A DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT BIBLE, 1539, AND THE SIX EDITIONS OF CRANMER'S BIBLE, 1540 AND 1541, . . . ALSO OF THE EDITIONS, IN LARGE FOLIO, OF THE AUTHORIZED VERSION . . . PRINTED IN THE YEARS 1611, 1613, 1617, 1634, 1640

London: Willis and Sotheran, 1865. 425 x 275 mm. (16 5/8 x 10 3/4"). viii, 41, [1] pp., [1] leaf (blank), followed by plates.
19th century marbled paper boards backed with black roan, smooth spine with gilt lettering, marbled endpapers. With two tables (one folding) and 51 plates comparing facsimiles of the various editions. WITH 14 ORIGINAL LEAVES bound in, seven from the Great Bible and seven from the King James Version (as called for), PLUS AN ADDITIONAL ORIGINAL LEAF: THE ILLUSTRATED SECOND TITLE PAGE OF THE GREAT BIBLE OF 1540 (mounted on heavy stock, and with expertly repaired four-inch tear). ◆Significant wear to corners, minor rubbing to board edges, otherwise the scholarly portion of the book in very fine condition. Original leaf of 1st Issue, 1611 edition with an old half-inch-square paper repair obscuring a couple words of text on one side, other original leaves with mild marginal foxing or light soiling, but generally quite excellent specimens.

Described by DNB as a "remarkable bibliographical treatise," this is one of the chief works of Bible collector and bibliographer Francis Fry, supplemented with original leaves from incomplete Bibles. A businessman whose professional enterprises included a type foundry, a porcelain manufacturer, and a chocolate factory, Fry (1803-86) was a Quaker and abolitionist who began collecting Scripture in the middle of the century, eventually amassing a library of nearly 1,300 (mostly English) Bibles. This study of early English Bibles begins with Fry's essay on the topic, followed by facsimiles of title pages and other portions of the editions, tables charting the differences between editions, and, most important, leaves from the Great Bibles of 1539 (text from Numbers ch. 16-18); April 1540 (Luke ch. 9-10); July 1540 (Judges ch. 4-6); November 1540 (Numbers ch. 21-23, plus the additional title page from the second part of the Bible--Joshua through Job--with its frame of 16 woodcut vignettes); May 1541 (Ezekiel ch. 24-27); November 1541 (Numbers ch. 33-35); December 1541 (Proverbs ch. 13-15); 1st Issue, 1611 (Psalms 90-94); 2nd Issue, 1611 (Psalms 90-94); 2nd Issue, 1611 Reprints (Psalms 90-94); 1613 (Job ch. 36-40); 1617 (Psalms 90-94); 1634 (Psalm 78); 1640 (Ezekiel ch. 16-17). This work is uncommon at auction--RBH lists just four copies sold since 1972--and, because it is a work meant to be used, it infrequently shows up in the kind of excellent condition seen here. None of the RBH copies seems to have had the extra leaf bound into our volume..