1605 Geneva Leaf

Barker's 1605 Geneva Bible. This is an original leaf from The Holy Scriptures, printed by Robert Barker at London England in 1605. It is a Quartro; double columns of Gothic script English language text with Roman Letter side-notes. A revision of Tyndales's translation of the Bible, popularly known as the "Breeches Bible," first published during Mary (Bloody Mary) Tudor's Catholic restoration circa 1560. This widely read translation was the work of reformers who had fled to Geneva to escape persecution in England. The Geneva Bible was Calvinistic in tone and sprinkled with controversial anti-Catholic notes, and was therefore never authorized by the Church of England. It was the first English edition of the Bible to introduce versification. The Geneva Bible was in fierce competition with the Bishops' Bible (1568. Its size made it the most widely read Bible in private use in England prior to the introduction of the 1611 King James (or "Authorized") Bible. The Geneva was used by Shakespeare, Bunyan, and the Puritans.

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