Synopses & Reviews
Produced during the lifetime of Shakespeare and Donne, the King James Version of the Bible has long been viewed as the most elegantly written and poetic of the many English translations. Now reaching its four hundredth anniversary, it remains one of the most frequently used Bibles in the English-speaking world, especially in America.
Lavishly illustrated with reproductions from early editions of the KJB, Bible: The Story of the King James Version offers a vivid and authoritative history of this renowned translation, ranging from the Bible's inception to the present day. Gordon Campbell, a leading authority on Renaissance literatures, tells the engaging and complex story of how this translation came to be commissioned, who the translators were, and how the translation was accomplished. Campbell does not end with the printing of that first edition, but also traces the textual history from 1611 to the establishment of the modern text by Oxford University Press in 1769, shedding light on the subsequent generations who edited and interacted with the text and bringing to life the controversies surrounding later revisions. In addition, the author examines the reception of the King James Version, showing how its popularity has shifted through time and territory, ranging from adulation to deprecation and attracting the attention of a wide variety of adherents. Since the KJB is more widely read in America today than in any other country, Campbell pays particular attention to the history of the KJB in the United States. Finally, the volume includes appendices that contain short biographies of the translators and a guide to the 74-page preliminaries of the 1611 edition.
A fitting tribute to the enduring popularity of the King James Version, Bible offers an illuminating history of this most esteemed of biblical translations.
Review
Gordon Campbell's BIBLE received a review in the August 2011 issue of CHOICE, where the reviewer said, "All told, Campbell's flair for the interesting anecdote and careful painting of context makes this an informative, compelling biography for both scholars and general readers of the premiere English Bible."
". . . an informative, compelling, biography for both scholars and general readers of the premierer English Bible. . . Highly Recommended."--Choice
Synopsis
This is a history of the King James Version of the Bible (known in Britain as the Authorised Version) over the four hundred years from its remote beginnings to the present day.
Gordon Campbell, expert in Renaissance literatures, tells the fascinating and complex story of how this translation came to be commissioned, of who the translators were, and of how the translation was accomplished. The story does not end with the printing of that first edition, but introduces the subsequent generations who edited and interacted with the text. The present text of the King James Version differs in thousands of small details from the original edition. Campbell traces the textual history from 1611 to the establishment of the modern text by Oxford University Press in 1769.
Attitudes to the King James Version have shifted through time and territory, ranging from adulation to deprecation and attracting the attention of a wide variety of adherents. It is more widely read in America today than in any other country, and its particular history in there is given due attention.
Generously illustrated with reproductions taken from early editions, this volume helps to explain the enduring popularity of the King James Version throughout the world today.
About the Author
Gordon Campbell is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Leicester University. An authority on Renaissance literature, he is the co-author of
John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought (with Thomas N. Corns).
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. The Bible in English
2. The Commissioning of the KJV
3. Translators and Translating
4. The Translation
5. The First Edition
6. The Seventeenth Century
7. The Eighteenth Century
8. The Nineteenth Century
9. The Bible in America
10. The Cambridge Paragraph Bibles
11. The Revised Version
12. The Early Twentieth Century
13. The KJV in the Modern World
Appendix 1: The Companies and Later Revisers
Appendix 2: The Preliminaries to the KJV
Further Reading
Index