Bishops Bible 1584 | Rare Bibles, Reformation,

[The Holy Bible, Imprinted at London: by Christopher Barker, printer to the Queenes Maiestie, 1584], Quarto. (20.5 x 15 cm)

Bound in a late 18th century diced calf , re-backed in matching calf with raised bands and blind tooled letter press to spine.  New Testament title and title to Psalms (fo. 215). within woodcut border both with manuscript to verso. There is no general title page known for this edition. This copy with neatly and attractively produced replacement general title in pen and ink inserted. Lacking eight leaves of preliminaries (a1-e1), Apocrypha present, large woodcut Royal armorial to verso of 2A3, woodcut map to 4A2, few woodcut decorative initials, final colophon leaf with large woodcut Royal armorial, verso of title to Psalms with inscription ‘John Malen his booke 1680. John the son of William and Mary Malen born the 29 of September 1663’, New Testament title and verso of colophon also with similar early inscriptions, occasional other manuscript annotations within volume, C6 and 4B3 torn to lower outer corner with text loss, G3 and 4B1 torn at foot with text loss, R8 torn at head with text loss, long closed tear to G2 with old stitched repair, 2H1 upper outer blank corner with small area of blank corner excised, 2V3 with hole and text loss (approx. 2 cm diameter), hole to 4B2 with slight text loss, short closed tear to 2T7, 2V1, 3E3 & 3F5, long closed tear to 3F4, 3G1, 4A6 & 4B1, bound with at rear Two right profitable and fruitful Concordances, or large and ample Tables Alphabeticall…, collected by R.F.H., Imprinted at London by Christopher Barker, [1584?], early ownership signature of John Malem to title, printer’s woodcut device to verso of final leaf, also bound with an incomplete The Whole Booke of Psalmes, collected into English meter by T. Sternhold, I. Hopkins, and others…, London: printed by John Daye, 1584, some light dust-soiling and occasional marks throughout volume, Book of Psalms at rear with some damp-staining, upper pastedown with genealogical entries of Thomas Hearne Seymour of Thame, Oxfordshire (1786-1862), Thomas Hearne Seymour Jnr. (1823-1906) with presentation inscription ‘Presented by Thomas Hearne Seymour to his friend Walter Pearce of Thame 23rd August 1890’, lower pastedown inscribed ‘Thomas Hearne Seymour bought this bible 1830 for T. H. S. Jnr.

DMH 186. The Bishops’ version. Quarto. Black letter text in double columns, Apparently the last quarto edition of the Bishops’s version to be printed. No general title page is known. (British and Foreign Bible Soc., Historical Catalogue). Despite aforementioned flaws, this remains a good copy of a rather scarce Bible. Bishops’ Bibles are relatively quite scarce, quarto printings even more so.