Answer to 1611 "KJV" non-italics
Edward Hobbs (EHOBBS@wellesley.edu)
Wed, 03 Apr 1996 16:43:50 -0500 (EST)
Dear Friends,
Kevin Woodruff has the right answer: the original publication of
the so-cal"led King James Version was in 1611, and all three printings were
in "black-letter" or (then-called) Gothic, or "Germanic". The translators
"additions" ("necessary to complete the sense") were printed in "Roman
small" type. Any modern printing that claims to be a "facsimile" of the 1611
Bible which uses Roman type for the main text makes a false claim--it is NOT
a facsimile. In 1612, popular pressure for a Bible in the format of the
Geneva Bible, with Roman type, led to the printing of the text in that style.
The three printings in 1611, by he way, differed in a now-famous
way: the first is called the Great She Bible, and the second and third are
called the Great She Bibles. The reference is to Ruth 3:15 -- who went
into the city? Some modern writers refer to the She Bibles as
"correcting" the He Bible; others point to the fact that the Hebrew MSS.
in fact differ on this point. Perhaps different exemplars existed? There
are several obvious misprints in each of them--more in the He than in the
She editions.
Edward Hobbs