1568 Bishops’ Bible Facsimile  

    Date       :      1568 A.D.  
    Size / Format       :      1713 pages /     2     1     .0 ×     29     .0 cm     /     8.3     ”     x 11.7     ” / A4 dimension  
    Limited to just 10       Deluxe       leather-bound copies       , bound by a master bookbinder/old medieval manuscript expert with 40 years of expertise in book restoration       .   
   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 rule but when Elizabeth took over – men and women everywhere could read the Bible again.   

   Archbishop Matthew Parker, the dean of Lincoln and chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother, was the ideal candidate to organize and execute a new translation. He initially 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 ten 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 1568, the work was introduced to the Queen, and church endorsement soon followed. The Bishops’ Bible has numerous carved woodcuts, and it is still considered a landmark in printing achievement.   

   The Bishops’ Bible, an extraordinary and stunning book, could never 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.  

   I can reproduce this facsimile in 17″ tall and is 12″ wide format as well. Please contact me so I can give you a special quote if you want to have this version.  


    Shipped with Free Express FEDEX or UPS delivery to worldwide.