Holy Bible 1805

6B King James Bible with 50 engravings and Apocrypha. Bungay: C. Brightly, 1805. In Two Volumes.

Description

 

The Bible was central to the early history of printing in Europe, beginning most famously with Johannes Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible around 1455, the first major book printed with movable metal type in the West. Early printed Bibles were typically in Latin (the Vulgate) and intended for clergy and scholars, but the Reformation in the 16th century dramatically expanded Bible printing in vernacular languages such as German, English, and French. Advances in printing technology, increased literacy, and religious reform movements made the Bible one of the most widely printed and distributed texts in history, with printers refining typography, layout, chapter divisions, and verse numbering to improve usability for study and worship.

Nineteenth-century Bibles are notable for their extensive use of engraved illustrations, reflecting both technological advances and changing devotional tastes. Steel and copperplate engraving allowed for highly detailed, expressive images that were far more refined than earlier woodcuts, and these illustrations were often produced separately and then bound into the book. Publishers marketed illustrated Bibles as family heirlooms, frequently including full-page biblical scenes, decorative title pages, and portrait frontispieces, sometimes accompanied by maps and concordances. These Bibles were widely distributed through subscription publishing and missionary societies, making them important tools of religious education while also demonstrating the close relationship between Victorian religious culture, art, and the industrialization of book production.

Notes

Brown leather with clear plastic dust jackets. Five raised bands with red leather labels. Gilt numbers and lines on spine. Some browning on pages. Red leather label on interior cover. Fully intact. Illustrated with engraved plate illustrations. Fine condition.