Bible in English [King James Version]

Folio (15 3/4 x 8 1/2 in.; 400 x 244 mm). Text in two columns, section-title for New Testament, titles within double-ruled border and with printer's devices, with index and tables; light browning and spotting throughout (heavier to some gatherings), a couple of marginal tears not touching text. Contemporary speckled calf gilt, marbled endpapers, red edges, manuscript note in a contemporary hand attesting to the correctness and rarity of this edition laid down on front pastedown; covers somewhat marked and scratched, rebacked, corners repaired.

St. Andrew Ward Esq. of Hooton Pagnell (bookplate) — Lord Wardington (bookplate; Sotheby's London, 12 July 2006, lot 123)

Herbert 1194; ESTC T95025

Folio (15 3/4 x 8 1/2 in.; 400 x 244 mm). Text in two columns, general and divisional titles within double-ruled border: light browning and spotting throughout (heavier to some gatherings), a couple of marginal tears (not touching text). Contemporary speckled calf gilt, marbled endpapers, red edges, manuscript note in a contemporary hand attesting to the correctness and rarity of this edition laid down on front pastedown; covers somewhat marked and scratched, rebacked, corners repaired.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot provided by Sotheby's. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colours and shades which are different to the lot's actual colour and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation because Sotheby's is not a professional conservator or restorer but rather the condition report is a statement of opinion genuinely held by Sotheby's. For that reason, Sotheby's condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot.

The very rare folio edition of the Oxford "standard" Bible: ESTC records only three locations: British Library, John Rylands Library, and Pembroke College, Oxford. Herbert attributes the rarity of this edition to a 1770 fire at the London warehouse used by Wright and Gill. Loosely inserted is a bifolium printed letter to the Delegates of the Clarendon Press from the editor, Benjamin Blayney, Hertford College, 18 November 1769. In the letter, Blayney explains his editorial method and describes how, "When the Quarto Sheets were printed off, the Forms were lengthened out in order to make the Folio Edition." This process gave him the opportunity to correct "some few trivial inaccuracies, which in spite of all his vigilance had escaped his notice in the Quarto Edition." For that reason, Blayney concludes, "the Folio Edition is rendered … somewhat the more perfect of the two, and therefore more fit to be recommended for a standard Copy."