5 volumes. 394; 518; 390; 300; 307 pp. Initial letters printed in red. (Folio) 33.5x23.5 cm (13¼x9¼"), original full limp vellum by the Doves Bindery, spines lettered in gilt, housed in five blue cloth slipcases. One of 500 copies printed by T.J. Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker at the Doves Press.
One of the legendary fine printings of the Bible and the Masterpiece of the Doves Press. The sixth publication of the press. The text has been "revised by a collation of its early and other principal editions and edited by the late Rev. F.H. Scrivener M.A. L.L.S. for the Syndics of the University Press Cambridge." The Doves Press of T.J. Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker was a significant contributor to the fine press tradition of the Arts and Crafts movement. The pair were associates of William Morris, founder of the Kelmscott Press, their press replaced the ornateness of Morris's designs, retaining however the sense of drama through bold details and the iconic Doves Type. All of the Doves' printings were produced with a single font of type, a font that would later be lost when, in a now infamous action in response to a bitter dispute with Walker, Cobden-Sanderson tossed all existing matrices into the River Thames from Hammersmith Bridge. The crown jewel of Doves’ achievements remains this edition of the King James Bible, with the iconic initial letter “I” from “In the Beginning” gently cascading down the page, alongside the elegant block of text. Tidcombe, DP 6.