript notes. The undated nineteenth-century Bible displayed here belonged to the Christian merchant and philanthropist Quintin Hogg (1845-1903), given to him by his mother in 1863 and passed on by him eleven years later to his wife, Alice; it entered Senate House Library as part of a gift of Bibles given by the younger of their two daughters, Ethel Mary Wood. Not only is the Biblical text annotated, but one of the Hoggs, probably Alice, has supplied, besides notes of their children, lists of verses, such as verses demonstrating contrasts between Christ and Satan, subjects for Bible lessons, a woman’s mission, and duties of parents, with promises to parents and children and examples of good and bad parents. Experiencing the words of the King James Bible, as isolated verses or chunks of text, can be a mediated experience: for example, through musical settings, citations on tombstones or in church windows, or Bible stories lifted straight from the Authorised Version. The Anglican Liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer contains numerous Bible verses, in addition to Psalms at the end. First issued in 1549, the Book of Common Prayer followed the King James Bible from its re-issue after the Restoration in 1662. It is shown here in an edition of 1680, bound, as was often the case, with the entire Bible. This particular copy is in a fine binding by Samuel Mearne (1624-1683), bookbinder to Charles II, which shows the reverence in which the text was held. Also displayed is an emblem book, in which a Bible verse heads each page, and is interpreted by a woodcut and a short poem.
The Holy Bible, Contaning [sic] ye: Old and New TestamentsLondon: John Field, 1653
[E.M.W.] 059
This tiny 24mo Bible is an extreme example of careless or non-existent proof-reading: the scholar William Kilburne claimed to discover nearly 20,000 errors in it and published the results in a pamphlet, Dangerous Errors in Several Late Printed Bibles to the Great Scandal, and Corruption of Sound and True Religion (1659). .... more
The Holy Bible Ornamented with Engravings by James FittlerLondon: R. Bowyer and J. Fittler, 1795
[E.M.W.] 093
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The English Version of the Polyglot BibleLondon: Samuel Bagster and Sons, [18--]
[E.M.W.] 120
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The Book of Common PrayerLondon: John Bill, Thomas Newcomb and Henry Hills, 1680
[E.M.W.] 015 (SR)
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Emblems of Mortality, Representing, in upwards of Fifty Cuts, Death Seizing all Ranks and Degrees of People (ill. by John Bewick)London: T. Hodgson, 1789
[D.-L.L.] F3 Bewick
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Bible Illustration before King James
Since well before the publication of the King James Bible, illustration has been an aspect of the Bible’s production as a book and an element of the reading experience. The first edition of the King James Bible is, indeed, remarkable for having decorated initials as its sole adornment, although the map and pictures of John Speed’s Genealogies, with which for the first ten years it was issued, obscured the lack. Illustration has performed a range of functions, from technical depiction of temples, objects and maps to the visual expounding of points of theology, narrative portrayal of biblical scenes, and decoration of the highest quality. A facsimile edition of the Holkham Bible Picture Book and thirteenth-century illuminated Psalter leaves illustrating the life of Christ here represent mediaeval illustration. The Psalter leaves have been cut out of their original manuscript, and were found interleaved in the pages of a nineteenth-century hymn book, perhaps reflecting the Victorian pursuit of cutting up illuminated manuscripts as sources for paper crafts and extra-illustration. Woodcut illustrations often accompanied the text of early printed Bibles. The Geneva Bible (1560) featured maps, illustrations and tables, which also became a feature of Bible histories, dictionaries and encyclopaedias. Shown here is a sixteenth-century English translation of the New Testament with illustrative woodcuts, similar to those used in sixteenth and seventeenth century emblem books. Another early form of illustrated Bible was the Biblia pauperum (‘Bible of the poor’). Originating in Germany and the Netherlands, this used illustrations to describe theological concepts through biblical stories. Often the text was incorporated and subordinated to the images. Biblia pauperum were also one of the earliest forms of western block books. A recreation of a late fifteenth-century Biblia pauperum is exhibited here, with illustrations printed from what were purported to be original wood blocks.
Psalter miniatureFrance, 1225-1250
MS620
The annunciation. This miniature was pasted into a late 19th-century edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern purchased by the University of London Library in 1964. .... more
Psalter miniatureFrance, 1225-1250
MS620
The nativity. This miniature was pasted into a late 19th-century edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern purchased by the University of London Library in 1964. .... more
Psalter miniatureFrance, 1225-1250
MS620
The annunciation to the shepherds. This miniature was pasted into a late 19th-century edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern purchased by the University of London Library in 1964. .... more
Psalter miniatureFrance, 1225-1250
MS620
The adoration of the magi. This miniature was pasted into a late 19th-century edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern purchased by the University of London Library in 1964. .... more
The Image of Both ChurchesLondon: John Daye, [ca. 1550]
G9.5 [N.T. 25 - Revelation - Bale] SR
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A Smaller Biblia Pauperum: Conteynynge Thyrtie and Eyghte Wodecuttes Illustratynge the Lyfe, Parablis, and Miraclis off oure Blessid Lord & Savioure Jhesus CristLondon: T. Fisher Unwin, 1884
[E.M.W.] 143
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Post-1611 Bible Illustration
Illustration has always been an important part of Bibles for children. Like the Biblia pauperum, hieroglyphic Bibles originated in Germany; Thomas Hodgson published the first English edition (no longer extant) in 1780. The hieroglyphic Bible was designed to aid the instruction of children by re-telling biblical stories through a combination of text and emblematic images. Hieroglyphic Bibles feature hundreds of woodcuts, some of very high quality. The copy shown includes cuts attributed to the famous wood-engraver Thomas Bewick. The mechanisation of printing in the nineteenth century led to the mass production of Bibles, including high-quality versions, such as the two-volume Bible illustrated by Gustave Doré (1866) and the lavishly illustrated family Bible of John Kitto (1838). Developments in colour printing also lead to a revival of ‘illumination’. The graphic artist Henry Noel Humphries (1807-1879) was a leading exponent of new chromolithography techniques, such as those used in The Miracles of Our Lord, imitating medieval illumination. This book also features a papier-mâché binding, taken partly from a twelfth-century cover of carved ivory. Among the artists and illustrators to whom the Bible has been a source of inspiration, the interpretations of William Blake are among the most individual. Blake first produced watercolours illustrating the Book of Job in the early 1800s. He was commissioned to produce a series of engravings, considered to be his masterpiece of intaglio printing, in 1823. Displayed here is a print from the proof copies, produced in 1825. In the twentieth century, private presses have also found ready source material in the Bible, with many fine illustrated editions of the entire Bible or of selections from it. The twenty-first-century example shown here is one of several editions of individual books of the Bible produced by the Welsh press Gwasg Gregynog.
A Curious Hieroglyphick Bible, or, Select Passages in the Old and New Testaments: Represented with Emblematical Figures, for the Amusement of YouthLondon: T. Hodgson, 1788
K10 [Bible - Hieroglyphic - 1788]
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The Holy Bible containing the Old and New TestamentsIll. by Gustave Doré.
London ; New York: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, [1870?]
[E.M.W] 388 (fol.)
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Illustrations of the Book of JobWilliam Blake
London: W. Blake, 1825
[S.L.] IV [Blake - 1825] fol.
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The history of the Old and New TestamentNicolas Fontaine, translated by Joseph Raynor and John Coughen
London: printed for S. and J. Sprint, C. Brome, J. Nicholson, J. Pero, and Benj. Tooke, 1699
[E.M.W] 058
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An historical, critical, geographical, chronological, and etymological dictionary of the Holy BibleAugustin Calmet, translated by Samuel D'Oyly and John Colson
London : printed for J.J. and P. Knapton et al., 1732
Porteus Library P7 fol.
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The Bible in Literature and Music (1)
Generations of English writers, including some who shunned established religion, have drawn upon the Bible as a rich source of recognisable stories, characters and language. The Geneva Bible of 1560 was for three generations the most popular Bible in English, and it was from this version that writers from William Shakespeare to John Bunyan most frequently drew. From the mid-seventeenth century the King James or Authorised Version began to displace the Geneva Bible in popular affection, becoming the standard source for generations of writers into the Edwardian period and beyond. All of William Shakespeare’s plays contain significant biblical allusions, and some, including The Merchant of Venice and Hamlet, cannot be fully understood without some biblical knowledge. Displayed here is Bottom’s witty parody of a passage in Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The influence of the Bible on John Milton can hardly be overstated. On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity, his first English poem on a religious theme, has the poet playfully asking the muse to get him to the manger before the Magi. Paradise Lost, shown here in the beautiful fourth edition of 1688, is of course largely based on Genesis 1-3, but draws on other biblical texts too, notably Revelation, on which the narrative of the war in heaven is based. ‘I was never out of the Bible, either by reading or meditation’ wrote John Bunyan. The Scriptures in the Geneva and Authorised versions permeate his works, not least The Pilgrim’s Progress. The journey undertaken by the book’s hero, Christian, echoes the exodus of the Israelites and Abraham’s journeying into the land of Canaan. Hannah More repeatedly argued that women’s more intense connection with the emotions gave them special access to the message of the Scriptures. Her Sacred Dramas, the first edition of which is exhibited here, is a compelling early Romantic engagement with the Bible. ‘Moses in the Bulrushes’, which opens the dramas, is an innovative retelling of the narrative of Exodus 2 played out exclusively by the female figures in the story: Moses’ mother, Jochebed, and sister, Miriam, Pharaoh’s daughter, and her attendant.
The Plays of Shakespeare Edited by Howard Staunton, the Illustrations by John Gilbert, Engraved by the Brothers DalzielWilliam Shakespeare
London: Routledge, 1858-1860
[D.-L.L.] (XVII) Bc [Shakespeare – Works – 1858-60]
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Paradise Lost: a Poem in Twelve BooksJohn Milton
London: M. Flesher for R. Bentley and J. Tonson, 1688
[S.L.] I [Milton – 1688] fol.
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The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World to That Which is to ComeJohn Bunyan
London: W. Johnston, 1760
B.S. 217
In Christian’s battle with Apollyon, Bunyan’s hero fights his enemy with a two-edged sword, a metaphor for the word of God drawn from the epistle to the Hebrews, and quotes in his moment of victory from Micah and Romans. .... more
Sacred Dramas, Chiefly Intended for Young Persons, the Subjects Taken from the BibleHannah More
London: T. Cadell, 1782
[S.L.] I [More, H. – 1782]
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The Bible in Literature and Music (2)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was of a generation that still drew upon the Bible for ideas, images, stories, and teachings, even while continental scholarship was questioning the biblical truth in which she and others so confidently believed. Barrett Browning engaged with the Bible with imaginative relish, drawing particular inspiration from the story of Adam and Eve and the Book of Revelation. Her poem The Seraphim is an imaginative account of the Crucifixion from the point of view of two angels watching from above the earth. Charlotte Brontë’s prose is steeped in the language of the King James Bible, with which she was highly familiar from childhood. Her novel Shirley, contains a memorable passage relating to the hotly debated issue of ‘private judgement’, the freedom of all men – but only men - to pursue the meaning of scripture according to their own understanding. Literally millions of Bibles were distributed to British servicemen during the First World War, and countless stories circulated of Bibles kept in pockets stopping bullets. The war poets frequently drew upon scriptural stories, finding parallels between the ruined French landscape and the lost Eden, and Christ’s sacrifice in the Gospels and that of their fellow soldiers. Included here is Wilfred Owen’s moving take on the story of the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22. Unlike Abraham, Owen’s old man slaughters his son, reflecting the poet’s bitterness towards a generation of European fathers who sent their sons to die in the trenches. The singing of the psalms in Christian liturgy dates back to the time of the Apostles, and versions translated into metrically regular English verse were sung as part of English Protestant worship from the time of the Reformation. The most important of these early versions were by Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins, an edition of whose psalms, set to music, is shown here. Version after version of the metrical psalms was produced thereafter and from the 1560s to the 1690s it would be no exaggeration to say that they were the best-known English verses, since every English man, woman and child sang them in church. In the eighteenth century the work of the metrical psalmists inspired hymn writers. From the psalter it was a natural step for writers to adapt other parts of the Bible to sung worship, and Isaac Watts, whose hymns were popular with Independents, Methodists and Anglicans, was a pioneer in this movement. The opening book of his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, first published in 1707 and included here in a later edition, contains 150 hymns ‘collected from the Holy Scriptures’. Almost all are prefaced by a biblical text, like the well-known ‘Come let us join our cheerful songs’ (shown), based on Revelation 5.
The Seraphim and Other PoemsElizabeth Barrett Browning
London: Saunders and Otley, 1838
[S.L.] I [Browning, E.B. – 1838]
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Shirley, a Tale, by Currer Bell, Author of “Jane Eyre”Charlotte Brontë
London: Smith & Elder, 1849
[S.L.] I [Brontë, C. – 1849]
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Poems by Wilfred Owen, with an Introduction by Siegfried SassoonWilfred Owen
London: Chatto & Windus, 1920
[S.L.] II [Owen, W. – 1920]
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The Whole Psalmes in Foure Partes, Whiche may be Song to al Musicall Instrumentes, Set Forth for the Encrease of Vertue, and Abolishyng of Other Vayne and Triflyng BalladesLondon: J. Day, 1563
[Littleton] 8 SR
Sternhold and Hopkins’ versions of the psalms set to music by William Parsons and Thomas Caustun. They would later influence a range of English hymns. .... more
