The KJV: influencing the centuries....

This year sees the 400th anniversary of one of the world's greatest literary achievements. Whilst for some that may immediately conjure up images of Shakespeare or John Donne, it is, in fact, the work of King James, and his now eponymous publication of the Bible. The third English translation, the work required 47 scholars of Hebrew and Ancient Greek and took 7 years to complete, eventually selling for 10 shillings a copy. Only recently usurped by the more more NIV and Message translations, the KJV has inspired centuries of Christians, encouraging them to delve into the word and making their gospel more accessible to others. In a series of recent BBC documentaries, the makings and influence of this masterpiece have been explored. 'The King James Bible: The Book that Changed the World' can be seen here.

On this day...

The first complete English Bible was published in 1535. Printed in Antwerp, the Coverdale Bible used translations from William Tyndale for the New Testament, whilst Myles Coverdale himself translated the Old, mainly from Latin editions. It was subsequently re-edited and re-published, with the 1539 folio edition carrying the royal licence and therefore becoming the first officially approved Bible translation in English.

On this day...

The Gutenberg Bible, thought to spark the 'Gutenberg revolution' of printed books, was traditionally first printed in 1455. Often cited as the first Western book to have been printed using movable type, they were produced by Johannes Gutenberg in his famous press of Mainz, Germany. Preparation of the book is said to have begun soon after 1450, yet it was not until 1454 or 1455 that the first copies were available. Such a time lapse is due to the enormous labour that just one Bible required.

Each Bible was made up of 49, 290 sheets of paper, themselves imported from Italy for quality, and each sheet contained approximately 2600 characters, a single one of which might take a craftsman a day to cut. It is therefore of no surprise that only 180 copies were made, 135 on paper and 45 on vellum. As of 2009, 47 of the Bibles were known to survive, 21 of which were complete. 8 of these are located in Britain, in the illustrious locations of the British, Bodleian, Eton, University libraries to name but a few. Such beautiful, but complicated volumes undoubtedly had influence on future books and editions of the Bible alike.