8vo (approximately 213 × 148 mm) Contemporary text printed in black letter with engraved architectural title pages.
An early Stuart Authorized Version comprising:
- Old Testament
- Apocrypha
- New Testament
- Book of Psalms
Present:
- General engraved title (1633)
- Second engraved general title (1633), inserted before The Translators to the Reader
- Engraved New Testament title
- Complete biblical text including the Apocrypha and Psalms
Absent:
- Speed's Genealogies
- Maps
- Concordance
- Separate Psalms title not present
Bound in an sympathetic early (probably eighteenth-century) full calf binding, evidently replacing the original seventeenth-century binding. During this rebinding an additional genuine engraved general title page from another copy of the same edition was inserted before The Translators to the Reader, replacing or compensating for missing preliminary matter. The inserted title is an authentic seventeenth-century impression and not a later facsimile.
Paper remains remarkably clean with strong impressions throughout. Honest signs of use, scattered marginal wear, small tears and ownership inscriptions consistent with nearly four centuries of family ownership.
Provenance
One of the most appealing features of this copy is its unusually well-documented ownership history, preserving over 130 years of continuous family provenance within the Bullock family.
Thomas Bullock
(owner recorded 1780)
│
│
(probable family succession)
│
Samuel Hoar Bullock
of Pickwell, Leicestershire
│
Presented in 1842 to his nephew
│
John Bullock
17 Duke Street
Grosvenor Square, London
│
(descended through the Bullock family)
│
John Edgar Bullock
described in 1913 as
"Great Grandson of the above"
Presented by his cousins
A.M.B. & H.A.B.
Recorded inscriptions
c.1780
Thomas Bullock his Book
Dated 1780, with numerous contemporary ownership inscriptions, penmanship exercises and signatures.
1842 Presentation Inscription
John Bullock
17 Duke Street, Grosvenor Square
The Gift of his Uncle Samuel Hoar Bullock, Pickwell, Leicestershire.
1842
This inscription records the transfer of the Bible from Samuel Hoar Bullock of Pickwell, Leicestershire, to his nephew John Bullock in London, providing an unusually precise provenance including names, locations and date.
1913 Family Inscription
John Edgar Bullock
Great Grandson of the above
Given by his Cousins A.M.B. & H.A.B.
1913
This later inscription consciously preserves the family's understanding of the Bible's descent through successive generations.
Bibliographical Notes
A copy of Herbert 486, printed in 1633 by Robert Barker and the Assignes of John Bill.
The present copy is notable for retaining two identical engraved general title pages. One serves as the opening title of the volume, while a second genuine engraved title has been inserted before The Translators to the Reader, almost certainly during the eighteenth-century rebinding. Such repairs were a common period method of restoring heavily used family Bibles and form part of the book's own historical narrative.
Although lacking the Genealogies, maps and Concordance called for by Herbert, the Bible retains its complete biblical text (including the Apocrypha and Psalms) and represents an honest, unrestored survival of a well-used seventeenth-century family Bible.
Dimensions:
Weight - 2.1KG
Height - 22.6cm
Width - 19cm
Thickness - 7.5cm
