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” Tomson contributed a great deal to the marginal notes to the Geneva Bible, which
shows in their generally Calvinist bent. The great Reformation theologian
Heinrich Bullinger was also an important influence upon the notes. The notes
were of great importance to the communication of Protestant thought to
English-speakers during the second half of the 16th century. Finally, the Geneva
Bible was the first to incorporate verse-numbers, following the 1550 Stephanus
edition in Greek.
This copy contains the complete
text of the books of the Bible in 554 leaves, plus the “Two Right Profitable and
Fruitfull Concordances, or Large and Ample Tables Alphabeticall,” also printed
in 1594. The second Concordance lacks the final leaf. The general title and the
address leaf are also lacking from the opening of the volume. The volume is
clean internally, although a little browned. The upper margins have been trimmed
a little closely, generally affecting the headlines.
The volume is bound in full late
18th or early 19th century tree calf with a gilt border on each boards. The
binding is fundamentally sound, and the boards in good condition, although the
upper board is detached. The spine is somewhat worn, although the red morocco
spine label has been retained, as may be seen in the photos below. The volume
measures 21.0 cm by 16.5 cm by 6.3 cm.
In all, this is quite a
desirable 16th century Elizabethan English Bible, the famous Geneva or
‘Breeches’ Bible, textually complete, printed in black letter throughout,
printed at London in 1594 in quarto for Christopher Barker, and offered at a
reasonable reserve.
Please take the time necessary
to review the photos below in order to gain a better understanding of the
content and condition of the volume.
Humorously,
this edition is misdated ‘1495’ on the title page of the New Testament.
It was published in 1594
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The following
pages were photographed directly from the Geneva Breeches Bible 1594.
I have posted the first page of the first chapters of the both old and new
testament.
(note: Old testament still to come)
Each chapter
starts with an introduction which I hope you can read.
If you are interested in further history, please open the following page as a
Word Document - History
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