It’s with great excitement that my first contribution to the OSU Rare Books and Manuscripts blog gives me the opportunity to do something other than introduce myself (see a separate post for that). After all, anyone reading this is surely more interested in learning about new treasures recently acquired rather than hearing about my recent assumption of the duties of Associate Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts. So, without further ado, I’ll get to the news about our latest acquisition.

My afternoon was pleasantly interrupted on Wednesday by the arrival of a monument in the history of English publishing: The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New: Newly Translated out of the Originall Tongues: and with the former Translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesties speciall Commandement. Appointed to be read in Churches. With more than 700 leaves and measuring over 15 inches tall, 10 inches wide, and 4 inches thick, the actual book, better known to most people as the King James Version of the Bible, is physically as cumbersome as its rather wordy title. But what a glorious tome it is!

Originally published by Robert Barker, the King’s Printer, in 1611, the King James Version was the culmination of an ambitious translation effort first proposed at the 1604 Hampton Court Conference convened by King James I. Forty-seven biblical scholars—nearly all of them members of the Church of England—spent the next seven years comparing previous English Bible translations in an effort to prepare a definitive text that would correct simple errors, inconsistencies of translation, and more complex interpretative problems believed to exist in earlier English versions of the Bible. In their efforts to prepare their revised, authoritative translation, this distinguished group of biblical savants consulted works such as the Tyndale Bible, the Coverdale Bible, the Great Bible, the Bishop’s Bible, the Geneva Bible and, most likely, Taverner’s Bible and the Roman Catholic Douai-Rheims Bible. They also examined what were then considered to be the most authoritative versions of the Bible written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, as well as St. Jerome’s traditional Latin Vulgate translation and more recent Latin translations of portions of the Bible by Theodore Beza (who also prepared an influential Greek translation of the New Testament based in part on an earlier translation by Erasmus), Immanuel Tremellius, and Franciscus Junius (the elder).

Although popular from the moment of its publication in 1611, the King James Version (a title only given to the work in the late nineteenth century) did not become the standard English edition of the Bible until the end of the seventeenth century when a combination of political pressure, changes in literary styles and reading tastes, and pointed decisions by publishers not to print new copies of earlier English translations made the King James Version the preeminent Bible amongst English speaking Protestants for the next 250 years.

In addition to being a significant addition to our general collection of rare books, our acquisition of this volume supplements our strong collections of Reformation and Early Modern printings. It also undoubtedly will be a highlight of the upcoming exhibition and conference to be hosted by The Ohio State University in 2011 celebrating the 400th anniversary of the King James Version’s publication. The Rare Books and Manuscripts Library is overjoyed to add this wonderful volume to its collection, and we encourage faculty, students, and all other interested parties to contact us if they are interested in learning more about the book or would like to consult it for research or curricular purposes.

Eric J. Johnson, Associate Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts