The Making of the King James Bible with Original Leaf from the “She” King James Bible of 1611

6B Edwin Eliott Willoughby. with Original Leaf from the “She” King James Bible of 1611. Los Angeles: The Planting Press, 1956.

Notes

The Making of the King James Bible (1956) by Edwin Eliott Willoughby is a scholarly study focused on the historical and textual background of the 1611 King James Version (KJV) rather than on its later literary influence. Willoughby, a bibliographer and librarian at the Folger Shakespeare Library, approaches the KJV as a product of early modern scholarship, printing, and ecclesiastical policy. He examines the political and religious circumstances that led to its commissioning under King James I, including the Hampton Court Conference of 1604, and explains how the translation was intended to unify the Church of England amid post-Reformation tensions. The book emphasizes that the KJV was not created in isolation but drew heavily on earlier English translations, especially those of William Tyndale, Miles Coverdale, the Great Bible, and the Geneva Bible.

In addition, Willoughby gives close attention to the translators’ methods, sources, and working conditions. He discusses the six companies of translators, their use of Hebrew and Greek texts, the influence of the Latin Vulgate and other European translations, and the collaborative revision process that shaped the final text. A notable contribution of the book is its analysis of early printings of the King James Bible, including textual variants, typographical practices, and the role of printers in shaping the received text. Rather than treating the KJV as a single fixed monument, Willoughby shows it as a carefully constructed but historically contingent work, emerging from a long tradition of biblical translation and evolving through its earliest editions.

This copy includes a loose page from the first edition of the King James Bible printed in 1611. The King James Bible is famous for existing in two closely related but distinct settings, commonly known as the “He Bible” and the “She Bible,” named after a variant reading in Ruth 3:15. In the “She Bible,” the verse reads “and she went into the city,” whereas the other setting reads “and he went into the city.” The She Bible is generally considered the earlier state of the 1611 printing, produced by the king’s printer Robert Barker, and it contains numerous typographical and textual inconsistencies typical of large, complex early modern printing projects. These differences were not intentional theological changes but the result of in-press corrections made as printing progressed, leading to multiple states within the same edition. Today, the She Bible is especially significant to bibliographers and collectors because it represents the earliest form of the King James Bible as it first entered circulation, offering insight into seventeenth-century printing practices and the fluidity of the biblical text even at its moment of publication.

Description

Gray hardbound with tissue and clear plastic protector. Some tearing to covers but book is fully intact. Deckled edges. Minimally frayed points and foot of spine. Including loose page from a 1611 First Edition King James “She” Bible in excellent condition.

Dimensions: 11”x16”