PBA Galleries

Single leaf, 15¼x10½, from a first edition, first issue of the King James Bible. 1st Kings, 13:15-14:24. Text in two columns, within rules, with one 5-line woodcut initial.

This leaf was owned by noted bibliographer R.W.G. Vail, with his ownership inscription and docketing in pencil in top margin (to the effect that this leaf is from the first printing "He" Bible). The first edition of the King James Bible was described by W.A. Jackson as "perhaps the single most important influence upon the development of English prose style."