Offered here is a remarkable 1610 Geneva Bible, printed in Edinburgh by the celebrated Scottish printer Andro Hart, one of the finest and most influential printers of early seventeenth-century Scotland. This handsome folio edition is catalogued as Herbert 302 and represents one of the earliest and most desirable Scottish printings of the famous Geneva Bible.
The Geneva Bible was the Bible of the English and Scottish Reformation. First published in 1560 by Protestant exiles in Geneva, it introduced verse numbering throughout the text, extensive marginal commentary, detailed maps and illustrations, and quickly became the preferred English Bible of Puritans, Presbyterians, and many of the early settlers of North America.
This copy is particularly attractive for retaining a substantial amount of its original illustrative material, including numerous engraved maps, genealogical tables, and woodcut illustrations that are frequently absent from surviving examples.
Bibliographical Details
Title: The Bible, translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke
Printer: Andro Hart
Place: Edinburgh
Date: 1610
Edition: Herbert 302
Format: Folio
Language: English
Contents
This volume comprises:
The separate 1612 Psalter is entirely consistent with Andro Hart's known practice of issuing Bibles using later stocks of separately printed Psalters.
Illustrations & Maps
One of the greatest strengths of this copy is the survival of its engraved material.
Included are numerous engravings such as:
-
Paradise map
-
Holy Land map
-
Canaan map
-
Journey of the Israelites through the Wilderness
-
Division of the Twelve Tribes
-
Genealogical trees from Adam onwards
-
Tower of Babel genealogy
-
Tabernacle engravings
-
Numerous woodcut biblical illustrations throughout the text
These maps and illustrations are commonly missing from seventeenth-century Geneva Bibles due to centuries of heavy use.
Condition
-
The volume is bound in an eighteenth-century calf binding with a red morocco spine label lettered "Holy Bible."
-
The binding is heavily worn, with losses to the spine, rubbed corners, and evidence of long use.
-
Internally, the paper remains remarkably clean and attractive
-
Generally dark impressions throughout
-
There are edge tears
-
marginal losses
-
old repairs
-
detached or loose gatherings
-
occasional staining
-
wear consistent with prolonged devotional use.
-
The maps
-
genealogies
-
engraved material survive
Please examine all photographs carefully as they form part of the description.
Inscriptions & Provenance
This Bible preserves several generations of ownership inscriptions that provide a fascinating glimpse into its life after leaving Andro Hart's Edinburgh press.
The earliest appears to be an eighteenth-century remembrance verse:
When this you see
Remember me
And bear me in your mind;
Let all the world say what they will,
Speak of me as you find.
Alongside appears the simple inscription:
Remember me when you look at this.
These verses were commonly written in cherished family Bibles and schoolbooks during the eighteenth century as expressions of remembrance and affection.
A later inscription records the Bible as having been:
"Given by her Mother..."
followed by what appears to be a family name, likely recording the volume passing from one generation to the next.
Additional pen trials, signatures, and writing practice survive on several blank leaves, including the name Elizabeth, together with decorative flourishes typical of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Collectively, these inscriptions transform the Bible from simply an early printed book into a documented family heirloom that remained in continuous use for generations.
Historical Background
This Bible was printed only seven years after the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI of Scotland became James I of England, uniting the two kingdoms under a single monarch.
Although King James commissioned what would become the Authorised Version of 1611, the Geneva Bible remained overwhelmingly popular throughout Britain and Scotland. Its extensive marginal notes, practical commentary, and readable format ensured that it continued to be printed and read long after the appearance of the King James Bible.
Andro Hart was instrumental in supplying Scotland with high-quality editions of the Geneva Bible during this transitional period. His editions are widely regarded as among the finest Scottish productions of the era and remain considerably scarcer than contemporary London printings.
This Bible therefore represents the closing years of the Geneva Bible's dominance, standing at the threshold of one of the most significant moments in the history of the English Bible.
About Andro Hart
Andro Hart ranks among the greatest printers in Scottish history. Working in Edinburgh, he became King's Printer and produced many of Scotland's finest books during the reign of James VI and I.
His Geneva Bibles are especially admired for their quality of printing, handsome typography, and rich illustrative content. Today they are among the most sought-after Scottish Bibles by collectors and institutions alike.
Dimensions:
-
Weight - 3.62KG
-
Height - 34.5cm
-
Width - 23cm
-
Thickness - 7.5cm
