ISBC Exhibition at Firsts, London’s Premier Rare Book Fair (7-9 June 2019)
The International Society of Bible Collectors is proud to sponsor Collecting the Bible: From Gutenberg to the Jerusalem Chamber, a special exhibit presented at Firsts in June of 2019.
From a Noble Fragment of the Gutenberg Bible (the world’s first printed Bible) to the gold-encased Lunar Bible (the first printed book to make landfall on the surface of the moon), the exhibit will highlight the historic literary and cultural significance of the Bible as an important part of our world heritage.
Highlights will include rare Tyndale New Testaments, an exquisite copy of the 1535 Coverdale Bible (the first printed Bible in English) and an illuminated manuscript copy of Coverdale’s First Psalter in English.
First editions of significant early printed Bible in English will be displayed; including a remarkable copy of the Matthews Bible (1537), Henry VIII’s Great Bible (1539), Cranmer’s Bible (1540), the Geneva Bible (1560), the Bishops Bible (1568) and both issues of the first edition of the Authorized Version (1611).
Prominent association copies and unusual printings will also be featured; including a seventeenth century Bible with the bookplate of Charles Dickens and a rare copy of the “Wicked” Bible (1631), containing the infamous misprint “thou shalt commit adultery.”