Manifold Greatness

Manifold Greatness: the Making of the King James Bible tells the story of the creation and immediate afterlife of the King James translation of the bible, first published in 1611. The King James Bible is the most printed book in existence, with one billion copies in print. Its effect on the English language is incalculable, both in common parlance and in literature.

Richly illustrated with manuscripts, artefacts, and archival material concerning the Oxford Translators such as the annotated Bodleian Bishops’ Bible of 1602, pages from the Wycliffite and Tyndale bibles and an edition of the Bishop’s Bible owned by Elizabeth I, this book also contains material on the later reception of the King James Bible in America, including a chapter on the King James Bible and the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Eight chapters contributed by leading academics in the field discuss the history of biblical translation, the political background to the project, the Oxford Translators (including Henry Savile, John Rainolds, and John Harmar) and their working milieu, the book and its cultural politics, and the reception and influence of the King James Bible up until 1769 (the publication date of the ‘Oxford Standard’ edition, the first revision of the 1611 translation).

Published to commemorate the four-hundredth anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible and marking the first collaboration of two of the world's leading libraries, this book brings together key research and documentation to provide a lively and meticulous account of this publishing phenomenon.