We cannot conclude this criticism, which may ap- pear harsh to those who have not minutely investigated the matter, without expressing the hope that the day is not far distant when a thorough revision on liben.1 principles will be made of the common version by a committee of learned men chosen from all evangelical denominations; or, what would perhaps be still more satisfactory, a new translation be put forth under the auspices of such an authority, and then left to secure its acceptance for critical purposes by its intrinsic merits. However excellent, it could not be expected to supersede the extensively circulated and familiar version for general use. See Versions (of the Bible). V. Standard English Bibles. — 1. The Original Edi- tion.— This, as stated above, was published in the year 1611, the translation having been commenced in 1604. The probability is that the translation was finished in 1608, at the latest, leaving the unnecessarily long time of three years occupied in printing; but the ree- i sons for this delay are not now known.
The volume is a stately folio, each page measuring ; 144; inches by 8|, exclusive of margin. Two columns of text are on each page, each having 59 lines when full, and two marginal columns. The text is printrd i from an uncommonly heavy and noble Old-English type— "great primer" in size, reduced by the shrink- I ing of the paper to nearly "two-line brevier." The ; head-lines of the pages are in a very large Roman let- ter, three quarters of an inch deep. Each chaptT commences with an engraved initial, about an inch square ; and each book with one yet larger, often 2i inches square. In addition, engraved ornaments are at the beginning of every book, and the title-page consists of a heavy engraved border, having a very little place for letter-press. The effect of this display, however, is somewhat reduced when we learn that none of these embellishments were provided expressly for this Bible, but that they had all appeared in pre- vious editions of other translations. One or two of the large initials, indeed, were engraved for an edition of Ovid. The parts usually printed in italic, as the headings and supplied words, are in Eoman.
The volume contains, besides the text and Apocry- pha (this latter being printed from the same type as the rest of the book), the Address to the Reader, a very valuable document, which, most unfortunately, is now almost entirely lost sight of; the Dedication "to the most high and mighty Prince James," which is just as worthless as the other is valuable, and is neverthe- less printed in all English Bibles to this day; Speed's Genealogies, covering 34 pages, very intricate, pro- found, ingenious, and dry ; and, apparently, a Calen^ dar, though copies containing this last are very rare. The pages are not numbered, but the signatures, or printer's guide-letters, placed at the foot of certain pages, run up in the Apocrypha to Ccccc, which is equal, counting by sixes, to 1368 pages, and in the New Testament to Aa, which counts £00 more. This covers the text only.
AUTHORIZED VERSION
562
AUTHORIZED VERSION
The spelling and punctuation are very irregular, as in all books ofthe time. The following two verses, taken at random, will be a sufficient example— Matt, ix, 1, 2 :
-A.Nd hee entred into a Chip, and patted ouer, and came into his owne citie. ,
2 And behold , thev brought to him a man ficke ot the pal- lie, lying on a bed : and Ielus feeing their faith , faid vnto the ficke ofthe pallie, Sonne, be of good cheere, thy finnes be lor- giuen thee.
There are also many typographical errors — more, in- deed, than would he borne with in any Bible printed now. The most striking is in Exodus xiv, 10, which reads thus, modernizing the spelling :
10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lift up their eves, and behold, the Egyptian- marched after them, and thev were sere afraid : and the children of Israel lift up their eyes, and behold, the Knvptinns marched after them, and thev were sore afiaid : and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.
Other notable errors are in Lev. xiii, 56, "the plain be somewhat dark,'' where we must read, "the plague be somewhat dark;" Lev. xvii, 14, " Ye shall not eat the blood," for "Ye shall eat;" Jer. xxii, 3, "deliver the spoiler," instead of "deliver the spoiled;" Ezek. xxiv,7, "pouredit upon the ground," for "not upon;" Hosea vi, 5, " shewed them," for " hewed them ;" and many others. These, however, were soon corrected.
Notwithstanding that by the king's command mar- ginal notes were not to be affixed, some were found indispensable. For instance, at Matt, xxii, 2, we have the note, " The Roman penny is the eighth part of an ounce, which, after five shillings the ounce, is seven- pence halfpenny." Others of this class are found. In other places, the translators did not even avoid critical r.otes. Baruch i, 10, at "prepare ye manna," has " Gr. corruptly for mincha, that is, a meat-offering." Others of these notes might be pointed. out; but, as a general thing, these would be quite as well omitted, as they now generally are. The number of marginal ref- erences is very small — only 8980, including the Apocry- pha. At present the best Bibles, without the Apocry- pha, have over seventy thousand. Bagster's Com- prehensive Bible claims to have "nearly half a mil- lion," which, we opine, is incorrect.