The Holy Bible, Containing the Old Testament and the New

1722, an important King James Bible printed by James Watson, Edinburgh

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

Full leather, hardback. Five raised bands to the spine, faint gilt decoration to spine compartments, and faint gilt margin to boards with central cartouche. Faint gilding to the page edges. 17.5 × 11.5cm, unpaginated. Separate title page for the New Testament and engraved heading to Genesis.

This copy bears the early armorial bookplate of William Maisterson of Townsend, in Nantwitch, Esqr. There is also a previous owner's hand-written name to both the front and rear endpapers, Thomas Teale of Kemerton, with a further name (possibly earlier to the front, though scored through).

Full title: The Holy Bible, Containing the Old Testament and the New, Newly Translated out of the Original Tongues and with the former translations dilligently compar'd & revis'd

A Scottish King James Bible, printed by James Watson, possibly one of his last printings of the Bible as he died in 1722. Watson (b. 1664) was an influential and sometimes controversial Scottish printer. He took to publishing in 1694 after his father had died, and left a considerable legacy. He is known to have printed over 500 titles, with an annual output ranging from three in 1696, to a peak of forty-eight in 1710. Of these more than 400 are books and pamphlets, and over 100 broadsheets, or single-sheet folios. From 1700 onwards he printed the Edinburgh Gazette and, from 1705, the Edinburgh Courant. A Royal Patent from Queen Anne in 1711 allowed him to publish major controlled items such as Bibles.

This Bible is printed in double columns, and with marbled endpapers. There is a printed dedication page to the most High and Mighty Prince, James, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c" which is followed by the Old and New Testaments, and Psalms.

Condition

Good condition for age, but the leather is rubbed to all edges, with the board exposed to the corners, marking to the upper board in the form of dark splashes along the joint, and some wear to the joints: the front joint is cracked to the top 5cm and bottom 2cm, the rear joint with a small amount of wear to the top. The hinges exposed but secure. The main body of text is in good condition, the last few books of the NT (from Corinthians on) have some corner creasing and one page of Revelation has been folded somewhat carelessly and is creased but all text is legible and there is no loss. The pages are tanned to varying degrees throughout the book, please see the photographs as an illustration of this. On the whole, a sound copy of this important King James Bible.

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