Selling the Word of God
The Early Commercial History of the English Bible
Will be published approx. on 24. September 2026
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-1-85124-662-5 (ISBN)
Description
The Bible is the most published text in history and the story of its publication in the English language is extraordinary.
Published on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Tyndale's groundbreaking printed translation of the New Testament, this book traces the evolution of the English Bible from 1525 to the much celebrated King James version of 1611. By this date, readers could already choose from over a dozen English versions, each of them printed in vastly different ways. Behind each edition are stories of rivalries, mistakes, bankruptcies and bestsellers. Far from being fixed, stable publications, Bibles were consistently undergoing change and development in the early modern period.
Creativity and enterprise were at the heart of the English Bible market, something that the usual focus on Bible translators has often overshadowed. Illustrated with early editions, this book considers how printers created new markets for Bibles, how they advertised them, and how they commissioned innovative forms of illustration and decoration to attract buyers. How, it asks, did the English Bible become a bestseller?
Published on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Tyndale's groundbreaking printed translation of the New Testament, this book traces the evolution of the English Bible from 1525 to the much celebrated King James version of 1611. By this date, readers could already choose from over a dozen English versions, each of them printed in vastly different ways. Behind each edition are stories of rivalries, mistakes, bankruptcies and bestsellers. Far from being fixed, stable publications, Bibles were consistently undergoing change and development in the early modern period.
Creativity and enterprise were at the heart of the English Bible market, something that the usual focus on Bible translators has often overshadowed. Illustrated with early editions, this book considers how printers created new markets for Bibles, how they advertised them, and how they commissioned innovative forms of illustration and decoration to attract buyers. How, it asks, did the English Bible become a bestseller?
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Illustrations
18 Illustrations, color; 32 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-85124-662-5 (9781851246625)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
HARRY SPILLANE is a historian at the University of Cambridge where he has been the Munby Fellow in Bibliography.
DIARMAID MacCULLOCH is Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford.
DIARMAID MacCULLOCH is Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford.
Content
Introduction
Tyndale's Tale
A New Testament in English
The Genesis of the English Bible
Kings and their Bibles
Acts and Exodus: English Bibles Changed and Challenged
Wisdom: Commercialising the Bible
Numbers: Too Many Bibles?
Revelation and Lamentation: Trials and Errors in Printed Bibles James: Ends and Beginnings
Tyndale's Tale
A New Testament in English
The Genesis of the English Bible
Kings and their Bibles
Acts and Exodus: English Bibles Changed and Challenged
Wisdom: Commercialising the Bible
Numbers: Too Many Bibles?
Revelation and Lamentation: Trials and Errors in Printed Bibles James: Ends and Beginnings