The Geneva Bible
During the reign of Mary I, many English Protestants left their homeland to seek safety and religious freedom on the Continent. A great number of these exiles settled in Geneva, which had become a center of Reformation Protestantism thanks to the work of John Calvin. It was here that the famous Geneva Bible was translated and printed in 1560; in addition to its legacy as an enormously popular translation, it also introduced verse numeration into the format of the English bible.
Sixteenth-century England was a turbulent time for the faithful. Henry VIII’s reign was difficult for those expressing Protestant sympathies, while Edward VI’s subsequent reign was a challenge for those who remained Catholic. When Mary I ascended the throne, her Catholic allegiance was clear and threatening to the Protestants in her realm. Many of them left, and a significant number adopted Geneva as their new home. John Calvin had made the Swiss city a safe place for Reformers and their followers, and their output was prolific.
One such accomplishment was the Geneva Bible. Printed in 1560, this translation was produced by Marian exiles who desired a vernacular translation of their own. William Whittingham, who was related to Calvin through marriage, was the primary figure behind its publication, though it was certainly a collaborative work. Reformers John Knox and Miles Coverdale were among those who contributed, and the resulting volume was a mix of new and old translations “according to the Ebrew and Greeke” with a strong Calvinist slant. This was a Bible clearly designed for the people: in the smaller quarto size, the first edition was more affordable and easily portable than larger bibles, and its pages contained verse numeration, maps, and study references to support its readers.
This edition from 1578 was the first printed in England. It was published in London by Christopher Barker, “Printer to the Queenes Maiestie.” Although the queen was now Elizabeth, whose Religious Settlement of 1559 made England a Protestant nation once and for all, the printing of the Geneva Bible in England was no insignificant occurrence, as its Calvinist subtext displeased some in authority. Nevertheless, it was an extremely popular translation with the people, meriting more than twenty additional English editions throughout the remainder of the sixteenth century.
This particular copy features some interesting cutting, pasting, and marginalia throughout, showing how its owners made this book their own.
Vincent Strudwick. “English Fears of Social Disintegration and Modes of Control, 1533-1611.” In The Bible in the Renaissance: Essays on Biblical Commentary and Translation in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, 133–49. St Andrews Studies in Reformation History. Aldershot, Hants, UK : Burlington, USA: Ashgate, 2001.
Marcombe, David. “Whittingham, William (d. 1579).” Edited by H. C. G. Matthew, Brian Harrison, and Lawrence Goldman. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29329.
English Short Title Catalogue. Accessed March 29, 2016. http://estc.bl.uk/.
