Bibles on this list of pre-1780 English Bibles will be posted over the next few weeks, beginning with Great Bibles and then with other translations as they are ready. When all of the translations represented have been posted, the Bibles will be renumbered and list #2 will be removed from my website.

All books are complete and in good condition except as described otherwise. Postage is extra at cost; insurance optional. Books are offered subject to prior sale. Pictures of any item can be supplied (as e-mail attachments) on request.  All books legally remain the property of the seller until the purchase price has been paid in full.

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1. The Genesis Octapla Eight English Versions of the Book of Genesis in the Tyndale-King James Tradition. ed. Luther A. Weigle. New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, (c. 1960). Large 4to, dj. xiv, 302pp with facsimile titles of each of the versions. $100.

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2. The English Hexapla, exhibiting the six important English translations of the New Testament Scriptures  Wycliff, 1380  Tyndale, 1534  Cranmer, 1539  Genevan, 1557  Anglo-Rhemish, 1582  Authorized, 1611... preceded by an Historical Account of the English translations... London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1841. Very large quarto, new full blue morocco, ornately gilt spine & gilt paneled covers; top edge gilt; the text is crisp and clean throughout; with a blue cloth protective slip case.   **Herbert 1841; the first Bagster edition, with the full text of the preliminary 'Historical Account', only partly present in the later printings; with the Greek text at the top and the six translations in parallel columns below. $2500.

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Wyclif:

Wyc1. The Holy Bible containing The Old and New Testaments, with the Apocryphal Books, in the earliest English versions made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and His Followers;  edited by ...Josiah Forshall, and Sir Frederic Madden.  Oxford: the University Press, 1850.  4 volumes, royal quarto, later quarter black morocco,  somewhat amateur (but decent) red labels; the text is crisp and clean throughout.  ***Herbert 1876; the first printed edition of the complete Wyclifffite version, with both the earlier version of c.1382 and the revised version completed by John Purvey about 1388 (Wycliffe having died in 1384).  Of the approximately 170 medieval manuscript copies of the Wycliffe translation known to be extant in 1850, about 5/6 were of the revised version.  The text of both of these versions is reproduced in parallel columns in this edition.  Quite a nice set; scarce.  $4000.

Wyc3. The Books of Job, Psalms, Proberbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon according to the Wycliffite Version made by Nicholas De Hereford about A.D. 1381 and revised by John Purvey about A.D. 1388. Formerly edited by Josiah Forshall and Frederic Madden, And now reprinted. Oxford: the Clarendon Press, 1881. Small 8vo, original cloth, small tears without loss to head & tail of spine; embossed private library stamp on title. (11) 300pp **Herbert 2015 SOLD $65.

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The rare first printing of Wycliffe's NT

Wyc4. The New Testament Of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Translated out of the Latin Vulgat by John Wiclif ... To which is Praefixt A History of the several Translations of the H. Bible and N. Testament, &c. into English, both in MS and Print, and of the most remarkable Editions of them since the Invention of Printing. By John Lewis. London: Thomas Page and William Mount...; and William Parker, 1731. Tall folio, original mottled calf, ornately gilt spine (somewhat rubbed); front hinge starting to split top & bottom, but still quite sound; a bit of light browning to the top inner corner in Acts, but with the text generally crisp & clean. Portrait (1) iv, 30, engraved plate, 31-108, portrait; 156, viii pages ***Herbert 1011, the first printed edition of Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament; only 160 copies were printed. The frontispiece portrait is that of Lewis, the portrait preceding the NT text is that of Wycliffe (both are nice copperplate portraits); the engraved plate is a facsimile of the title page of the Great Bible. ***From the library of the Earls of Macclesfield, Shirburn Castle, with their bookplate; a particularly nice copy. $35,000.

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Wyc5. The New Testament, translated from the Latin [by John Wyclif], In the Year 1380...and an Historical Account ot the Saxon and English Versions of the Scriptures, previous to the opening of the fifteenth century. By H.H. Baber. London: Richard Edwards, 1810. Large 4to, new quarter calf, marbled boards. Portrait frontispiece, (1) lxxii (1) 275pp **Herbert 1537; a reprint of the 1731 first printed edition, edited with new preliminary matter by HHB. Quite a nice copy of this scarce second printed edition of the Wyclif NT. SOLD $850.

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Caxton's Golden Legend: passages of Scripture translated and printed in English before Tyndale

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Cax1. A leaf from the Golden Legend. [London: J. Notary, 1503], a reprint of Caxton's edition (translation with additions) of Jacob de Voragine's Golden Legend, with the hystorye of Moses, starting shortly after leaving the Red Sea and going to Mount Sinai. Some of it summarizes the Biblical account, but other bits are essentially a translation of the Biblical text (e.g.: Thenne came Amalech and foughte againste the childern of Israhell in Raphydym Moses sayde thenne to Josue chefe to the men and goo out fyght ayenst. Amalech to morowe. I shall stande oon the toppe of the hylle havynge the rodde of god in my honde. Josue dyde as Moyses comaunded hym and faughte ayesnste Amalech. Moyses, Aaron and Hur ascended in too the hylle. whane Moyses helde up his hondes Israhell wanne and overcame theyr enemys and whan he leyde theme downe thenne Amalech hadde the better. The hondes of Moyses were hevy. Aaron & Hur toke thenne a stone and put it under hym and they susteyned his hondes on every syde and soo his hondes were not wery unto the goynge downe of the sonne and so Josue made Amalech to flee & his people by strengthe of his swerde. See Exodus 17: 9-13). 11 7/8" x 8 7/8", repaired to bottom inner margin, with one tear into text (without loss); 4 pinhole wormholes in outer margin and 2 in text (touching a letter or two each); minor fraying of outer margin, but with the text generally very good.

***Though the translation of the Bible into English was strictly forbidden, the repeated publication of this work was not prohibited, though the narrative occasionally contains what amounts to a translation of several verses at a time. A very interesting addition to an English Bible collection. $1000.

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Cax2. A leaf from the Golden Legend. [London: Wynkyn de Worde, 1512], a reprint of Caxton's edition (translation with additions) of Jacob de Voragine's Golden Legend, with an excerpt from Galatians 4, as follows: "Whan the plenytude of full tyme of the grace of god was ordeyned than he sente his sone that was god and the sone of the vyrgyne and wyfe ye whiche was made subget to the lawe to that they be subget to ye lawe he bought them agayne. And were receyued sones of god by grace of adopcyon." (Galatians 4: 4-5) ***This is leaf 'a.i.', folio primo of "The advent of our lorde". There are a few minor surface defects recto; the two verses from Galatians are verso; with a woodcut recto. $1250.

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Cax3. A leaf from the Golden Legend. [ London: Wynkyn de Worde, 1512], a reprint of Caxton's edition (translation with additions) of Jacob de Voragine's Golden Legend, from a section on the passion of Christ, with a woodcut verso. This leaf is largely taken up with an account of Veronica and Pilate and has no direct translation of Scripture. $450.

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TYNDALE: translator of the first printed New Testament in English, as well as other portions of Scripture; it has been well said that "it is remarkable to what an extent this first printed English New Testament fixed the phraseology of all its sucessors."

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Tyn1. The New Testament [transl. William Tyndale. Worms: Peter Schoeffer, 1526] reprinted in fine color facsimile London: David Paradine, 1976. 8vo, black morocco, a.e.g., in fine silk-lined morocco box. **No. 133 of 250 copies. Apart from the original and the vellum facsimile done by Francis Fry in the mid-19 th century, as nice a copy of the first full printed edition of the NT in English as it is possible to obtain. SOLD $3000.

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Tyn2. The New Testament [transl. William Tyndale. Worms: Peter Schoeffer, 1526] reprinted in fine color facsimile London: David Paradine, 1976. 8vo, new blindstamped calf, t.e.g. **Of this edition 250 numbered copies were produced, bound in full morocco, a.e.g. and housed in a velvet lined full morocco box; a somewhat larger number of copies was printed on the same paper, but in an ordinary binding. This copy has been newly bound in a binding more appropriate to the quality of this reproduction of this important NT. Apart from the original and the vellum facsimile done by Francis Fry in the mid-19 th century, almost as nice a copy of the first full printed edition of the NT in English as it is possible to obtain. SOLD $2000.

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Tyn3. The new Testament in Englishe after the greeke translation annexed with the translation of Erasmus in Latin. Londini: in officina Thomae Gaultier pro I.C., 1550. 8vo, original calf, newly rebacked with old spine laid down (with the initials 'I G' on both covers); lacks endpapers, inner margin of (fine facsimile) title repaired without loss; LACKS 9 (of 14) preliminary leaves (including the title): the second leaf is present but missing about 30% and is mounted, obscuring the whole of the verso; +2-5 are present (these leaves and the first leaf of Matthew have a triangular piece torn away, removing a small bit of text on the first two leaves and just touching it on the others)and LACKS A8 (Matthew 8: 26-9: 22); the bottom outer corner of Dd1 (Hebrews 7) is torn away, removing between a couple words and a letter of text on 10 lines; at the front there is a light dampstain at the top, gradually disappearing in Luke and there is also a dampstain to the corners starting in Jude; the outer margins of the last 4 leaves are frayed, affecting the sidenotes on the next last leaf and a couple words of text on the bottom 7 lines of the final leaf of Revelation; LACKS the 8pp of tables following Revelation. ***The text is lightly soiled, but generally is in quite good condition for an English NT of the period, with good margins and with the paper in better than average condition.

**Herbert 88; the fourth edition of Tyndale's NT with the Latin of Erasmus in a parallel column (Tyndale's English is in black letter text; the Latin is in Roman letter); the initials 'I.C.' stand for John Cawood, the London publisher who also edited the text. $25,000.

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Tyn4. [Tyndale New Testament] The newe Testamente of our saviour Jesu Christe. Faythfully translated... [ London: S. Mierdman for Richard Jugge, 1552]. **16mo, 19 th century divinity calf, somewhat rubbed & with the top half of the front hinge split (but still sound); LACKS the general title (supplied in facsimile), the dedication AND all after Ee7, which is the last leaf of Acts (the rest of the NT, from the first of Romans on, was apparently was bound in another volume); U7 is torn without loss; there is general soiling throughout; there are some pointing hands (especially in John) and a couple of decoratively framed marginal notations. There are 6 preliminary leaves and 231 leaves of text present; the 47 woodcuts Fry mentions in the text of the Gospels are present. **Herbert 100, Fry 30, STC 2868 (listing 5 copies, of which 3 are incomplete): the collation seemingly is unique to this printing, though there are minor differences between the illustrations in Fry (see his Plate 56) and a couple of those in this copy (e.g., the exact placement of the letters in Luke 6 and the position of the bird's beak in the ornamental letter at the beginning of John's gospel).

While only the first of two volumes, this is in quite good condition, with good margins throughout. Copies of Tyndale NT's in this very small pocket size format were mostly read out of existence and consequently are almost as rare as hen's teeth. $25,000.

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Tyn5. The New Testament...: published in 1526. Being the first translation from the Greek into English. By that eminent scholar and martyr, William Tyndale. reprinted verbatim: with a memoir of his life and writings by George Offer. London: Samuel Bagster, 1836. 8vo, 19th century blindstamped calf, bit rubbed. **Herbert 1816; a good copy. $650.

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Tyn6. William Tyndale's Five Books of Moses, being The Pentateuch. being a verbatim reprint of the edition of M.CCCCC.XXX. compared with Tyndale's Genesis of 1534. and the Pentateuch in the Vulgate, Luther and Matthew's Bible, with various collations and prolegomena. by J.I. Mombert. New York: Anson D.F. Randolph & Co., (1884). Large 8vo, original cloth, somewhat worn (with paper label defective & visible spot where call number has been removed from spine); ex-library, but without internal markings; closed tear to inner margin of title. **Herbert 2032; No. 344 of a limited first edition of 500 large paper copies. SOLD $400.

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Tyn7. William Tyndale's Five Books of Moses, being The Pentateuch. being a verbatim reprint of the edition of M.CCCCC.XXX. compared with Tyndale's Genesis of 1534. and the Pentateuch in the Vulgate, Luther and Matthew's Bible, with various collations and prolegomena. by J.I. Mombert. New York: Anson D.F. Randolph & Co., (1884). Large 8vo, full blindstamped brown morocco, ex-library with call number taped to spine, inner hinges reinforced & library stamp to top of title. **Herbert 2032; No. 323 of a limited first edition of 500 large paper copies. $400.

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COVERDALE : The first complete English Bible, 1535.

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C1. A Leaf from the First Edition of the First Complete Bible in English The Coverdale Bible 1535. With an Historical Introduction by Allen F. Wikgren. San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1974. Tall folio; lacking the dust jacket. Frontispiece, (3), portrait, 45pp with a folding map and with an original leaf from the Coverdale Bible tipped in: Job 6: 17- 10:2; with a minor neat repair verso to a tear without loss in the bottom margin, and with two very old, probably 16th century and perhaps contemporary, ownership inscriptions by 'John Maklin', one in the bottom margin and the other, vertically, between the columns. Coverdale leaves or Bibles very rarely are found with contemporary ownership inscriptions. **This California Book Club edition was limited to 424 copies; the Book Club obtained the fragment thus divided from the Huntington Library. [From the Prospectus: "The edition will consist of 3 copies containing an original part-title and an original leaf; 54 copies with an original leaf having one or more illustrations; and 367 copies with an unillustrated original leaf. The prices will be $125.00, $75.00, and $55.00 respectively, plus the sales tax. Copies of the $125.00 and $75.00 editions will be reserved for drawings among Patron and Sustaining Members."]The Prospectus for the work is inserted. $1350.

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C2. A Leaf from the First Edition of the First Complete Bible in English The Coverdale Bible 1535. With an Historical Introduction by Allen F. Wikgren. San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1974. Tall folio; lacking the dust jacket. Frontispiece, (3), portrait, 45pp with a folding map and with an original leaf from the Coverdale Bible tipped in:Jeremiah 6: 23 - 8: 16, with 4 pointing hands and the end of verse 1 and most of verse 2 of chapter 8 underlined. DJ slightly chipped. **This California Book Club edition was limited to 424 copies; the Book Club obtained the fragment thus divided from the Huntington Library. [From the Prospectus: "The edition will consist of 3 copies containing an original part-title and an original leaf; 54 copies with an original leaf having one or more illustrations; and 367 copies with an unillustrated original leaf. The prices will be $125.00, $75.00, and $55.00 respectively, plus the sales tax. Copies of the $125.00 and $75.00 editions will be reserved for drawings among Patron and Sustaining Members."] SOLD $1100.

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C3. A Leaf from the First Edition of the First Complete Bible in English The Coverdale Bible 1535. With an Historical Introduction by Allen F. Wikgren. San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1974. Tall folio; with the dust jacket (with a small closed tear and slight defects). Frontispiece, (3), portrait, 45pp with a folding map and with an original leaf from the Coverdale Bible tipped in Acts 13:7-14:26; there is a very light dampstain to the bottom margin and a slightly darker one at the bottom of the inner margin (affecting a word or two of text on about 8 lines) and the side notes are shaved (affecting the outer letter or numeral); still generally a good NT leaf. Leaves from the NT are considerably more difficult to obtain than OT leaves. **This California Book Club edition was limited to 424 copies; the Book Club obtained the fragment thus divided from the Huntington Library. [From the Prospectus: "The edition will consist of 3 copies containing an original part-title and an original leaf; 54 copies with an original leaf having one or more illustrations; and 367 copies with an unillustrated original leaf. The prices will be $125.00, $75.00, and $55.00 respectively, plus the sales tax. Copies of the $125.00 and $75.00 editions will be reserved for drawings among Patron and Sustaining Members."] $1400.

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C4. A Leaf from the First Edition of the First Complete Bible in English The Coverdale Bible 1535. *Herbert 18; a leaf from the first printed edition of the whole Bible in English: Luke 1.

**Most of the leaves which appear on the market are those in the California Book Club publication on this Bible, which included a real Coverdale leaf. This book was limited to 424 copies, the number being limited by the number of leaves available to the Club: the Book Club obtained the fragment thus divided from the Huntington Library. [From the Prospectus: "The edition will consist of 3 copies containing an original part-title and an original leaf; 54 copies with an original leaf having one or more illustrations; and 367 copies with an unillustrated original leaf. The prices will be $125.00, $75.00, and $55.00 respectively, plus the sales tax. Copies of the $125.00 and $75.00 editions will be reserved for drawings among Patron and Sustaining Members."]

***This leaf is NOT from the California Book Club publication: the first column on the recto has chapter summaries for Luke 12 through 28 and, in the second column, the first verses of Luke (along with a woodcut of Luke in his study) and two elaborate woodcut initial letters; the verso has two columns of plain text. The marginal notes in the outer margin are shaved; the leaf is a bit soiled. It is mounted in a large folder (which would be suitable for storage, but not for framing). Leaves with the heading to any of the New Testament books are very rarely available for sale. SOLD $3000.

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C5. The Coverdale Bible 1535 With an Introduction by The Revd Professor S.L. Greenslade. Folkestone: Wm. Dawson & Sons Ltd., 1975. Folio, original tan buckram in matching slipcase. **The only facsimile edition of the first complete Bible printed in English, taken from the Holkham copy in the British Library. Cf. Herbert 18, which describes this, the editio princeps of the printed English Bible. Copies of the original edition are rare and even significantly defective ones sell for well over $100,000.; no complete copy is known. This facsimile is now quite scarce. As new. SOLD $1500.

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C6. The Holy Scriptures, Faithfully and truly translated By Myles Coverdale, ...1535. London: Samuel Bagster, 1838. Large, thick quarto, contemporary morocco, ornately gilt, newly rebacked to match; a.e.g. **Herbert 1825; with a portrait of Coverdale and a facsimile of the original title. SOLD $1800.

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C6a. The Holy Scriptures, Faithfully and truly translated By Myles Coverdale, ...1535. London: Samuel Bagster, 1838. Large, thick quarto, new calf. **Herbert 1825; with a portrait of Coverdale and a facsimile of the original title.   SOLD $1500.

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C7. The Holy Scriptures, Faithfully and truly translated By Myles Coverdale, ...1535. London: Samuel Bagster, 1838. Large, thick quarto, original black cloth, spine a bit defective, but still completely sound. **Herbert 1825; with a portrait of Coverdale and a facsimile of the original title. SOLD $1200.

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MATTHEWS : "This version, which welds together the best work of Tyndale and Coverdale, is generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible." [Historical Catalogue of Printed Editions of the English Bible ed. A.S. Herbert, p. 18]

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M1. The Byble, whych is all the holy Scripture: In whych are contayned the Olde and Newe Testament, truelye and purely translated into Englishe By Thomas Matthewe. 1537. London: Thomas Raynalde, and William Hyll, 1549. Small, thick folio, old calf, newly rebacked. With the following defects: the first 7 leaves (including the general title) Yy 3 & 4 (in the Apocrypha) and I4-6, the last 3 leaves (part of the table following the end of Revelation), are in facsimile; on the following leaves the corners are torn away and replaced in a relatively crude (perhaps 19th century) MS: **ii & iii (the upper outer corner), Aii, Hh6, Vvi & 6, SS4 (the outer bottom corner), Ddd5-7 (much of the bottom of the first 2 and half the printed part and all the blank on the 3rd); Ddd8, a blank, is missing; the NT title is mounted (slightly askew); there is a marginal repair to Cii (slightly affecting text on verso), Diiii has a piece torn from the outer margin (with MS replacement) & a crudely repaired tear in the inner column, E5 has a tear in the outer margin affecting a word recto & about 6 verso, e5 has a marginal tear affecting a few letters in the outer column in the bottom half dozen lines; the outer corners on I3 are defective (the text of Revelation ends in the first column of that leaf). There are some marginal defects and a few tears without loss; the headlines are occasionally shaved or cropped. Herbert describes this edition as poorly printed, in black letter, on good quality paper; the paper remains crisp. It should be said that almost all surviving copies are substantially defective, some more, some less (the general title is almost never present). This copy is rather better than average (in spite of all the warts, which are described in detail); I recently purchased a copy which begins in Deuteronomy 27 and lacks the NT entirely.

**Herbert 75, the Matthew's Bible, a 1549 reprint edition of the 1537 first edition of a version "which welds together the best work of Tyndale and Coverdale" and which "is generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible." Thomas Matthew is believed to be a pseudonym of John Rogers (c.1500-1555), Tyndale's close friend and the first martyr in the persecution under Queen Mary. Quite an important early version; there are no modern reprint editions. $16,500.

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M2. The 'Wife-Beater' Bible

The Byble,... London: Jhon Daye, 1549. Small folio, contemporary ornately blindstamped calf over wooden boards, with original brass corners & centerpieces, rebacked & with clasps added (probably 19 th century); with the first leaf of Genesis in facsimile; Hh 1 (II Kings/ really II Samuel 23) is printed slightly askew and as a consequence the marginal notes are shaved (several other leaves are either trimmed quite close or, in one case, slightly shaved); the bottom outer corner of Pp5 is torn away, affecting a word or two of text on the bottom 5 lines of the outer column; a piece is torn out of the middle of the outer margin of Ddd6, just touching the side note (& the following leaf has an internal tear without loss corresponding to the tear in Ddd6); the OT through III Samuel 11 and the whole of the NT is RULED IN RED, though the red is fairly faint in the OT; there is some relatively minor soiling & a few stains, but the text is crisp and, apart from the first leaf of Genesis and very minor defects mentioned, complete.

**Herbert 74; a reprint of the Matthew's Bible of 1537, a "version, which welds together the best work of Tyndale and Coverdale, [and which is] generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible." ...“Thomas Matthew is commonly treated as a pseudonym of John Rogers (1500?-1555), Tyndale’s intimate friend, and the first martyr in the Marian persecution. But as Rogers only edited what is essentially Tyndale’s translation, it seems more probable that Matthew stands for Tyndale’s own name, which was then dangerous to employ.” [see the note to Herbert 34]. In this edition the notes are revised & edited by Edmund Becke, including the note at the end of 1 Peter iii reading: "And yf she be not obedient and helpfull unto hym endeuoureth to beate the feare of God into her heade, that therby she maye be compelled to earne her dutie and do it.” Copies are very rarely found complete; this is much nicer than most. SOLD $28,000.

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M3. The Byble,... London: Jhon Daye, 1549. Small folio, new blindstamped calf; a.e.g. With what appears to be the woodcut margins of a NT title (possibly taken from another copy) surrounding a printed imitation of the general title, affixed to the recto of the third last leaf of the preliminaries; these last 3 leaves of the preliminaries are all that are present; there are marginal repairs to the first, third & sixth leaf of Genesis, Ee4, Nn4, Rr2 (which has been bound in backwards) and on all leaves from S5 (Hebrews 10) through the colophon; Kkki is repaired, with perhaps the bottom third of the leaf neatly replaced from another copy; the corner of RRi is repaired (removing a few words of text); there is minor worming in the inner margin of the last few leaves of the NT and the first few of the Apocrypha (on a few leaves affecting a letter or two of text); there are a few minor tears without loss (including the title to 'The Psalter', etc.) and there are a few inscriptions/annotations, etc.; there is a half-moon dampstain in the inner margin throughout, mostly very faint, but occasionally noticeable. **These defects notwithstanding, a tall copy with good margins and with the text generally crisp & clean throughout; with the exception of the few words noted, the Scriptural text is complete.

**Herbert 74; a reprint of the Matthew's Bible of 1537, a "version, which welds together the best work of Tyndale and Coverdale, [and which is] generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible." ...“Thomas Matthew is commonly treated as a pseudonym of John Rogers (1500?-1555), Tyndale’s intimate friend, and the first martyr in the Marian persecution. But as Rogers only edited what is essentially Tyndale’s translation, it seems more probable that Matthew stands for Tyndale’s own name, which was then dangerous to employ.” [see the note to Herbert 34]. ...With the note at the end of 1 Peter iii reading: "And yf she be not obedient and healpfull unto hym endeuoureth to beate the feare of God into her heade, that therby she maye be compelled to learne her dutie and do it.” Copies are very rarely found complete; this is nicer than most. $22,000.

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M4. The Byble that is to saye, all the holye Scripture:... London: Nicolas Hyll, 1551. Small, thick folio, 19th century calf, newly rebacked. Lacks general title; in addition to the general title, 6 leaves of preliminaries are missing, including the whole of the Kalendar [present is *ii to 6 and C1-8, the 'Description' and the 'Table']; LACKS Mm6 [Jeremiah 1/2]; 3T5a has the bottom outer corner torn away, removing a small bit of the table & 3T6 is missing, including the last page of the table and the colophon. The headlines are decayed at the front, affecting the text on the first five leaves of the preliminaries, gradually lessening through the Pentateuch and disappearing entirely in Kings; the headlines are largely cropped in the beginnning, but about the same time the decay ceases so does the cropping; a few sidenotes are slightly shaved. While there is a bit of staining & soiling, this is minimal and the text generally is crisp & clean; all titles but the first are present.

**Herbert 92; a reprint of the Matthew's Bible of 1537, a "version, which welds together the best work of Tyndale and Coverdale, [and which is] generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible." ..."Thomas Matthew is commonly treated as a pseudonym of John Rogers (1500?-1555), Tyndale’s intimate friend, and the first martyr in the Marian persecution. But as Rogers only edited what is essentially Tyndale’s translation, it seems more probable that Matthew stands for Tyndale’s own name, which was then dangerous to employ." [see the note to Herbert 34]. ***This edition closely agrees with Herbert 75, an edition of the Matthew's printed in 1549 (a larger black letter than Herbert 74, the 1549 edition edited by Becke).

****Still quite a respectable copy of a Matthew's Bible. $16,500.

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M5. The Byble that is to saye, all the holye Scripture:... London: T. Petyt, 1551. Folio, 19 th century calf, bit rubbed but sound (inner hinges strengthened); in a modern folding plush lined cloth box; LACKS A2-6 of the preliminary leaves (including the whole of the calendar), the title to the Apocrypha and the last 6 leaves (4 of Revelation & 2 of the table, with the colophon); with some headlines shaved or cropped and many sidenotes shaved; various soiling & staining (to the bottom margin, from part way through the Pentateuch through the OT historical books and again toward the end of the NT); there are minor tears without loss (some repaired); there is a narrow internal tear to Ll 8 removing a letter or two from 5 columns of text) & KK1 (Susannah & Bel) is torn without loss (an awkward repair); these defects notwithstanding, generally the text is in good condition.

**Herbert 92, apparently variety C, though the general title is mounted and may be a composite: the center panel with the imprint seems to be inserted in the middle of the woodcuts (perhaps partly from another copy, though all of the parts seem to be genuine); a reprint of the Matthew's Bible of 1537, a "version, which welds together the best work of Tyndale and Coverdale, [and which is] generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible." ..."Thomas Matthew is commonly treated as a pseudonym of John Rogers (1500?-1555), Tyndale’s intimate friend, and the first martyr in the Marian persecution. But as Rogers only edited what is essentially Tyndale’s translation, it seems more probable that Matthew stands for Tyndale’s own name, which was then dangerous to employ." [see the note to Herbert 34]. ***This edition closely agrees with Herbert 75, an edition of the Matthew's printed in 1549 (a larger black letter than Herbert 74, the 1549 edition edited by Becke). ****Still quite a respectable copy of a Matthew's Bible. SOLD

The Byble, ...faythfully set furth... London: Jhon Day, 1551. Small thick folio, old paneled calf, newly rebacked; with the title and calendar and the final leaf in nice facsimile; LACKS also the second leaf of the Dedication to the King (Edward) and the first 6 leaves of the Table; there is a small burn hole in Q6 (I Esdras) affecting a couple letters of text; the top outer corner of the title to the third part is torn away & repaired (removing some words of Notes prior to Psalm 1); there is a repair to Ssss2, affecting a few words of text and there are marginal repairs to the last 6 leaves; there is some staining at the rear of the NT. There are a goodly number of marginal annotations in an old hand, frequently shaved. There are the remains of marginal tabs (which marked the beginning of some of the NT books), with a piece torn from the blank margin at the start of I Thessalonians. There is minor staining & soiling, but the text generally is fairly crisp & reasonably clean as well. **Herbert 93; a curious mixture. The title purports the translation to be that of Thomas Matthew, but it is actually a combination of a revision of the Taverner OTand Apocrypha by Edmund Becke and a Tyndale NT, closely agreeing with the NTs published by Day & Seres in 1548 and 1551. Quite an unusual mid-16th century Bible and quite a nice copy. $27,500.

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The Byble, ...faythfully set furth... London: Jhon Day, 1551. Small thick folio, contemporary calf with decorative gilt device on both covers, sometime rebacked; with catches, but no clasps; LACKS the general title, the Almanacke, the 3 page calendar, the 2 page dedication to King Edward and the first page of the Table of the principall matters (a total of 4 leaves), HHh3 (chapters 24/26 of Jesus Son of Sirach in the Apocrypha) AND, at the rear, Rrrr6, Ssss1 & 2 (I Peter 3: 7 to I John 4: 5) and all from Ssss5 (Hebrews 2: 16) through the end of Revelation (including James and Jude), as well as the 3 page table with the colophon (a total of 18 leaves); there are marginal tears to E3 & 4, the one on E4 removing a few letters of text recto (Genesis 8); there is a light dampstain at the bottom in Exodus and Numbers; the last 3 leaves of Job and the blank leaf before the third title are a bit chewed at the bottom outer corner (not affecting the text); there is a small paper flaw hole in Aaaa6 affecting a word of a sidenote verso; the top margin of Hhhh2 (John 3) is defective, affecting the headline recto; there are a few paper flaw holes in Oooo6 (II Corinthians 1 to 4), slightly affecting the text. There is a triangular dampstain at the top, never dark, but gradually growing lighter and smaller and disappearing entirely by the end of Deuteronomy; overall there is minor staining & a few tears without loss of text (e.g. EEe1), but the text generally is crisp & clean with good margins (the margins are slightly abraded at the end of the NT and there are marginal repairs to the last 2 leaves). **Herbert 93; a curious mixture. The title purports the translation to be that of Thomas Matthew, but it is actually a combination of a revision of the Taverner OTand Apocrypha by Edmund Becke and a Tyndale NT, closely agreeing with the NTs published by Day & Seres in 1548 and 1551.***There are 2 ownership inscriptions on the blank page facing the second title: John Swaysland 1689 and George Swaysland 1689. Additionally there are genealogical inscriptions on the blank facing the NT title: these begin with "Marget Swaysland [who] was born ye 14 th of Desember 1663" and record the births of Mary (deceased 1674), Henry, John, Elizabeth, Mary (deceased 1678), George and Barbary in subsequent years through 1679.

Quite an unusual mid-16th century Bible and, the defects notwithstanding, quite a nice copy. $15,000.

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GREAT : A revision by Coverdale of Matthew's Bible: ordered to be "set up in sum convenient place wythin the said church that ye have cure of, where as your parishioners may most commodiously resorte to the same and reade it." See Herbert 46 (p. 25)

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Gt1. The 1539 FIRST EDITION of the GREAT BIBLE

The Byble in Englyshe,... London: Rychard Grafton & Edward Whitchurch, 1539. 2 volumes, large folio, modern calf; LACKS the general title and the following 5 preliminary leaves, A1, AA1 and Aaa1 (respectively the titles preceding Joshua, the Psalms and the Apocrypha), Q4 (a blank) and H7 (Romans 8:1-10:8); ALSO Cc5 & 6 (Mark 13: 14-Luke 1: 9) are missing and replaced with leaves from a 65 line Great Bible AND Ll6-8 (Titus 2:13-Hebrews 10:13) is missing and replaced with leaves Kk4-6 from what is almost certainly the same 65 line Great Bible as before AND Nn6-8 (Revelation 19:17 to the end of the Bible) is also missing and replaced with 2 leaves as previously; a few headlines are cropped at the front & occasionally thereafter; there is a perforated library stamp to C7 (Exodus 4) & also to the NT title; there is a hole in D5, removing between 1 to c. 7 letters on 10 lines of text; the bottom outer corner is torn from Hh 6 & 7, removing five lines of text from the outer column on Hh6 and ten on Hh7 plus between a few letters and a few words of the inner column on Hh7; a piece is torn from the margin of Ccc8 (Judith 5/6), removing part of a letter on 6 lines of text; a piece is torn from M4 (I Peter 1/2) removing between a few words and the whole column from 26 lines of text and, also, removing some letters or a word from 7 lines of text in the inner column; a strip is torn from the bottom of N1 (Revelation 2-4) removing approximately 3 lines of text) and the margins of N2 are defective, removing a few words of text); there are tears without loss to C4 (Judges 18) & D7 (I Kings 17/8); there is a bit of light dampstaining, but generally the text is quite good throughout.

**Herbert 46, the rare FIRST EDITION of the Great Bible, which Thomas Cromwell, as King Henry VIII's viceregent, ordered to be placed in every parish church, in some convenient place where the parishioners "may most comodiously resorte to the same and reade it." Seven large folio editions were produced between 1539 and 1541 in order to meet the demand consequent to this order. Most copies, however, suffered from being exposed to common use and very few are to be found complete. This first edition is particularly difficult to find in any condition; the present copy, the noted defects notwithstanding (which includes 19 leaves missing: the 6 preliminary leaves, three further titles [the NT title is present], one blank, 8 leaves of text and the final leaf with a Table and the colophon), is in much better than average condition.While this Bible is usually bound in one volume, the present new bindings reflect much older previous bindings, perhaps in turn reflecting the original 16 th century owner's decision to have the Bible so bound.

An old fly leaf with 19 th & 20 th century notes is loosely inserted as are several old bookplates: that of Dr. John Jeffries, two of Harvard University (with a note by the Librarian that this Bible was being sold as a duplicate) and two bearing simply the name 'Samuel H. Turner'. SOLD $45,000.

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Gt2. The 1539 FIRST EDITION of the GREAT BIBLE

The Byble in Englyshe, ... London: Rychard Grafton & Edward Whitchurch, 1539. Large folio, modern quarter calf; LACKS all before E1 (I Kynges 21: 5) and all after L8 (Hebrews 10: 4) and the title to the Apocrypha, the NT title and the first leaf of Matthew. Also, 1) the following leaves are torn with loss of either text or sidenotes: H2 & 3 (the bottom is torn away, removing between 2 & 3 lines of text), P1 (a piece is torn from the bottom margin, affecting a few words of text), CC (the bottom outer corner is torn from 2, removing a few words of text, AND there is a burn hole affecting a few letters of text on 1 and some words on c. 6/7 lines on 2 & 3 and some words on 6 & 8 and a few letters on 7), DD6 (a large corner is torn away, removing a bit over half of the outer column at the bottom to a few letters 7 lines up), NN1, OO3 & 6, (piece torn from bottom, affecting a few letters/words of text, PP2 (large piece torn away, removing 11 lines of outer column at bottom & a portion of 6 more); 2) the following leaves are torn into the text, but without loss: E4, K1, P8, PP1 & 7, BB6, EE6 FF3 & 4; & (NT) Ii5, KK4 & 5; 3) there are minor defects to the following leaves in the Apocrypha: 3D1, 3D7, 3D8, 3E3, 3E5-8, 3F4, 3H8 & 3I1. 4) there is occasional staining, some minor decay & even a bit of worming to the top margin (more at the middle and toward the end than at first), there are minor marginal tears and slight defects (including some repairs to the bottom margin), but generally the text is quite good for an early 16 th century English Bible.

**There are 274 OT leaves (of which approximately 10 have textual defects), 79 Apocrypha leaves and 86 NT leaves (there are also a couple small fragments, apparently the remains of leaves now missing).

**Herbert 46, the rare FIRST EDITION of the Great Bible, which Thomas Cromwell, as King Henry VIII's viceregent, ordered to be placed in every parish church, in some convenient place where the parishioners "may most comodiously resorte to the same and reade it." Seven large folio editions were produced between 1539 and 1541 in order to meet the demand consequent to this order. Most copies, however, suffered from being exposed to common use and very few are to be found complete. This first edition is particularly difficult to find in any condition; the general condition of the leaves in the present copy, the noted defects notwithstanding, is much better than average.***There are (shaved) marginal notes in a 16 th century hand on Ii5 & 6 (I Corinthians 9 and 11). $25,000.

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Gt3. The byble in English,... London: Edwarde Whitchurch, 1540. Large folio, 19th century half calf, both covers detached. The OT ONLY, with the general title and 5 following preliminary leaves in good facsimile and with 5 leaves of text missing; the first leaves of Genesis have marginal repairs; the titles to the second and third parts are defective (with the missing pieces replaced in good facsimile). There are 290 leaves present: these seem to have been taken from a selection of copies and vary from completely untrimmed through cut quite close. ***Herbert 60; the fourth Great Bible. Both Aa6 and Ff5 have a Francis Fry label at the bottom reading 'November 1540'; apparently this is a composite volume put together by Fry after completing his work of comparing the folio editions of both the Great Bible and the Authorized or King James Bible. It is difficult to say just how many Bibles went into the current volume, but it would seem to have been at least 4 and perhaps twice that. SOLD $5500.

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Gt4. The Byble in Englysh,... London: Edwarde Whitchurch, the xxviii. daye of Maye, 1541. Large folio, old tree calf, newly rebacked. General title with 3 pieces torn from outer margin (& one from inner) and with a longitudinal hole above the imprint (repaired verso obscuring some of the list of books of the Bible there), but still largely intact (the general title is often simply missing); LACKS the first leaf of The Prologue to the reader and the blank leaf between Job and the title to the Psalms; there are marginal defects at the front, removing some text on 3 leaves and, then, a few letters on the first couple leaves of Genesis; there are repairs to the outer margin of the first 35 leaves of Genesis and occasional repairs through the end of Exodus (none affecting the text); there is staining from the front through the whole of the Pentateuch, but gradually decreasing so that toward the end it is entirely marginal; DD1 has a corner torn away & HH4 has a longitudinal hole removing up to 4 lines of text in the middle of the page. The NT title is mounted and there is a marginal repair to the first leaf of Matthew; Dd1 & 8 have the blank margins trimmed & Hh8 is repaired; the headlines are occasionally cropped or shaved, but the margins are generally good and the bulk of the text is both crisp & clean. ***Herbert 61; the fifth Great Bible, with a goodly number of small illustrations throughout the text; the defects notwithstanding, generally a reasonably good copy of a scarce early English Bible.  $22,000.

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Gt5. The Byble in Englishe,... London: Nycolas Hyll, 1552. 4to, worn original calf with brass bosses (7 of 9 on each cover), newly rebacked & recornered; with one (of 2) original clasps still present; LACKS general title (a very small fragment adheres to the first leaf of the Kalendar), the 12 leaves of 'The order of the Common Prayer', and the final leaf of the table (NN6, the final leaf of the table with the colophon).

The margins of the 12 page Kalendar are a bit frayed (& the headlines are cropped); the leaf following the title, with the 'table for the ordre of the Psalmes'/ 'The ordre how the rest of holy Scripture' is somewhat defective (sometime previously having been tipped in at the end of the NT rather than in its proper place; the Table of Principall matters [14 leaves] is bound in between the Apocrypha and the New Testament (& the outer margin of the first of these leaves is defective); O8 is torn without loss; a small piece is torn from f6 (Isaiah), removing part of a sidenote; the top outer corner is torn from Z8 (Baruch), removing about 8 lines of text from the outer column; the outer margin of the NT title is torn, removing a bit of the decorative border (there is a tear without loss at the bottom as well); the outer margins of Ee 3 to 8 (Luke/John) are frayed, affecting the sidenotes (& the outer margins of several following quires are very slightly frayed, not affecting the sidenotes); the inner margins at the end of the NT are slightly defective, affecting some sidenotes; the headlines are occasionally shaved & the edges of the pages are a bit browned, but the text generally, though lightly browned, is in quite good condition.

**Herbert 98, a very scarce quarto Great Bible, designed for use in families, as opposed to the more common large folio format designed for use in Churches. Many copies of Bibles produced in the year or two prior to 'Bloody' Mary's reign were destroyed and consequently very few have survived to the present time.With 18 th and early 19 th century ownership inscriptions on the blank verso of the final leaf of the Apocrypha.

***Unusually complete for such a Bible, with the whole of the text of both Old and New Testaments complete and only lacking a minimal bit of text from Baruch in the Apocrypha. $12,000.

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Gt6. The Byble in English, ...according to the translation that is appointed to be read in Churches. London: R. Grafton, 1553. Folio, fine 19 th century morocco, ornately gilt spine & gilt paneled covers; a.e.g.; title (remargined) and following leaf are (what I think are) excellent old facsimiles; 1 st leaf of Genesis remargined with some words of missing text in neat facsimile (ditto bottom outer corner of next leaf); the edges of the outer margins are very neatly strengthened to B7 (and to 3 leaves at the end of the Apocrypha as well); neat marginal repairs to D4, 5 & 6 (Psalms); very neat repair to O4 (Ezekiel 20) replacing a few words on 4 lines of text at outer margin; the headlines are occasionally shaved, as are a few sidenotes; the text generally is crisp and fairly clean; there are a few stains and neat marginal repairs, but generally this is as nice a copy of this Bible as can be found.

**Herbert 102; this is the folio Great Bible printed between the end of Edward's and the beginning of Mary's reign; as the note in Herbert says: "Queen Mary is said to have destroyed the greater part of this impression." Copies are consequently rare. In the mid-16th century the Roman Catholic church saw the general distribution of the Word of God as a threat to its power and so sought to prevent the common people from having access to it. The deliberate destruction of much of this edition by Mary, as a Roman Catholic Queen, to prevent this further distribution of God's Word, preceded the subsequent resumption of burning people as well as Scripture. ...While in point of time this was just a brief interlude in England, Mary's reimposition of Roman Catholicism coupled with an attempt to suppress the distribution of Scripture is of considerable historical significance, not least for the history of the English Bible. Out of this period of suppression came the Geneva Bible, translated by English exiles, and a far wider distribution of the Word. This particular edition of the Great Bible illustrates the beginning of the period of persecution and suppression.

***A virtually complete copy of a very scarce Bible, rare in such fine condition. SOLD $30,000.

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Gt7. The Byble in English, ... according to the translation that is appointed to be read in Churches. London: Edwarde Whytchurche, 1553. Folio, new calf; LACKS general title; a piece is torn from the bottom of E2 (Luke 13/14) removing a few words from the inner column & most of the bottom 17 lines from the outer; the marginal notes are shaved through much of the text (though not from I Kings to Daniel); there are occasional tears & marginal defects in Psalms/Proverbs, repaired without loss; the margins of folios 131-138 (in the Prophets) have been repaired, with a few words missing toward the bottom of R3 and a few letters on R5 (with the margins a bit frayed through the end of Malachi). Most of the outer & half of the upper blank margin of the NT title is missing (slightly affecting the woodcut border at top: the table on the verso is slightly defective at the outer margins) & the following leaf (also of table) is marginally defective affecting the text; the first 8 leaves of Matthew have defective outer & bottom margins, affecting the sidenotes and, on 2 leaves, a couple letters of text; a few further margins are frayed, including K8 & L1, and there are occasional neat repairs. Generally speaking the text is fairly good and reasonably clean, though the outer edges are just slightly frayed.

**Herbert 102; this is the folio Great Bible printed between the end of Edward's and the beginning of Mary's reign; as the note in Herbert says: "Queen Mary is said to have destroyed the greater part of this impression." Copies are consequently rare. In the mid-16th century the Roman Catholic church saw the general distribution of the Word of God as a threat to its power and so sought to prevent the common people from having access to it. The deliberate destruction of much of this edition by Mary, as a Roman Catholic Queen, to prevent this further distribution of God's Word, preceded the subsequent resumption of burning people as well as Scripture. ...While in point of time this was just a brief interlude in England, Mary's reimposition of Roman Catholicism coupled with an attempt to suppress the distribution of Scripture is of considerable historical significance, not least for the history of the English Bible. Out of this period of suppression came the Geneva Bible, translated by English exiles, and a far wider distribution of the Word. This particular edition of the Great Bible illustrates the beginning of the period of persecution and suppression.

***An almost complete copy of a very scarce Bible. $15,000.

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Gt8. The Bible in Englishe according to the translation of the great Byble. London: R. Grafton, 1553. 4to, old (18 th century?) quarter calf/ marbled boards; LACKS general title, all before a6 (text starts with Genesis 17:24), M1&2 and 7&8 (Ezekiel 18:29-23:15 & 33:15-38:8) and all after K8 (Hebrews 10:1ff); the top outer corner of k2-5 is burned away, affecting the folio numbers & outer word of the headline and, on the last two leaves a letter or two to a word of text on the top 5 to 7 lines); the text generally is crisp and clean with good margins throughout, with the (undated) titles to both the Apocrypha and the NT present. ***Herbert 103: "A handy quarto edition, printed in very small type." Printed at the very end of Edward's reign, just prior to the suppression of both Bibles and people under 'bloody' Mary; copies are rare in any condition. $9500.

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Gt11. The bible in English, ... London: J. Cawood, 1569. 4to, bound in wooden boards/ leather spine (this a bit worn with large piece chipped away from bottom of spine & front hinge splitting), probably 17th/18th century(?), rather larger than the text itself (9 1/8" x 6" against 7 1/2" x 5 5/8"); lacks all before Genesis 1 AND 11 further leaves: Xx8 (a blank), Yy1 (the first leaf of Psalms), Yyy1 (title to Apocrypha), Ffff 5-8 (chapters 37-40 of 'The Booke of Jesus the sonne of Syrach'}, Llll 10 (probably a blank), A1 (NT title), B 7 & 8 (Matthew 25/6), & P7 (the beginning of I John); top corner torn from Xx 7 & N2 (in NT) affecting a couple lines of text in outer column, & bottom outer corner torn from Eee 5 & 7 (Prov/Eccl); the bottom 2/3 lines are torn from Kkk8; the outer 20% of Q7 (the last leaf of Revelation & the table) is torn away; there is a paper flaw in Nnn3 slightly affecting the text; NB: the NT concludes with K8 (Romans 8) and the rest of the NT is replaced from a similar 16th century black letter NT: this begins with chapter 13 and is from a Bishops' quarto of about the same time. The margins are slightly frayed at front and more severely so toward the end of the NT (beginning in Romans and getting progressively worse, with occasional loss to the side-notes; there are a few tears without loss. The bulk of the text is nevertheless quite good with good margins. **Herbert 127; not a nice copy, but still quite acceptable. SOLD $4000.

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The first tome or volume of the Paraphrases of Erasmus upon the newe testament,... 1551. Small thick folio, old calf, sometime rebacked, now somewhat worn & a bit shaken, but still good; title mounted (& slightly creased); the text generally is crisp and clean, though there is some minor soiling & a few tears without loss of text (the margins of quire 'Z' are a bit soiled), BUT there is worming at the front, with numerous holes at first; most are gone quickly, but the last in the text remains until folio 174 and in the margin 203; there is quite minor marginal worming in the center and at the rear. LACKING Dd5 (the last leaf of the preface to Luke), Oo4 (folio CCXCII, the beginning of Luke 9), Eee5 (folio CCCCV, the last leaf of the preface to John and the first of the text of John); Ffff7 through the end (from the beginning of Erasmus's remarks on Acts 24: 10-13, folio 599ff) AND lacks the bottom 70% of CC8 and Pii (both blank). (34)[of ?] CCCCCXCVIII leaves: the first leaf of the preface to the King is present, but at least the second (and possibly the fourth) are missing). AND

The seconde tome... London: Edward Whitchurch, 1552. Folio, old mottled calf (with a small armorial seal on both covers), sometime rebacked, bit worn; binding starting to split in middle (but still sound); title mounted; LACKS Bi & ii (folios iv & v) and with strips torn from the bottom of Uiii & iv, removing some 5 lines on the first and 2 on the second. [the material is supplied with old photocopies of each page, tipped in at the back]; the text is generally crisp. (6) CCCXXVI (12) leaves **See Herbert 73, note: the second edition, in which the leaves in each volume are numbered consecutively throughout in both volumes I & II. While not in matching bindings, the two volumes make a good, nearly complete set of this important mid-16th century work, one which Edward VI ordered should be placed in every parish church. Due to the wear and tear involved in public use, most volumes were read to death and of those which remain the majority are incomplete --and appear as odd volumes; the title pages (both present here) are often missing. Volume I appears much more frequently as an odd volume than does volume II. ***The text of the NT, which appears in roman letter type (in contrast to the black letter of the text of Erasmus), is that of the Great Bible. $5500. SOLD

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GENEVA BIBLES

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A FIRST EDITION, 1560 Geneva Bible: The Bible...  Geneva: Rouland Hall, 1560.  4to, modern calf, with a clamshell box done at the time of this binding; LACKS general title (replaced in facsimile), BBBb3 (I Timothy 6: 1 through II Timothy 2: 17) and Lll1-4 (the final leaves of the table, all after ‘Praye’, and the colophon); the 3 preliminary leaves, the first 4 leaves of Genesis and I3  & 4 and Ki (Exodus 25-25) have marginal repairs, slightly obscuring text in the inner margin of two of the preliminary leaves; there is a minor repair to the outer margin of the NT title; there is a repair to the bottom margin of MM3 (John 8), just affecting the bottom line of text.  ***There are occasional stains and a few tears without loss of text; the side margins are good, but the headlines are variously cropped, shaved and fully present; the text generally is in good condition and on the whole this is a better than average copy. Of the 5 maps called for, a small blank corner is torn from the map showing the Israelites journey to the Promised Land(at Nombers 33)), the map showing the division of the land of Canaan among the tribes is repaired verso and has the bottom torn from the left hand side, affecting text but not the map proper (Joshua 15), & the plan of Ezekiel’s temple (at the end of Ezekiel) is mostly missing (about 75% of the right hand segment is present), and the other 2 are missing (often all five maps are missing).      ***Herbert 107, the first edition of the Geneva (or 'breeches', for its translation of Genesis 3: 7) Bible, printed in roman type and with verse divisions and explanatory notes. This is very much a Protestant and Reformed translation; it became very popular with English speaking people and was only very gradually supplanted in popular affection by the KJV. This first edition rarely appears complete and is scarce in even moderately good condition: most copies have the headlines cropped and sometimes the top line of text as well; this copy is better than average.     $25,000

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Gen1. The Bible... London: Christopher Barker, 1578. Large folio (15" x 10 1/2" x 3 3/8"), older cloth covers newly rebacked in calf; LACKS the general title and all after I Thessalonians 1: 5; a small piece is torn from A1 (Genesis 1) slightly touching the sidenote; the bottom outer corner of G4 (Leviticus) is torn away, removing a sidenote, the bottom outer corners of Bb1 (I Kings 22/II Kings 1); about 50% of Ss 4 & 5 is torn away (Psalms 86-89); a piece is torn from the headline of Ss6 & Tt1; a piece is torn from the outer margin of Xx3, slightly affecting the sidenote; a piece is torn from the bottom outer margin of Aaa5, removing a bit of both text and sidenotes (Song of Solomon 3/4); the bottom outer corner is torn from Nnn1 (removing text and just touching the woodcut of Ezekiel's temple) and Ppp4 (just touching the text and removing some of the sidenotes); a large corner is torn from Aa3 (Matthew 6/7) & pieces are torn from the following leaf, with loss; the bottom outer corners of Ee1 (Luke 2: 12 to 15 & 3: 31-35) and Ii4 (Acts 5) are torn with loss of text; there is a hole in the outer column of Pp4 affecting a bit of text; the inner margin of F1 (Exodus 5) is repaired without loss; there are also tears without loss of text to a number of leaves; there is a stain toward the bottom of the outer margin toward the end of the NT; these defects notwithstanding, the text generally is nevertheless in very good condition. **Herbert 154; the first of only two large folio editions of the Geneva Bible, a bit smaller than the 1583 large folio edition. The Geneva Bible was not commonly used as a pulpit Bible and therefore there was little demand for large folio editions; while there were over 140 editions of this Bible, only these two were printed in the large folio format and these were done quite early on. While considerably defective, this copy is an inexpensive and still attractive example of a Bible somewhat difficult to find and which, when found, is often quite expensive. SOLD $1850.

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The FIRST Bible printed in SCOTLAND:
Gen2. The Bible... Edinburgh: Alexander Arbuthnot, 1579 AND Thomas Bassandyne, 1576. Large folio, new half calf; LACKS general title, preliminaries and all text up to Genesis 19: 20 (Biii), Oo3 & 4 (Ezra 2:63-7:13), the blank leaf between the Apocrypha & the NT title, X5 & 6 (the last leaf of Revelation [from 21: 3] and the first of the Table) and Y5 & 6 (the final printed leaf--replaced in MS facsimile--and a blank): the first 4 leaves present are frayed removing some of the marginal notes); L1 is torn without loss & the outer margin is particularly frayed; there is an internal tear to O4 without loss and the outer margin of O6 is defective; the top outer corners of S5 (removing about 1/4 of the page) & Kk3 (removing a bit of sidenote & headline and a few letters of text) are torn away; a strip is torn from the bottom margin of ccc1 & 2, removing a line of text from the outer column of ccc2; the top & outer margins of hhh6 (Jeremiah 2: 22- 4: 7) are defective, removing sidenotes, headlines and some of the top few lines of text; the bottom outer corner is torn from rrr6 (Daniel 1/2) removing all of about 12 lines of text in the outer column and part of 12 in the inner and an additional 5 in the outer; ttt3 is bound slightly askew, removing a bit of the sidenotes and the top line of text in the outer column; a piece is torn from the top outer corner of ttt406, removing a couple words from the top couple lines of text; vvv3 has a tear without loss & two pieces torn from the outer margin, removing a bit of the sidenotes; about 70% of the outer column of yyy6 (the last leaf of Malachi) is torn away; the bottom outer corner is torn from llll2, (Susanna), removing about half of the text from 5 lines of the outer column (most of the leaf was at one time torn off and has been neatly but a bit crudely reattached; NT title has some writing in an old hand; the first leaf of Matthew (A2) has a piece torn from the bottom, removing most of the bottom 8 lines from the inner column & a few words from the bottom 4 lines of the outer; a triangular piece is torn from C2, removing a few words from the top 5 lines of text; the bottom outer corner is torn from C5, removing about 20% of the page; a small piece is torn from the bottom of C6, removing a few words from the bottom 2 lines of the inner column; a piece is torn from the top of E6, removing words from the top 3 lines of the inner column; a half-moon piece is torn from H4, removing some of the sidenotes and a few letters from 7 or 8 lines of text; a piece is torn from the outer margin of I3-5, removing some of the sidenotes; ditto K3; the bottom c. 30% is torn from N2; the bottom outer corner is torn from S5, removing about half of 14 lines of the outer column; the margins are abraded from S2 and defective, affecting headlines & sidenotes from V5 (Revelation 4). ***Generally the text is quite worn, with some soiling and staining and minor defects (e.g. minor tears with slight loss to sidenotes); the marginal notes are often shaved & abraded and the headlines sometimes shaved or cropped.

**Herbert 158, the first Bible printed in Scotland. The printing was begun by Bassandyne, whose name appears on the New Testament title, which is dated 1576 and was finished by Arbuthnot, whose name appears on the general title, dated 1579. The General Assembly of the [by then Presbyterian] Church of Scotland ordered every parish to subscribe the purchase price before the printing was begun. The heavy use these Bibles received in the churches accounts for the fact that very few copies have survived in even moderately decent condition; the present copy is about average! Nevertheless a surviving example of quite an important landmark in the history of the publication of the Bible and one which illustrates the heavy use to which these Bibles were subjected, by common people who had never before had opportunity to read God's Word. $1400. SOLD

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The FIRST Bible printed in SCOTLAND:

Gen3. The Bible... Edinburgh: Alexander Arbuthnot, 1579 AND Thomas Bassandyne, 1576. Large folio, old reversed calf, newly rebacked; LACKS general title, 6 (of the remaining 9) preliminary leaves are present, beginning with the first of the double Calendar (about 20% missing at the top); the blank leaf is also missing, as is the blank leaf between the Apocrypha & the NT title. The outer margins are defective at the front (especially the first 6 leaves of Genesis), somewhat affecting the sidenotes; the bottom inner corner is torn from n6, removing most of the bottom c. 40% of the inner column; pieces torn from the top half of the inner column of V5 & 6 (replaced in MS); a piece is torn from the bottom outer corner of qq6, removing some lines of text & sidenotes; some margins strengthened in rr; the bottom outer corner is defective on ss1 & 2, removing sidenotes and a small piece is torn from the outer margin of ss5 & 6, removing some sidenotes and a few letters of text; the bottom outer corner of zz3 is torn off and crudely reattached with an old pin; the bottom c. 40% of vvv6 is torn away (& replaced in MS); the top c. 20% of the NT title is torn away, removing 'The Newe Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ' and the words 'and best approved' below that; the top outer corner of D1 &2 and of I1 has been torn away and replaced in MS (& most of D1 has been torn off and sewed back on); the bottom outer corner of H1 has been torn away, affecting a few letters of text and some sidenotes; the top outer corner is torn from P1 removing a bit of sidenote and headline; the outer margin of X2-5 is defective, removing some words of c. 15 lines of text on X2 and sidenotes on the rest; the headlines and top several lines of text on X5 (the last leaf of Revelation) are torn away; the bottom outer corner of X6 (the first leaf of the Table) is torn away, Y1 & 2 are missing, Y3 & 4 are present but defective and Y5 and 6 (the last leaf of the table and the blank) are missing (with some of the missing material supplied in manuscript). ***The text generally is relatively crisp and fairly clean; most headlines are cropped (& occasionally the bottom line of text is shaved or even cropped--particularly the last couple quires at the end of the OT and somewhat in the Apocrypha and NT), the sidenotes are intermittently shaved, more so in the NT than the OT. **Herbert 158, the first Bible printed in Scotland. The printing was begun by Bassandyne, whose name appears on the New Testament title, which is dated 1576 and was finished by Arbuthnot, whose name appears on the general title, dated 1579. The General Assembly of the [by then Presbyterian] Church of Scotland ordered every parish to subscribe the purchase price before the printing was begun. The heavy use these Bibles received in the churches accounts for the fact that very few copies have survived in even moderately decent condition; the present copy is somewhat better than average! Quite an important book. $2250. SOLD

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Gen5. The Bible... Amsterdam: Thomas Stafford, 1644. Tall folio, old boards recovered in black russia, sometime a bit crudely rebacked, reusing old label; lacks initial blank, but otherwise complete; a few tears without loss, some soiling and stains & light marginal foxing, but generally with the text clean and with good margins throughout. **Herbert 579; a reprint of Stafford's 1640 edition, printed "According to the Copy printed at Edinburgh by Andro Hart, In the yeare 1610"; with the Tomson/Junius NT; inserted between the OT and NT is a 4 page section, "Ordained at the Synode of Dort": "An Admonition to the Christian Reader: Concerning the Apocrypha-Books, wherein are shewed the reasons and grounds, wherefore they are here omitted, as not Canonicall, and not to be accounted amongst the Books of undoubted truth, as the Holy Scriptures are to be held for." The last of the long run of Geneva Bibles printed before the late 20 th century. There are late 18 th century/ early 19 th century genealogical notes pertaining to the family of Susanna Elizabeth Allan and John Allen on the verso of the NT title and the recto of the following leaf, with some bleed through to the recto of the title. SOLD $2250.

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Gen5a. The Bible... Amsterdam: Thomas Stafford, 1644. Tall folio (14 1/2"), original blindstamped vellum, newly rebacked; a small piece is torn from the blank bottom outer corner of the title & following leaf (& from the last few leaves at the end of the NT); there is very minor marginal worming in the outer margin through the second leaf of Genesis, minor marginal worming from Z1 (I Samuel 25) through B3 (Psalms 33) occasionally affecting a letter of text, minor worming in the top margin in the NT from Luke 16 on, not even touching the headlines, & marginal worming from about the same place, affecting a line of the sidenotes from L1 through N3 (Luke 23 to John 14) but otherwise very minimal; there are a few minor tears without loss & a bit of spotting to the outer margin in places, but the text generally is quite good and complete. The full page engravings of the contents of the Tabernacle (p. 73) and the vestments of the high priest (p. 76) are present. **Herbert 579; a reprint of Stafford's 1640 edition, printed "According to the Copy printed at Edinburgh by Andro Hart, In the yeare 1610"; with the Tomson/Junius NT; inserted at the end of the  NT is a 4 page section, "Ordained at the Synode of Dort" (this with a piece torn from the outer margin of the first leaf, removing a letter or two of text from the first 9 lines verso AND with the second leaf skillfully repaired verso): "An Admonition to the Christian Reader: Concerning the Apocrypha-Books, wherein are shewed the reasons and grounds, wherefore they are here omitted, as not Canonicall, and not to be accounted amongst the Books of undoubted truth, as the Holy Scriptures are to be held for." The last of the long run of Geneva Bibles printed in the 16th and 17th centuries.  $3500.

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Quarto:

This is the most common format in which the Geneva Bible was printed; it served for many years as the family Bible for Puritans and Presbyterians throughout the British isles and in America as well.

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Gen6. The Bible... London: Christopher Barker, 1582. 4to, new calf with original front cover and spine laid down; lacks general title & slightly over half of the final leaf of the Apocrypha and NT title (but with the date, 1582, present); large piece (about 40%) torn from Ff7 (affecting Psalms 90-94) and bottom outer corner torn from Ff8 (removing sidenotes and a bit over half a column of about 12 lines of text), bottom outer corner torn from Eee7 (Ecclesiasticus 47/48), removing much of about 15 lines of text in the outer column), top half of Ppp1 torn away (John 5/6); --- corner torn from M2 (Joshua- a very little bit), Kkk3 (Matthew 6), Lll5 (Matthew 25/6) & Sss7 (I Corinthians 1) removing a bit of the sidenotes; with a few tears without loss and minor marginal fraying, especially at the beginning of Genesis; the headlines are occasionally shaved or even cropped, though generally the margins are good; though with a bit of staining & soiling, the text generally is fairly crisp. **Herbert 174, quite an early Geneva quarto in generally good condition. Bound in is a defective Book of Common Prayer and Two right profitable and fruitfull Concordances,... London: Christopher Barker, n.d. (lacks all after F7 of the second table, that of 'common places'). $1250.

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Gen7. The Bible... London: Christopher Barker, 1584. 4to, old paneled calf, bit worn with front hinge starting to split top & bottom; LACKS general title; outer margins of A3-6 frayed, affecting the sidenotes; bottom outer corner torn away on B6 (Genesis 33: removing about half a column of text on 8 lines), L5 (Deuteronomie 33/Joshua 1; removing about the same), Bb7 (Job 5: removing a few words on about 5 lines of notes), Dd2 (Job 39: removing almost 4 lines of text in outer column) & Ooo8 (John 4: removing some of 3 lines of text); the top outer corner of F4 (II Chronicles 7/8) is torn away, removing a bit of the sidenote & headline--and the page number); the margins are small throughout, resulting in occasional shaving (or, rarely, cropping) of headlines or sidenotes, but generally the text is clean and in good condition with only occasional staining, etc. **Herbert 182; bound in is a defective Book of Common Prayer, Two right profitable and fruitfull Concordances,... ( London: Christopher Barker, n.d.) and a Psalter (lacking the title and the last few leaves of prayers. With a 1692 Ipswich ownership inscription of Edward Syer [or Seyer] on the verso of the last leaf of the Apocrypha.Generally a good example of an early Elizabethan black letter Geneva Bible. SOLD $1300.

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Gen8. The Bible... London: Christopher Barker, 1585. 4to, old polished calf, newly rebacked; title mounted; small burn hole in B6, affecting a few letters of text, and in Ppp8, affecting a couple letters of a sidenote recto; repairs to bottom & outer margins of C3 to C8, not affecting text; there is a small paper flaw hole in Ll7 and two in Ll8, each affecting a few letters of text, and in Bbb1 (Tobit 7) affecting a few letters of text on 3 lines; there is slight damage to the blank bottom outer corner from Kkk2 to Lll3, probably caused by a worm or insect. Apart from the minor defects mentioned, a remarkably nice copy: the text is fairly crisp and clean, with minimal soiling and with good margins throughout. **Herbert 187, a black letter text with the inclusion of a Prayer Book and concordance, seemingly (and unusually) printed as an integral part of the Bible itself: the top, bottom and outer margins of the first leaf of The Book of Common Prayer are strengthened, with the bottom outer corner torn away, partly affecting a word of text. The outer margins of the two leaves following the general title have been strengthened. The sequence of leaves is as follows (this seems to be similar to that of Herbert 165): the general title, the 'To the diligent and Christian Reader' (with the 'Proper Lessons' beginning on the verso and continuing on the following leaf, which is the first of a gathering of 8 leaves and includes the Kalendar. The Book of Common Prayer follows: A-E8, F5 (textually complete). A leaf preliminary to Genesis 1 follows: 'Howe to take profite in reading of the holy Scriptures' recto and 'Of the incomparable treasure of the holy Scriptures' verso.

***There is a 1586 ownership inscription on the last page of the Old Testament and on the recto of the preliminary leaf preceding the beginning of Matthew (his first name is John, but I can't make out his surname); there is material in the same hand on the verso of the title to the Concordances.

INCLUDED is the Two right profitable and fruitfull Concordances, or large and ample Tables Alphabeticall. London: Christopher Barker, n.d. [COMPLETE] AND BOUND IN is The Whole Booke of Psalmes Collected into English meetre by Thomas Sternhold, Iohn Hopkins, and others,... London: the Assignes of Richard Day, 1585. Lacks the initial blank, but otherwise complete; some leaves a bit soiled.

Quite an early black letter Geneva quarto; apart from apparently missing a blank leaf or two and the minor defects mentioned a fine complete copy of a Bible rarely found either complete or in good condition. SOLD $3750.

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Gen9. The Bible... London: the Deputies of Christopher Barker, 1594. 4to, early 19 th century paneled calf (somewhat rubbed & worn), gilt spine, newly rebacked with old spine laid down & recornered; with the gilt ownership inscription in the middle of the front panel reading: "M. Poole 1822". LACKS the general title & following leaf, U5 (II Kings 25: 35- I Chronicles 1: 51), 3N1 (Luke 1: 66- 3: 15); the top corners of the first leaf of Genesis are missing, on verso only affecting sidenotes and (inner corner only) a few words on the top 4 lines of text; ditto A8 (removing sidenotes only); there is a tear in A8 & B1, neatly sewed together with thread; the headlines of the first 9 leaves are cropped; the top outer corner of C3 is torn away, affecting the folio number recto and a word of the headline verso; small hole in F4, affecting a few letters of text; top inner corner of U4 & outer of U7 torn away removing a bit of sidenotes (& headline on U4, which is bound in backwards); the bottom outer corner is torn from Tt1 & 2, removing a few letters of text on the verso of 1 and some words of sidenotes on 2; there is what appears to be a paper flaw toward the bottom of the inner column of Uu4 & 5, producing a tear & a couple small holes, removing a few words of text recto & verso on each; most of the outer column of Xx7 (Zephaniah) is torn away, with a manuscript copy of the text pinned to the remaining part of the page; a piece is torn from the inner upper corner of *ii and *111 (preliminary leaves following the NT title), removing a couple words of the headlines recto and some words from a few lines of text verso; the preceding leaves and the first few leaves of Matthew are somewhat soiled & a bit stained, with the edges of the outer margins slightly abraded; the bottom outer corner is torn from 3Y5, removing a few words of the sidenote; generally the text is clean, the headlines are sometimes shaved and occasionally cropped, but generally the text is in reasonably good condition throughout.

**Herbert 221; with the 1707 ownership inscription of Johannis Byrch at the bottom of the NT title and on the blank leaf facing it (& elsewhere as well). Also in his hand are designations of portions of the Psalms for morning and evening prayer, according to the Anglican liturgy. BOUND IN is the Two right profitable and fruitfull Concordances,... [ London: Deputies of Christopher Barker, n.d.] with the outer margins shaved throughout, and with Poole family notes on the verso of the title (& on the free endpaper following the Psalter) AND The Whole Booke of Psalmes... London: John Windet for the Assignes of Richarde Daye, 1594 (lacks all after Psalm 114).

The relatively minor defects notwithstanding, a good, largely complete copy of a late 16 th century black letter Geneva Bible. SOLD $1250.

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Gen10. The Bible... London: Deputies of Christopher Barker, 1599. 4to, contemporary (probably original) morocco, now rather mellowed (the way old morocco does) to a light brown (though it was probably originally dyed black or olive), gilt paneled (but with much of the gilt worn away) and with the initials 'K G' in the middle of both covers, newly rebacked; lacks clasps. The blank margins of the (mounted) engraved title are defective; a piece is torn from the margin of D2, removing a word or two of the sidenotes; lacks the blank leaf Q8 between the Old & New Testaments; there is a stain to the inner bottom margin throughout, a bit heavier in the NT, but not touching the Scripture text at any point; the final leaf of the table at the end of the NT has its bottom inner corner torn away removing most of the bottom 12 lines of text from the inner column and a few words from the bottom 6 lines of the middle column (the inner and bottom edges have been strengthened); the edge of the middle of the outer margin is slightly abraded from use; there is a bit of light foxing and there are a few tears without loss; the Psalter (at the rear, for singing) is not present. **Herbert 251, a roman letter Geneva with the Tomson/Junius New Testament. This, as were all but one of the 1599 editions, was printed in the Netherlands sometime after 1615, when James I banned further printing of the Geneva Bible in order to aid the circulation of the new version; the false date was to give the impression the law was not being broken, though the Bibles were smuggled into England to meet the continued demand for this highly popular translation (as well as for the valued notes). Unlike all other editions of the Geneva Bible, this was printed without the Apocrypha and with the Psalter (for singing in worship) as an integral part of the Bible.

A well used copy, but nevertheless, apart from the final leaf of the table and the Psalter, complete. SOLD $1500.

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Gen11. The Bible... [no imprint: supposed to have been printed at Dort in the Netherlands, 1599, but more probably, as with the other Dutch printed quarto Geneva Bibles with the date 1599, sometime in the 1630's]. 4to, 19 th century divinity calf with the date '1602' at the bottom of the spine, certainly a mistake); without a printed general title, though with the woodcut title; damp stain covering about half the page (top inner corner to middle of outer column at bottom) from B1 to F8, with no traces of a stain on preceding or following leaves (probably indicating that whatever happened occurred prior to the book's being bound) &again from I1-8 and K1-2 & 7-8 and, finally, M1-8); a few marginal repairs without loss, including neat repair to the bottom and outer margins of the final leaf of the table. There is a bit of staining (especially to the top margin) and soiling throughout, & a few leaves have the marginal notes shaved, but the text nevertheless is quite good, with good margins. **Herbert 255; printed without date, printer or place of publication; a device on the title of the Metrical Psalms, a bird in a device with the motto 'God is my Helper', has caused some to call this the 'Goose Bible'. The top half of about 10 leaves toward the end of the Psalter are particularly stained.

The following inscription is twice written on the verso of the blank leaf following the Psalter:

This Bible to John Willcockson belongs of right,

God grant in it hee have true Spirituall sight;

It beeinge a purchase bought with money given;

When hee in Baptizme made vowes to God for Heaven.

The first (less legible) instance is signed John Willcockson borne 20 th Nov: 1633; the second JWillcockson. 26. July. 1637.

Though without a printed (as opposed to a woodcut) title, an otherwise good, complete Roman letter copy of the Geneva Bible. $1800.

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Gen12. The Bible ... [no imprint: supposed to have been printed at Dort in the Netherlands, 1599, but more probably, as with the other Dutch printed quarto Geneva Bibles with the date 1599, sometime in the 1630's]. 4to, old (probably early 19 th century) half vellum with no label on spine but a decorative label on the front cover reading 'Holy Bible'; LACKS printed title (but engraved title present) and first leaf of the 'To the Reader'; the outer margins of the two preliminary leaves and the first 8 leaves of Genesis have their top, bottom and outer margins reinforced and the bottom and outer margins are reinforced on the following 24 leaves (through quire 'D'); there is some internal damage to A1, 7 & 8, but only with a crude repair to 8 obscuring a bit of text; the outer and bottom margins are a bit abraded through the historical books of the OT (getting progressively better); the NT is generally quite good, though the outer corners in Revelation are a bit defective (not touching the text) and the inner margin of the blank verso of the last leaf is strengthened. Generally a wide margined copy, having a few tears without loss and being lightly toned at the outer margins, but with the text complete and generally in quite good condition. ***Herbert 255; lacking the Psalter at the rear, but with a roman letter Apocrypha from an early 17 th century KJV Bible bound in [Herbert 255 was printed without an Apocrypha], collating Ccc7 & 8, Ddd8-Ooo8. The top outer corner of Iii5 is torn away, removing a few words from the top line of text recto, the top 2 verso and a bit of sidenotes.

**An interesting and complete (as to the Biblical text) copy of the Geneva Bible with the Thomson/Junius New Testament. SOLD $950.

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FINE ORIGINAL BINDING

Gen13. The Bible.... London: Robert Barker, 1606. 4to, original ornately gilt morocco, bit worn [lacks ties], but still in very good condition; all edges gilt (with the gilt somewhat worn); small piece torn out of outer margin of title, just affecting decorative border; LACKS 6 leaves: R4 (the conclusion of I Kings), Ff1 (Song of Solomon 2:18 through the end of the Song), Ii4 & 5 (Isaiah 16: 21 through the end of 22), Ggg6 & 7 (Acts 13: 6 through 16:35); there is a small piece torn out of Ii3 and the top outer corner of R8 is torn away with slight loss of text on 5 lines); Nnn8 is torn without loss; very minor soiling & staining; the margins are good throughout. **