The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of The Original Tongues: and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised, by His Majesty’s Special Command. [Together with]: The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to the Use of The United Church of England and Ireland.

Item Number: 140225

Oxford: Printed at The University Press by John Collingwood and Co., 1841.

Mid-19th Century King James Bible printed at the Oxford University Press for use in churches. Pica octavo, 2 volumes, bound in full straight grain morocco with gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in five compartments within wide gilt-ruled bands, gilt central ornament within elaborate gilt scrolling and fleuron cornerpieces to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt, ribbon bound in, text in two columns. In very good condition. Together with The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church [Oxford: Printed at The University Press, by Samuel Collingwood and Co., 1840] in an identical binding. In near fine condition. Period presentation inscriptions tipped into each volume.

The Bible has had an unprecedented influence on literature and history, especially in the Western World, where the Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed using movable type. According to the March 2007 edition of Time, the Bible “has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. Its influence on world history is unparalleled, and shows no signs of abating.” "From about the middle of the seventeenth century until the appearance of the Revised Bible of 1881-5, the King James' version reigned without rival" (Herbert 319). One of the most influential texts in the English language, Thomas Macaulay anointed it "a book, which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power" (PMM 114). The official work of translation was undertaken by nearly 50 scholars over the span of 1604 to 1611, but it can be seen as the culmination of nearly a century of work, beginning with William Tyndale's New Testament translations, and including the bibles of Coverdale and Whitchurch, the Bishops' Bible, the Geneva Bible, and the Rheims New Testament. The Book of Common Prayer was created out of Thomas Cranmer's desire for a liturgical text that all of Europe's Protestant, English-speaking churches could agree on. Its magisterial liturgical language is, "as a source of spiritual inspiration for most Englishmen second only to the Bible" (PMM 75). The Book of Common Prayer was first issued in 1549 during the reign of Edward VI and revised through the reign of Mary I, James II, and ending significantly in 1832.