Date: 1589, with Psalter dated 1585 Place: London Printer: Deputies of Christopher Barker Translation: Geneva Bible Format: Quarto Herbert: 199, 200 or 201 (I cannot be certain of which variant it is.) Binding: Later full leather Additional works: Herrey Concordances; 1585 Sternhold & Hopkins metrical Psalter with musical notation Notable feature: Genesis 3:7 “breeches” reading Provenance: Multiple historic manuscript inscriptions and annotations
An attractive Elizabethan 1589 Geneva Bible, printed in London by the Deputies of Christopher Barker, Printer to Queen Elizabeth I. This copy retains both the general Bible title and separate New Testament title, together with the Apocrypha, Herrey's Concordances and a separately printed 1585 Sternhold & Hopkins metrical Psalter with musical notation.
The 1589 edition is one of three closely related quarto printings of the Geneva Bible produced that year.
The Geneva Bible
First published in 1560, the Geneva Bible was one of the most important English translations of the sixteenth century. Produced by English Protestant scholars associated with Geneva during the reign of Mary I, it became particularly influential during the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods.
One of its defining features is the extensive system of explanatory notes printed throughout the margins, intended to help readers interpret the biblical text.
This 1589 edition was printed in London by the Deputies of Christopher Barker, holder of the royal patent for Bible printing under Elizabeth I.
The volume contains the celebrated reading at Genesis 3:7, where Adam and Eve are said to have made themselves “breeches”, giving the Geneva translation its familiar nickname, the “Breeches Bible.”
Contents
The volume contains the Old Testament, Apocrypha and New Testament, with the New Testament retaining its separate 1589 title page.
Following Revelation is the separately titled:
Two right profitable and fruitfull Concordances, or large and ample Tables Alphabeticall
compiled by R. F. H. (Robert F. Herrey). These extensive alphabetical concordances were designed to allow readers to locate passages and subjects throughout Scripture and are an important supplementary component of the Geneva Bible.
Preliminary liturgical material is also bound into the volume, including portions relating to Morning Prayer and the administration of Baptism.
1585 Sternhold & Hopkins Psalter
Bound with the Bible is an earlier 1585 edition of The Whole Booke of Psalmes, collected into English metre by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins and others, printed in London by the Assigns of Richard Day.
The Psalms are accompanied by printed musical notation, reflecting their intended use for congregational singing.
The Psalter predates the Bible by four years and forms a particularly attractive Elizabethan addition to the volume. The combination of Bible, concordances, liturgical material and metrical Psalter is representative of the way such books were assembled and used as practical devotional volumes.
Inscriptions & Provenance
The volume contains numerous historic manuscript inscriptions, ownership marks and marginal annotations in several different hands.
Among these is an early eighteenth-century ownership inscription apparently reading:
“Thomas Sesson / Book / 1709”
with the surname presently uncertain.
Other, apparently earlier manuscript annotations occur throughout the volume, including substantial marginal writing within the Apocrypha and around the supplementary material. These inscriptions provide evidence of the Bible's long history of ownership, study and devotional use. Further research into the individual hands may reveal additional names, dates or provenance.
Binding
Bound in an attractive later full brown leather binding, sympathetically executed in an early style, with raised spine bands and gilt lettering:
THE BIBLE 1589
The binding is not contemporary with the printing but provides an attractive and robust presentation for the surviving sixteenth-century text block.
The leaves display expected signs of more than four centuries of use, including toning, occasional staining, handling, marginal wear and historic manuscript annotation. Please consult the photographs for the condition of individual leaves.
Bibliographical Note
The Bible belongs to one of the three closely related quarto Geneva Bible editions dated 1589, corresponding to Herbert 199, 200 or 201.
The 1589 Geneva Bible is recorded in contemporary bibliographies as a London printing by the Deputies of Christopher Barker; institutional examples demonstrate the separate New Testament title and Herrey concordances found in copies of this edition.
Why Buy This Copy?
This is a particularly appealing example of an Elizabethan Geneva Bible, retaining both its principal 1589 Bible titles and accompanied by substantial supplementary material.
Of particular interest are the 1585 musical Sternhold & Hopkins Psalter, Herrey Concordances, Apocrypha and numerous historic manuscript annotations. Together they provide a tangible record of how an English Bible could be assembled, read, annotated and used for worship during and after the reign of Elizabeth I.
