Bible: The Story of the King James Version 1611 - 2011

by Gordon Campbell

Overview

This is a history of the King James Version of the Bible (known in Britain as the Authorised Version) over the four hundred years from its remote beginnings to the present day. Gordon Campbell, expert in Renaissance literatures, tells the fascinating and complex story of how this translation came to be commissioned, of who the translators were, and of how the translation was accomplished. The story does not end with the printing of that first edition, but introduces the subsequent generations who edited and interacted with the text. The present text of the King James Version differs in thousands of small details from the original edition. Campbell traces the textual history from 1611 to the establishment of the modern text by Oxford University Press in 1769. Attitudes to the King James Version have shifted through time and territory, ranging from adulation to deprecation and attracting the attention of a wide variety of adherents. It is more widely read in America today than in any other country, and its particular history in there is given due attention. Generously illustrated with reproductions taken from early editions, this volume helps to explain the enduring popularity of the King James Version throughout the world today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191624797
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	10/28/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	589,172
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Gordon Campbell is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Leicester University. An authority on Renaissance literature, he is the co-author of John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought (with Thomas N. Corns).

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. The Bible in English
2. The Commissioning of the KJV
3. Translators and Translating
4. The Translation
5. The First Edition
6. The Seventeenth Century
7. The Eighteenth Century
8. The Nineteenth Century
9. The Bible in America
10. The Cambridge Paragraph Bibles
11. The Revised Version
12. The Early Twentieth Century
13. The KJV in the Modern World
Appendix 1: The Companies and Later Revisers
Appendix 2: The Preliminaries to the KJV
Further Reading
Index

Editorial Reviews

Gordon Campbell's BIBLE received a review in the August 2011 issue of CHOICE, where the reviewer said, "All told, Campbell's flair for the interesting anecdote and careful painting of context makes this an informative, compelling biography for both scholars and general readers of the premiere English Bible."

". . . an informative, compelling, biography for both scholars and general readers of the premierer English Bible. . . Highly Recommended."—Choice

"...Campbell's flair for the interesting anecdote amd careful painting of context makes this an informative, compelling biography for both scholars and general readers of the premiere English Bible"—S. Young, McHenry Country College

"Campbell does a great job thoughout the book showing how the KJV is the most important book in the English. I highly recomment Bible, THe Story of the King James Version by Gordon Campbell from Oxford University Press."— Randy A. Brown

"...KJV is the translation that is a building block of our collective cultural heritage."—Jon Sweeney

"Campell has set out to write a historically accurate and scholarly informaed account of the origins development, and reception of this most famous of English Bibles, and has succeeded admirably in that task."—Alister E. McGrath. Kings College London

"...intensely political story detailed so well by Norton and Campbell...."—-Mark Noll, Books Culture

"Valuable and enlightening."—Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology

From the Publisher

Gordon Campbell…gives the full sweep of the KJV's truly majestic life, and for that we must be grateful.
—The Washington Post

Jonathan Yardley

With the 400th anniversary of the King James Version (KJV) on the horizon, expect to see a cloud of dust rising from the march of all things commemorative. As Campbell, professor of Renaissance studies at Leicester University and coauthor of John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought, observes, the KJV "is the most celebrated book in the English-speaking world." Campbell's book is an erudite companion to a new release of the KJV that hews as closely to its 1611 progenitor as possible. Packed with information as minute as the genealogy of the king's printer and history of his printing house, it's tough to read on its own, despite the author's occasional wry asides. Yet as a resource detailing all aspects of the development and production of the KJV, this is a fine book. Readers will appreciate the discussion of original illustrations (some are reproduced here) and the recital of hilarious typos that plagued early editions. The subject of the KJV's influence on Christianity in American history, addressed toward the book's end, is unfortunately mired in excessive detail. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Whether held as a paradigm of style or as the completion of divine revelation, the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible remains one of the most celebrated works in the English-speaking world. As its 400th anniversary approaches, Campbell (Renaissance studies, Leicester Univ.) presents an accessible yet academic history of the KJV, focusing on the story of the translation, its textual apparatus, and its publication. There are important discussions here of how biblical translation can support differing theological positions, but Campbell pays more attention to book history than religious controversy. He begins by briefly surveying the history of the Bible in English before the KJV, reviews the process of translating and the background of the KJV translators, then describes how the KJV became almost the sole fountainhead of Bible translations in English. His focus is on the KJV in England and, especially, on its continued import in the United States. VERDICT This important history of the KJV's evolution and its impact is an essential read for students of the Bible's history, the history of books, and English literature. Appendixes contain short biographies of the KJV translators and a guide to the 74-page preliminaries of the original 1611 edition. [In October Oxford University Press is also publishing a 400th anniversary limited edition of the King James Bible, edited by Campbell.—Ed.]—Steve Chabot, Univ. of Toronto

Library Journal