The Holy Bible in Eleven Pocket Sized Volumes

6B The Holy Bible Eleven Volume Set with all volumes signed and dated March 3rd 1875 from Windsor Castle. London: Bradbury Acnew & Co., ca. 1875.

Notes

The history of printing the Bible is closely tied to the birth of mass printing in Europe. Before the fifteenth century, Bibles were copied by hand, making them rare, expensive, and largely confined to churches and monasteries. This changed dramatically around 1455 with Johannes Gutenberg’s printing of the Gutenberg Bible, the first major book produced using movable metal type in the West. Printing made the Bible more widely available, encouraged literacy, and played a crucial role in the Protestant Reformation, as reformers emphasized personal access to Scripture in vernacular languages. Over the following centuries, improvements in printing technology steadily reduced costs and increased circulation, turning the Bible into one of the most widely printed and distributed books in history.

In the Victorian era, Bible ownership became both common and culturally significant, especially among the growing middle class. Sets of the Bible—often lavishly bound, illustrated, and sometimes accompanied by commentaries or concordances—were popular household items, meant to be displayed and passed down through families. At the same time, small pocket-sized Bibles gained popularity for personal devotion, travel, and missionary work. These compact editions reflected Victorian ideals of private morality and daily religious practice, and they were frequently given as gifts for milestones such as confirmations, weddings, or military service. Advances in printing and binding made it possible to produce these small, durable volumes without sacrificing legibility.

Windsor Castle has long been a center of royal religious life, most notably through St George’s Chapel, one of the finest examples of Perpendicular Gothic architecture in England. The chapel has been a place of worship since the fourteenth century and remains an active royal church today. Regular services are held there, including daily prayers and Sunday worship, and it is the spiritual home of the Order of the Garter, Britain’s oldest order of chivalry, whose annual service takes place at the chapel. St George’s Chapel has also hosted many significant royal ceremonies, including weddings, funerals, and burials, reinforcing Windsor Castle’s enduring connection to the religious traditions of the British monarchy.

Description

Green cloth bound books with gilt lettering to spines and debossed image on upper and lower boards. Red edges. Eleven pocket sized volumes housed in green canvas box with paste down contents on interior of lid. Gilt scroll design on lid with green lettering. Head and foot of spines are all soft. Fully intact. Points slightly frayed or bumped on each volume. All volumes have inscription to preliminary flyleaf dated March 3rd 1875 from Windsor Castle. Fine condition overall.