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Regular (Left), Deluxe
(Right)
1560 Geneva Bible: First Edition
Facsimile Reproduction
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 a number
of 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 1600’s until its printing ceased
in 1644. In fact, 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 exactly
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. We did, however, take 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.
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,
particularly 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.
The Deluxe Edition is also a Limited Edition,
and it comes with a certificate showing its specific number in
the limited-edition press run of only 300 that were done. As you
can see from the image of the spine, this Deluxe Edition is
called the "Gibbor Edition". "Gibbor" is a Hebrew word meaning
"Hero", and references the great heroes of the faith that
produced the Geneva Bible in Switzerland, as refugees from the
murderous reign of Queen "Bloody" Mary in England.
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. |
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 he
Geneva Bible is a critical, yet almost completely forgotten part of the
Protestant Reformation. Driven out of England by the persecutions of
Bloody Mary, several future leaders of the Reformation came to Geneva to
create a pure and accurate translation of the Holy Writ. Concerned about
the influence that the Catholic Church had on the existing
 translations
of the Bible from the Latin, these men turned to the original Hebrew and
Greek texts to produce the Geneva Bible. This made the Geneva Bible the
first complete Bible to be translated into English from the original
Hebrew and Greek texts.
The creation of the Geneva Bible was a substantial undertaking. Its
authors spent over two years, working diligently day and night by
candlelight, to finish the translation and the commentaries. The entire
project was funded by the exiled English congregation in Geneva, making
the translation a work supported by the people and not by an
authoritarian church or monarch.
All the marginal commentaries were finished by 1599, making the 1599
edition of the Geneva Bible t he
most complete study aide for Biblical scholars and students. This editon
does contain the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha’s notes are minimal or absent
in other editions. Additional highlights of this edition include maps of
the Exodus route and Joshua’s distribution of land, a name and subject
index, and Psalms sung by the English congregation in Geneva.
The greatest
distinction of the Geneva Bible, however, is the extensive collection of
marginal notes that it contains. Prominent Reformation leaders such as
John Calvin, John Knox, Miles Coverdale, William Whittingham, Theodore
Beza, and Anthony Gilby wrote the majority of these notes in order to
explain and interpret the scriptures. The notes comprise nearly 300,000
words, or nearly one-third the length of the Bible itself, and they are
justifiably considered the most complete source of Protestant religious
thought available.
Owing
to the marginal notes and the superior quality of the translation, the
Geneva Bible became the most widely read and influential English Bible
of the 16th and 17th centuries. It was continually printed from 1560 to
1644 in over 200 different editions. It was the Bible of choice for many
of the greatest writers, thinkers, and historical figures of the
Reformation era. William Shakespeare’s plays and the writings of John
Milton and John Bunyan were clearly influenced by the Geneva Bible.
Oliver Cromwell issued a pamphlet containing excerpts from the Geneva
Bible to his troops during the English Civil War. When the Pilgrims set
sail on the Mayflower they took with them exclusively the Geneva Bible.
The
marginal notes of the Geneva Bible enraged the Catholic Church, since
the notes deemed the act of confession to men – the Catholic Bishops –
as unjustified by Holy Script. Man should confess to God only; man’s
private life was man’s private life. The notes also infuriated King
James, since they allowed disobedience to tyrannical kings. King James
went so far as to make ownership of the Geneva Bible a felony. He then
proceeded to make his own version of the Bible, but without the marginal
notes that had so disturbed him. Consequently, during King James’s
reign, and into the reign of Charles I, the Geneva Bible was gradually
replaced by the King James Bible.
Because of the print size, this facsimile reproduction is
more difficult for some readers. A magnifying glass is often necessary
for the marginal notes. On some of the printing the marginal notes are
not entirely clear. Also, some adjustment is required to get accustomed
to the interchanged I and J, u and v, and f and s in the old print
style. L. L. Brown Publishing is proud to offer the Geneva Bible to
Christians serious about understanding the Bible. A wealth of
information that has been left to us by the Leaders of the Protestant
Reformation is now available after four centuries of being out of print. |
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