Facsimile Reproductions of Rare and Antique Bibles

1522 Complutensian Polyglot Bible

John Jeffcoat — Sat, 06 Aug 2022 13:16:54 +0000

1522 Complutensian Polyglot Bible
Facsimile Reproduction

The six-volume Complutensian Polyglot Bible was printed between 1514 and 1522 but not bound and published until 1522. It is one of the three most important books ever printed in human history. Its 1514 printing of the New Testament in the original Greek predates the Erasmus 1516 edition by two years, making it the very first printing of a Greek New Testament, as well as the first printing of a complete Bible in the original languages. Most importantly, it gave the Protestant Reformers an accurate source text from which to translate and to make God’s Word available in many European languages throughout the 1500s.

NOTE: This 1522 Complutensian Polyglot 6 Volume facsimile set is no longer available, however… full color high resolution digital editions of many ancient Bibles of the 1300’s through the 1800’s are available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

Each of the six volumes is bound in a very high grade of synthetic leather, individually slipcased, and stands 15.25 inches tall and 11.25 inches wide. The complete set of all six slipcased volumes together takes up 12.75 inches of bookshelf length, as the average thickness of each slipcased volume is around 2 inches. The paper is acid-free, archival-grade, thick, opaque, cream-colored stock.

You could be one of only around 200 people in the world who own a copy of the very first printing of God’s Word in the original Biblical languages. That’s an elite club consisting of around 100 extant original 1522 printings valued at up to $350,000 each (plus a few incomplete fragments), plus the fewer than 70 facsimile sets we printed, plus a few dozen copies that were printed as a small project several decades ago. That’s all the copies that exist… original or facsimile… on this planet. Yes, it’s really that rare.

Are you familiar with the very first printing of God’s Word in the original Biblical languages? It is one of the Top Three most important books ever printed, (the other two being the 1455 Gutenberg Bible, and the 1611 King James Bible), yet few have heard of it. I am speaking of the 1514-1522 Complutensian Polyglot Bible, which was issued as a six-volume set containing the complete Bible in the original Biblical languages of ancient Hebrew (& Aramaic) for the Old Testament and ancient Greek for the New Testament, as well as including the Latin because it was the standard academic reference language of that time.Our facsimile reproduction set of this milestone of printing history and Christian history is the only one published in modern times. We originally offered it to Seminaries and Christian University Libraries, and to the public on our website, in 2016 for $7,495. Years later, we began to liquidate the remaining sets at a lower price point. Because we have only ever printed fewer than 70 copies of this set, and only around a hundred of the complete originals (worth $350,000 each) are extant today… this is the only example I know of where our facsimile is actually rarer than the original!

It is also curious to consider: if you don’t own a copy of the Bible in the original ancient Greek and ancient Hebrew… you don’t really own a copy of the Bible as God delivered it unto Man… you just own a “translation” of the Bible into a modern European language like English or German … languages that did not exist in any recognizable form 1,000 years ago.

Our founder, Dr. Craig Lampe, once said:
“Of all the Biblical facsimile editions we have published over the past 25 years, I am more proud to have a copy of the Complutensian Polyglot in my home than anything else we have done.”

To further that thought, Dr. Lampe has only ever published two books (other than our Biblical facsimiles), and they are: “The Forbidden Book” – A History of The English Bible, and “How The Spanish Saved Christianity” – A History of The Complutensian Polyglot Bible. You will also receive a free copy of Dr. Lampe’s book on the history of the Complutensian Polyglot Bible.

More details on… the 1522 Complutensian Polyglot Bible:

The First Printing of God’s Word in the Original Biblical Languages

God’s Word is the ancient Hebrew Old Testament Era scriptures and the ancient Greek New Testament Era scriptures. For about a thousand years (circa 400 AD to 1,400 AD), the scriptures were primarily kept in Latin, which was originally a very accurate Latin translation, but it became corrupted over the centuries by the Church of Rome. The Protestant Reformation was all about replacing that corrupted Latin with accurate translations of God’s Word into languages people could read, such as English, German, Spanish, etc. The goal was to set people free from the heresies, deceptions, and financial extortion scams (selling admission to heaven, selling forgiveness ) which were being perpetrated on them by those seeking to prevent the public from reading God’s Word on their own, to see what it really said.

But before Gods’ Word could be translated into the commonly spoken European languages like English (by Tyndale) and German (by Luther), and Spanish (by De Renia)… an accurate source text of the original Biblical languages was needed. In one of the greatest ironies of history, it was actually a Spanish Cardinal of the Church of Rome that spearheaded the effort to collect and preserve God’s Word accurately in the original tongues. Cardinal Francisco Jimenez (or Ximenes) may have been associated with the Roman Catholic Church, but he was certainly acting like a Protestant as he spent the equivalent of $12.5 million in gold to acquire and typeset the very first printed Bible in the original languages of Hebrew (and Aramaic) and Greek, and as it was the standard reference of its day, he also included the Latin… all in side-by-side columns.

The result was the six-volume Complutensian Polyglot Bible, which was printed between 1514 and 1522, but not bound and published until 1522. It is one of the three most important books ever printed in human history. Its 1514 printing of the New Testament in the original Greek predates the Erasmus 1516 edition by two years, making it the very first printing of a Greek New Testament, as well as the first printing of a complete Bible in the original languages. Most importantly, it gave the Protestant Reformers an accurate source text from which to translate and to make God’s Word available in many European languages throughout the 1500’s.

The typesetting, with its several different blocks of languages grouped across the pages, makes the Complutensian Polyglot Bible one of the most beautiful printed books ever produced. In spite of how extremely important this book is, fewer than 200 people today personally own a copy of it (either original or facsimile), as so very few originals and so very few facsimile copies have ever been produced. It is indeed an elite club to be among those very few people in the world who possess a copy of the first printing of the Bible in the original languages.

NOTE: This 1522 Complutensian Polyglot 6 Volume facsimile set is no longer available, however… full color high resolution digital editions of many ancient Bibles of the 1300’s through the 1800’s are available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

A Brief History of the Complutensian Polyglot (C-P)

Printed in 1514 to 1517 and published in 1522, The C-P was the first of the three great polyglots. Later in the 16c, 1568-72, the Antwerp Polyglot would be printed, and in 1653-57 Brian Walton would print his Magnus opus in seven giant volumes, the Walton Polyglot.

The oversight behind the C-P project was granted to Cardinal Jimenez. To accomplish the project’s magnitude, one would compare the insurmountable difficulties of such an undertaking to the construction in the 20th century of the Panama Canal.

The project would require a series of undesigned coincidences to overcome the mental and religious prejudices we associate with the Middle Ages. Technology and science would be in their infancy. Galileo and Copernicus would make discoveries, and men like DaVinci would challenge man’s minds with fantastical concepts that brought great accomplishments.

Concurrent with an emerging brave new world that was in process, men were casting off the yoke of bondage that was stifling the very spirit of mankind. The God of creation was going to be made known to the European minds by virtue of His Word going free in the uncorrupted language of the Bible.

It was in Alcala, Spain, that Cardinal Jimenez undertook to challenge the corrupted text of the Latin Vulgate by assembling extremely learned men of trilingual learning in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. These peculiar men who were proficient in the languages of the ancient Scriptures were Jewish by birth but converted to Christianity when their race was expelled from Spain in 1492 during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. They were called “conversos.”

While Columbus was discovering America, the Jews of Spain sought asylum in Italy and Greece from the Spanish Inquisition. During the expulsion, many learned Spanish Jews converted to Christianity, which gave them license to remain in Spain. They were skilled in Hebrew, Aramaic, and other middle eastern languages, which permitted Cardinal Jimenez to have a reservoir of learning at his disposal that would be essential to the C-P.

The C-P Bible would be produced in an environment made possible by extremely high academic standards and freedom of thought that Alcala, with its 7000 students, would afford. Cardinal Jimenez was an integral and essential person to the atmosphere created by such academic freedom. The ingredients for such a recipe to complete such an ambitious project were great financial resources, brilliant Greek and Hebrew scholars who were uncorrupted by High Church influence and wholly committed and devoted to God.

Cardinal Jimenez was that person chosen by God to lead, assemble, encourage and energize his team of devoted men who would by the end product, a six-volume work, that would become the foundation for the Renaissance throughout Europe and England. The minds of men were being set free from man’s bondage to serve Jesus Christ through His faith.

The resistance to correcting the Vulgate was overwhelming. Ignorant men refused to even think of the Vulgate as a corrupted text. Their resistance to correction was the impetus to create an Inquisition that rained terror on anyone who challenged the “sacred Vulgate”; nevertheless, Jimenez stood with great faith against the ignorant and corrupt.

Opponents of the C-P were unrelenting in their desires to defeat the project. Their religious fervor determined to crush Jimenez’s efforts. Despite the enormous quantity of errors, the Vulgate was defended by its ignorant adherents with unrelenting passion. In a desperate attempt to end the project, the Inquisition was called to stop the printing. Using intimidation and threatening the editors’ lives, Jimenez protected his committed scholars. The Inquisition threat was forever neutralized in 1507 when Jimenez became the Inquisitor General. God works in mysterious ways!

The “conversos” (converted Jews) labored tirelessly to bring the project to completion. The “conversos” of Alcala contributed to the establishment of the text of the Hebrew Old Testament since the Polyglot of Antwerp followed mainly their version, and since that of London, in turn, followed mainly the Antwerp Polyglot.

The C-P Polyglot resulted in the first Greek translation of the Old Testament in print that we commonly refer to as the Septuagint.

Tomes I-IV contains the Old Testament and Hebrew text in the outer columns. The Greek of the Septuagint in the inner column and the Latin Vulgate in the center. There are no verse divisions. There are chapter divisions with subdivisions marked by capitals A, B, C, and D.

Tome V contains the New Testament in Greek and Latin in two columns. The Acts of the Apostles are positioned after the Epistle to the Hebrews following the Pauline Epistles.

Tome VI contains aids for students of the Hebrew and Greek texts; furthermore, the editors provided a dictionary of Hebrew and Aramaic words with Latin equivalents. Of essential assistance to the students, who were only learned in Latin, were explanations of the meaning of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek names in the Bible.

In 1453 Constantinople fell to the Turks. In 1455 John Gutenberg invented the printing press with a moveable type. The first book printed was the Vulgate Bible, with all of its errors and corruptions of New Testament doctrine. As the Greek-speaking immigrants fled into Europe in the wake of the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the proliferation of 1200 years of Greek studies and history with God’s Word at its heart was poised to destroy the Latin-speaking world’s monopoly on education.

The Renaissance was being birthed by this series of undesigned coincidences. The stranglehold on religion and knowledge by power brokers in the Catholic Church was going to be broken. But, what price is freedom?

Six hundred copies were authorized by Pope Leo X. A large number (450) of that quantity were destroyed when the ship transporting them to Italy sank to the bottom of the sea. Perhaps, 150 sets survive in complete sets of fragments. In U. S. dollars, the cost of the project was more than $12,000,000!

Some important and interesting facts about the Complutensian Polyglot:

The Polyglot marks a significant period in the history of the Church as well as new developments in the European mind that helped the Reformation era immensely.
Converted Jewish scholars made the task an intellectual masterpiece.
The Polyglot was historically important because it exposed the Vulgate errors, which were regarded as the fundamental text of the Bible.
The “academics” of that day were challenged without exception because of the Polyglot – including Erasmus.
Volume 6 contains several aids for students of Hebrew and Greek texts. The largest contribution is a dictionary of Hebrew and Aramaic words with Latin equivalents, described by the editors as “most useful and correct.”
The Polyglot set a bold standard in that there were very few printing errors.
The original Prologue in Volume One offers this explanation: “We are impelled by many reasons to print the original text of Holy Scripture, since no version can translate all the force and naturalness of the original faithfully, especially when it treats the language in which God Himself has spoken, which words were, to speak thus taken from the senses and fountains of mysteries which only can be glimpsed of known from the original in which the Holy Scriptures were written.”

1611 King James Bible: Super Deluxe Leather Pulpit Folio Size Edition

John Jeffcoat — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 02:10:47 +0000

The Full-Size “Super-Deluxe” Edition
Genuine Leather Hand-Made Heirloom Binding

Here it is… the “Holy Grail” of book collectors everywhere… the “Bible to end all Bibles”… the First Edition of the beloved 1611 King James Bible. This faithful and exact reproduction of the very first King James Pulpit Bible is indeed a work of art and fine craftsmanship beyond compare. More than a “facsimile”, it is a masterpiece.

Measuring the exact size of the original 1611 printing: an enormous 17 ½ inches tall by 12 inches wide by 5 ½ inches thick (including its slipcase), and weighing so much (30 pounds) it nearly takes two people to comfortably move it, this is the finest reproduction of the 1611 ever undertaken. We even faithfully reproduced the small quantity of decorative red ink in the prefatory section.

Constructed of the highest quality of thick burgundy red leather with extra-heavy-duty stitching and large raised spine bands with gold spine stamping… no detail was overlooked. It also comes with a custom-made protective slipcase. Over $100,000 went into the set-up for production of this magnificent creation. It’s just like the real ones… visually IDENTICAL to an original 1611, and actually made out of the exact same materials as an original 1611… except that it is absolutely brand new, and costs less than half-of-one-percent of the price of the last 1611 sold at auction.

These massive pulpit folios make a great centerpiece for the communion table or the entryway in a church. They are also quite popular as centerpieces for private home libraries. If you are looking for something that will make people stop and stare… this is it! Photographs cannot adequately show what a stunning and magnificent display piece this enormous folio is.

If you want a huge full-size exact replica of the original 1611 King James Pulpit Folio First Edition Bible, and it’s got to be bound in the finest genuine full-grain leather – just like the original was – this is your best (and only) option being offered by any Bible publisher today. It’s simply breathtaking.

Bonus: At the $895 price, your 1611 King James Bible in the “Super Deluxe” Genuine Leather binding facsimile always ships with an original leaf (page) from a 1611 King James First Edition Pulpit Bible. You will receive a leaf from an Old Testament Book Title Page (the ornate first chapter of a Book of the Bible) which is a $595 value… at no additional charge.

NOTE: This 1611 King James Bible facsimile is no longer available, however… a full color high resolution digital edition of the 1611 King James Bible is available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

About the 1611 King James Bible

The King James Bible is the most printed book in the history of the world, and it is our most popular facsimile reproduction. To commemorate the 400th Anniversary of this masterpiece, we offer these exact page-for-page photographic duplicates of the original 1611 King James Bible in 3 different bound editions, as detailed below.

Any so-called “1611” King James Version you buy today at the local Christian Bookstore is absolutely NOT 1611. It is Blaney’s 1769 Revised Oxford Edition, even though it admits that nowhere, and may even say “1611” in the front… it’s just not true. Prepare to be shocked! In fact, 20,000 spelling and punctuation changes and over 400 wording changes were made to the original 1611 to 1768 King James Bible, when compared to King James Bibles published between 1769 and today, and fourteen entire books plus extra prefatory features have been removed from almost every printing done since 1885!

We can easily prove these claims; just compare our photographic 1611 facsimiles to your modern-day reprinting of the so-called “1611” by any major Bible publisher of the past century, and you will immediately see a huge difference. It’s true! “The camera does not lie.” A huge deception has been perpetrated on the public by the major Bible publishers for over a century now. If you really love the King James version, the only way to own a true, unaltered, unedited, unabridged, original 1611 version as authorized by King James, is to buy a genuine original from our Ancient Rare Bibles & Books section for prices well into six figures OR buy one of our three exact photographic (not re-typeset) facsimile editions here. We are the only company producing faithful, complete, photographic facsimiles of the original 1611 King James Bible.

The King James Bible is the only book in the world that can claim one billion copies in print. For many people, the English language Bible as we know it today IS the King James Bible. Original First Editions have sold for over $400,000 at recent auctions. Our affordable facsimiles make it possible for everyone to have a First Edition.

A Quick Overview of Your Three Options

A Huge Full-Size “Super Deluxe” Genuine Leather Heirloom Edition ($895) Shown On This Page
A Huge Full-Size “Deluxe” Leatherette Edition ($325) Click Here
A Reduced-Size “Regular” Reference Edition ($95) Click Here

Only two other exact full-size reproductions of the 1611 have ever been done: One was the 350th Anniversary Edition, done in 1961 by World Publishing, and those now sell for over $3,000 from collectors. The other one was sold by us, right here on this page, from 2003 through 2008, for $1,995. The ones offered here today are the 400th Anniversary Edition (1611 – 2011) of the full-size King James Bible, and due to modern printing technology, we are able to offer them at much lower pricing: as little as $325 for the economy binding, and $895 for the fine leather binding.

Both of the two huge full-size editions are slip-cased, printed on rag cotton sheet, stand 17 inches tall, spread nearly 30 inches when opened, and weigh a whopping 30 pounds! They are the actual size of the original 1611 giant pulpit folio first edition printing. The only difference is in the bindings: the “Super Deluxe” is bound in the finest grade of full-grain, glove-soft, hand-tooled, exquisite leather with extra-large spine hub-bands… while the standard “Deluxe” is bound in high-quality beautifully-grained imitation leather. In contrast to those two huge 30-pound Super-Deluxe & Deluxe editions; we also have a much smaller (though still big at 10 pounds, and 11 inches tall) reduced-size “Regular” edition, printed on standard paper, and bound in a durable library-grade binding, for those merely seeking a space-saving bookshelf reference copy, rather than a huge beautiful display-grade edition.

Regardless of which edition you select, the textual content and imaging of the pages are the same. All of our 1611 King James Bible Facsimile Editions contain the full prefatory content: The Dedication to King James, the translator’s To The Reader Preface, the Calendar, the Holy Land Map, the Genealogy, and of course the entire Old Testament, Inter-Testamental Books (as specifically mandated by King James), and New Testament … exactly as it was published in 1611, without omission, addition, or alteration in any way.

1611 King James (KJV) Bible: Deluxe Synthetic Leather Puilpit Folio Size Edition

John Jeffcoat — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 02:08:55 +0000

The Full-Size “Deluxe” Edition
Italian Fiscagomma Leatherette Binding

Of the three 1611 King James Bible Facsimiles Editions we offer… this one is far and away the most popular and best seller. Just like the more expensive “Super Deluxe” edition, this much more affordable “Deluxe” edition also measures the exact size of the original 1611 printing: an enormous 17 ½ inches tall by 12 inches wide by 5 ½ inches thick (including its slipcase), and weighing a whopping 30 pounds. We even faithfully reproduced the small quantity of decorative red ink in the prefatory section.

Constructed of the highest grade of beautifully grained burgundy-brown Italian “Fiscagomma Leatherette” (the best imitation leather in the world – actually stronger than real leather), it has a thick, soft, supple texture and a look so much like real leather; everyone who examines it in our showroom is shocked when we tell them its not real leather. Many people insist that we must be mistaken because after handling it they remain convinced that it is an excellent grade of genuine leather. We challenge you to see if you can tell the difference between Fiscagomma Leatherette and real full-grain leather… honestly, not one in a hundred people would question whether or not it was real leather. You’ve got to see it and touch it to believe it. In fact, simply substituting this beautiful “leather-alternative” binding material, enables us to reduce the price dramatically… from $895… down to just $325… for what is essentially the same book in size and content!”

If you want a huge full-size exact replica of the original 1611 King James Pulpit Folio First Edition, in a beautiful binding, and a price so low you could even buy extra copies as gifts … this is the one.

Bonus: ships with a genuine original 1611 King James Pulpit Bible Leaf of a regular “non-premium” passage, (a $295 value if purchased separately).

About the 1611 King James Bible

Any so-called “1611” King James Version you buy today at the local Christian Bookstore is absolutely NOT the 1611. It is Blaney’s 1769 Revised Oxford Edition, even though it admits that nowhere, and may even say “1611” in the front… it’s just not true. Prepare to be shocked! In fact, 20,000 spelling and punctuation changes and over 400 wording changes were made to the original 1611 to 1768 King James Bible, when compared to King James Bibles published between 1769 and today, and fourteen entire books plus extra prefatory features have been removed from almost every printing done since 1885!

A Quick Overview of Your Three Options

A Huge Full-Size “Super Deluxe” Genuine Leather Heirloom Edition ($895) Click Here
A Huge Full-Size “Deluxe” Leatherette Edition ($325) Shown On This Page
A Reduced-Size “Regular” Reference Edition ($95) Click Here

1535 Coverdale: First Printed English Bible

John Jeffcoat — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 05:56:49 +0000

The 1535 Coverdale Bible: the first printed English translation of the Bible.

One of William Tyndale’s closest friends, Myles Coverdale, actually printed the very first English language complete Bible…it was a “translation of a translation” making use of source texts such as Hebrew & Greek and “translation texts” such as Latin and German as well.

In 1535, Myles Coverdale secured his place in history forever, by becoming the first person to print an entire Bible in the English language.

In 1537 some of his translations were included in the Matthew-Tyndale Bible, the first true, direct English translation of the complete Bible. In 1538 he was in Paris, superintending the printing of King Henry VIII’s “Great Bible,” of 1539, and the same year, published, both in London and Paris, an English New Testament. He also edited “Cranmer’s Bible “, the 1540 edition of the Great Bible.

This remarkable facsimile stands 14″ tall and is 9″ wide and 3.5″ thick.

NOTE: This 1535 Coverdale Bible facsimile is no longer available, however… a full color high resolution digital edition of the 1535 Coverdale Bible is available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

1378 Wycliffe NT: First Printed Edition (1731)

John Jeffcoat — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 05:56:49 +0000

The very first translation of the scriptures into the English Language was done in the 1380’s by John Wycliffe, who is called “The Morning Star of the Reformation”. Because he lived nearly a century before the 1455 invention of the printing press, his New Testaments and Bibles were of course, hand-written manuscripts. Wycliffe is also credited with being the inventor of bifocal eyeglasses (necessity being the mother of invention), though history tends to more frequently credit Ben Franklin with improving upon Wycliffe’s invention of bifocals.

Wycliffe’s hand-written manuscripts of the English scriptures are very challenging to read, but being the very first English scripture translation (albeit a translation from the Latin, and not the original Biblical languages), the Wycliffe translation is extremely historically important. For this reason, in the 1731, a reprint of Wycliffe’s circa 1378 manuscript was produced in modern easier-to-read type. It preserves the original Middle-English spellings and wordings 100% faithfully, but it simply makes the text easier to read by rendering the text as typeface, rather than being hand-written.

Most importantly; this 1731 publication of Wycliffe’s circa 1378 translation of the scripture in English is the first printed edition of the first English translation of God’s Word! It is an extremely important milestone in printing history, and Biblical history. Only 160 copies of this book were printed in 1731, and fewer than 10 of them are known to exist today. They are valued at close to $100,000 each. You can own a beautiful copy of the first printed edition of the first English translation of the scriptures for a tiny fraction of that cost.

This facsimile reproduction measures approximately 12 inches tall & 8 inches wide by just under 1 inch thick, and is bound in bonded leather.

NOTE: This 1378 / 1731 Wycliffe New Testament facsimile is no longer available, however… a full color high resolution digital edition of the hand-written Wycliffe NT manuscript of 1390, and this first printed edition Wycliffe NT of 1731, are both available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

1536 Tyndale New Testament: Heavily Illustrated

John Jeffcoat — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 05:56:49 +0000

William Tyndale produced the very first English language New Testament to ever come off a printing press. He was burned at the stake in 1536 for the “crime” of printing these magnificently Illustrated English New Testaments. This 1536 edition was the last and most elaborate one done prior to his death. The woodcut illustrations are simply breathtaking. The calligraphy-like Gothic Blackletter Typeface is also a work of art.

Tyndale’s work paved the way for all subsequent printings of the Bible in English, and 90% of his translation was retained all the way to the 1611 King James Bible. William Tyndale is considered to be the most influential Bible translator in history as well as the “architect of the English Language.” He was said to have been so fluent in eight languages that you would have thought any one of them to be his native tongue!

This Facsimile Reproduction measures approximately 9 inches tall by 6.5 inches wide by just under 2 inches thick, and is bound in hardcover burgundy-brown bonded leather with gold stamping along the spine. We have photographically enlarged this reproduction to approximately 125% the size of the original for ease of reading. While original Tyndale New Testament printings from the 1500’s are available in the Ancient Rare Bibles & Books section of our website, this reproduction is much more affordable, and quite beautiful as it features many large woodcut illustrations. You will definitely want to make this visually magnificent edition a part of your library. Discover what the English language New Testament looked like in its original form.

NOTE: This 1536 Tyndale Illustrated NT facsimile is no longer available, however… a full color high resolution digital edition of the 1552 Illustrated Tyndale NT is available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

1549 Matthew-Tyndale Bible

John Jeffcoat — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 22:56:48 +0000

John Rogers, operating under the assumed name “Thomas Matthew” was the first person to ever print a complete English Bible that was translated directly from the original Greek & Hebrew. He took William Tyndale’s New Testament, and completed Tyndale’s work on the Old Testament, publishing his First Edition in 1537.This is a facsimile reproduction of his 1549 Second Edition, containing the fascinating and controversial side notes, sometimes referred to as the “Becke Edition”.

This is the earliest (oldest) complete English Bible translated directly from the original Greek and Hebrew – straight into English – that we offer in high quality facsimile reproduction form. A genuine original 1549 Matthew-Tyndale Bible is available in the Gold Room of our Ancient Rare Bibles & Books section for tens of thousands of dollars, but this facsimile reproduction is a much more cost-effective alternative. If you want to study the whole Bible in the earliest available form of English, this is the item for you. The type style is a lovely Gothic Blackletter, which is fancy but not too difficult to read. There are also a few lovely illustrations and several beautiful woodcut-ornamented title pages.

Both the Regular and the Deluxe Editions of the 1549 Facsimile Reproduction are the same on the inside. Because there were seven pages of the original that featured some red ink accenting the otherwise black and white page (Title Pages and Prefatory Pages), we have faithfully reproduced those seven pages in full-color in our facsimiles. The remaining pages are black and white, as were the pages of the original. A wonderful and extensive concordance to the scriptures is also printed in the prefatory section. There are 1,172 oversized pages in this large and thick Bible.

This is a “lectern folio” size Bible, considerably larger than normal. The Regular Edition measures over 13 inches tall by almost 9 inches wide by over 3 inches thick, and it is bound in burgundy-brown bonded leather hardcover, with gold stamping on the spine. A Genuine Leaf from the Original 1549 is available for free with this edition.

The Deluxe Edition measures almost 14 inches tall by almost 9 inches wide by over 3.5 inches thick, and is bound in the finest grade of deep chocolate full-grain calf leather over thick wood boards. The covers and spine of the Deluxe Edition are intricately blind-stamped with elaborate decorative designs, and the spine features five raised bands with burgundy leather labels beautifully gold-stamped.

NOTE: This 1549 Matthew-Tyndale Bible facsimile is no longer available, however… a full color high resolution digital edition of the 1549 Matthew-Tyndale Bible is available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

1568 Bishops’ Bible: First Edition

John Jeffcoat — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 05:56:34 +0000

Queen Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne of England in 1558 brought reform to the church. Only a handful of the bishops appointed by King Edward VI survived Bloody Mary’s vicious assault and reign of terror. The Bible was forbidden under Mary’s reign but when Elizabeth took over – men and women everywhere could read the Bible again.

Archbishop Matthew Parker, the dean of Lincoln and who was chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother was the ideal candidate to organize and execute a new translation. He had at first supported and endorsed the reading and teaching of the Geneva Bible but became increasingly hostile toward the translation due to its attack on the authority of bishops.

In 1563 a massive project was started. The translation was an exceptional ask done by fewer than 10 bishops. The translators relied on the 1550 Stephanus Greek New Testament, the 1528 Pagninus’s Latin, and Munster’s Hebrew of 1535. On September 22 of 1568, the work was introduced to the Queen and church endorsement soon followed. The Bishops’ Bible has numerous carved woodcuts, and it still today is considered a landmark in printing achievement.

The Bishops’ Bible, an extraordinary and stunning book, was never able to gain the popular support that the Geneva translation held in the hearts and minds of the people of England. The Bishops’ Bible, however, is the second Bible published by the Church of England (the first being the 1539 Great Bible of King Henry VIII, and the third being the 1611 King James Bible of 1611). While the King James Bible has enjoyed more than a thousand times the popularity of its “rough draft”… the Bishops’ Bible… it remains a fact the 1568 Bishops Bible, with its dozens of beautiful illustrations, is much more visually spectacular than the 1611 King James Bible, which has no textual illustrations at all.

This most complete and accurate reproduction done to date stands nearly 17″ tall and is 12″ wide. It weighs over 30 pounds. This is a limited-time offer on this work and will be a collector’s item for centuries to come. Order yours today. The 1568 Bishops’ Bible facsimile is constructed of the highest grade of beautifully grained burgundy-brown Italian “Fiscagomma Leatherette” (the best imitation leather in the world – actually stronger than real leather); it has a thick, soft, supple texture and a look so much like real leather; everyone who examines it in our showroom is shocked when we tell them its not real leather.

NOTE: This 1568 Bishops Bible facsimile is no longer available, however… a full color high resolution digital edition of the 1568 Bishops Bible is available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

1560 Geneva Bible: First Edition

John Jeffcoat — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 05:56:34 +0000

Video Note: The Deluxe Edition no longer has a “Gibbor Edition” spine label. See the photo gallery above for accurate current photos.

The Geneva Bible was the “Bible of the Protestant Reformation” and the Bible of the Puritans and Pilgrims. It was the first Bible taken to America, brought over on the Mayflower. The Geneva Bible is the Bible upon which America was founded. You can imagine, most early American colonists, who were fleeing the religious oppression of the Anglican Church (Church of England), wanted nothing to do with the King James Bible of the Anglican Church!

Textually, the Geneva Bible offered several radical never-before-seen changes: It was the first Bible in English to add numbered verses to each chapter of scripture. Also, the Geneva was the first Bible to introduce easier-to-read “Roman Style Typeface” rather than the “Gothic Blackletter Style Typeface,” which had been used exclusively in earlier Bibles. Another curious innovation; the Geneva was the first “Study Bible” with extensive commentary notes in the margins.

The Geneva Bible is the version quoted from hundreds of times by William Shakespeare in his plays. Also called the “Breeches Bible,” the Geneva Bible is the only Bible ever able to outsell and exceed the popularity of the King James Bible, as it did in the early 1600s until its printing ceased in 1644. One of the greatest ironies of history is that Protestants of all denominations today embrace the King James Version of the Bible (which reads 90% the same as the Geneva), even though the King James Version is not a Protestant Bible (it’s Anglican / Church of England). Most Protestants have never even heard of the Bible of their own heritage: the Geneva Bible. It was produced by John Calvin, John Knox, Myles Coverdale, John Foxe, & other English refugees in ever-neutral Geneva, Switzerland… fleeing the persecution of Roman Catholic Queen “Bloody” Mary in England. Mary would not tolerate the Protestant Geneva Bible, which proclaimed the Pope an “antichrist” in its commentary notes.

Both the Regular and the Deluxe Editions of the 1560 Geneva Facsimile Reproduction are the same on the inside and are the same size, measuring approximately 11 inches tall by 8.75 inches wide by 3.25 inches thick. The Regular Edition is bound in hardcover burgundy bonded leather with gold stamping along the spine. The Deluxe Edition is bound in the finest grade of deep chocolate full-grain calf leather over thick wood boards. The covers and spine of the Deluxe Edition are intricately blind-stamped with elaborate decorative designs, and the spine features five raised bands with burgundy leather labels beautifully gold-stamped. These facsimiles are identical to the genuine original 1560 First Edition / First Printing of the Geneva Bible, an example of which is available in the Gold Room of our Ancient Rare Bibles & Books section for tens of thousands of dollars. However, we took the liberty of doing a photographic enlargement of the actual size of the type on each page to 125% the size of the original to make the small commentary notes in the margins easier to read.

This high-quality 1560 First Edition Geneva Bible facsimile should not be confused with another facsimile published many years ago, of the much later “1599” Geneva version, which is not a First Edition, does not contain all the books of the Bible (no Apocrypha like the 1560 and all other printings have), does not contain the original unaltered commentary notes, and is printed in type so very small as they make the notes almost illegible! Ours is a MUCH nicer and more complete production.

You may also be interested to know that, upon examining the remarkable quality of our 1560 Geneva Bible reproduction, bestselling author and theologian Dr. R.C. Sproul decided to offer it in his “Ligonier Ministries Catalog” in a special two-page featured spread. I believe that you will agree that this important “Bible of the Protestant Reformation” is a must-have for your library, mainly if your theological views are of the Reformed tradition. The ancient commentary notes alone provide hours of fascinating insight into the scriptures from the Protestant Reformation’s greatest theologians.

Back in print for the first time in centuries… nearly forgotten for over 350 years…all but drowned out by the Anglican Church’s much younger and more “politically correct” King James Version of 1611… reclaim your Protestant heritage by reading the Bible translated by Protestants for Protestants: the 1560 Geneva Bible.

NOTE: This 1560 Geneva Bible facsimile is no longer available, however… a full color high resolution digital edition of the 1583 Geneva Bible and the 1557 Geneva New Testament are both available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

1684 Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

John Jeffcoat — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 05:56:33 +0000

John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs has been called “The most important Christian work ever printed outside of the Bible itself.” It documents the martyrdom of all of history’s recorded saints from the original Apostles of the First Century, to the mid-16th Century Reformation. Perhaps most famous for its many graphic woodcut illustrations showing the gruesome methods of execution and torture used against those who gave their lives for the truth of God’s Word. In three tall leather volumes, nearly 3,000 pages, this is the only unabridged facsimile of Foxe’s Martyrs that has ever been made!

Also known by its formal name, “Foxe’s Acts and Monuments of the Christian Church,” this well-known book has strangely NEVER BEEN REPRINTED in anything near its full unabridged format… until now! The books you may have seen in Christian bookstores that claim to be “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” actually only contain FOUR PERCENT of the text that this computer-scan of the original contains. They touch on only the more “famous saints”… and typically offer few or none of the magnificent illustrations. The other 96% of the text, and all of the famous illustrations, are “edited out”. This edition is the ONLY one on the world market that offers more than that 4%… and it of course offers 100% of the original content.

Measuring an impressive 14 inches tall by 8.75 inches wide, and each of the three volumes is 2 to 2.5 inches thick; this set contains nearly a thousand tall pages per volume (nearly 3,000 total pages). The binding is hardcover burgundy bonded leather, with gold stamping on the spines. We selected the 1684 edition because that is the only edition containing the full text and all of the woodcut illustrations, which also used the easier-to-read Roman Style Type Face.

John Foxe is the most respected of all Christian historians. Foxe also contributed to the production of the original Geneva Bible along with John Knox, under the protection of John Calvin in Geneva Switzerland… fleeing the persecution of Catholic Queen “Bloody” Mary. Foxe’s level of scholarship and accuracy is without equal, and his woodcut illustrations make no use of censorship in their detail. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is the ultimate documentary of 1,500 years of man’s inhumanity to man… all in the name of God.

This most important of all Christian books has been essentially unavailable (except in ridiculously abridged form, or costly original form) for over three hundred years. We are proud to be the ones who made it available again to the world, and we cannot over-emphasize the importance of having this resource as part of the Christian’s home library. What ultimately happened to each of the twelve apostles… and those who defied the Caesars of Rome, and later defied the Popes of Rome? The Bible does not tell us… but this book does. This huge reference work is a “must-have” for anyone with an interest in church history.

While the genuine original printings of Foxe’s Martyrs are available in the Silver Room of our Ancient Rare Books & Bibles section; their price of around $25,000 or more is beyond the budget of many of our customers. The suggested retail price on this facsimile reproduction masterpiece is listed at $885 (which is $295 per volume). We are pleased to offer it for considerably less that that amount.

ITEM # FR-FBM-1: One 1684 Foxe’s Martyrs 3 Vol. Facsimile. – $795 (Out Of Print)

NOTE: This 1684 Foxe’s Martyrs facsimile is no longer available, however… a full color high resolution digital edition of the 1563 First Edition of Foxe’s Martyrs is available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

Facsimile Reproductions of Rare and Antique Bibles

1522 Complutensian Polyglot Bible

1522 Complutensian Polyglot Bible Facsimile Reproduction

NOTE: This 1522 Complutensian Polyglot 6 Volume facsimile set is no longer available, however… full color high resolution digital editions of many ancient Bibles of the 1300’s through the 1800’s are available for free online access at BIBLES-ONLINE.NET

1611 King James Bible: Super Deluxe Leather Pulpit Folio Size Edition

The Full-Size “Super-Deluxe” Edition Genuine Leather Hand-Made Heirloom Binding

About the 1611 King James Bible

1611 King James (KJV) Bible: Deluxe Synthetic Leather Puilpit Folio Size Edition

The Full-Size “Deluxe” Edition Italian Fiscagomma Leatherette Binding

About the 1611 King James Bible

1535 Coverdale: First Printed English Bible

The 1535 Coverdale Bible: the first printed English translation of the Bible.

1378 Wycliffe NT: First Printed Edition (1731)

1536 Tyndale New Testament: Heavily Illustrated

1549 Matthew-Tyndale Bible

1568 Bishops’ Bible: First Edition

1560 Geneva Bible: First Edition

1684 Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

1522 Complutensian Polyglot Bible
Facsimile Reproduction

The Full-Size “Super-Deluxe” Edition
Genuine Leather Hand-Made Heirloom Binding

The Full-Size “Deluxe” Edition
Italian Fiscagomma Leatherette Binding