# Is "The Holy Bible (King James Version, 'He' Bible)" by [translators appointed by King James I] a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Holy Bible (King James Version, 'He' Bible) by [translators appointed by King James I] (Robert Barker, London, 1611) is identified by: Folio (about 387 x 263 mm), London: Robert Barker, 1611, printed in black letter, double column, 59 lines to the full column, with ruled borders and side-notes. There is no UK-versus-US or original-language precedence question: London: Robert Barker, 1611 is the only original, the work being the translation made by the companies appointed by King James I.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Folio (about 387 x 263 mm), London: Robert Barker, 1611, printed in black letter, double column, 59 lines to the full column, with ruled borders and side-notes
- The general title-page is wholly engraved — title and imprint included — by Cornelis Boel of Antwerp, whose name appears at the lower left; the New Testament title is set within a wide woodcut pictorial border, with woodcut head- and tail-pieces
- The preliminaries comprise the Dedication to King James, 'The Translators to the Reader', the calendar, the genealogies associated with John Speed and Hugh Broughton, and Speed's map of Canaan
- The first-issue point is at Ruth 3:15: the 'He' Bible reads 'and he went into the citie', where the 'She' Bible reads 'she went into the citie'
- References: Herbert 309
- ESTC S122347
- Publisher imprint reads Robert Barker, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | [translators appointed by King James I] |
| Publisher | Robert Barker, London |
| Year | 1611 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Folio (about 387 x 263 mm), London: Robert Barker, 1611, printed in black letter, double column, 59 lines to the full column, with ruled… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Folio (about 387 x 263 mm), London: Robert Barker, 1611, printed in black letter, double column, 59 lines to the full column, with ruled borders and side-notes. The general title-page is wholly engraved — title and imprint included — by Cornelis Boel of Antwerp, whose name appears at the lower left; the New Testament title is set within a wide woodcut pictorial border, with woodcut head- and tail-pieces. The preliminaries comprise the Dedication to King James, 'The Translators to the Reader', the calendar, the genealogies associated with John Speed and Hugh Broughton, and Speed's map of Canaan. The first-issue point is at Ruth 3:15: the 'He' Bible reads 'and he went into the citie', where the 'She' Bible reads 'she went into the citie'. References: Herbert 309; ESTC S122347; Pforzheimer 61; PMM 114. One conflict must be disclosed rather than papered over: sources disagree on how the 'She' Bible is catalogued and dated. It is commonly cited as Herbert 310, a wholly reset folio issued with 1611-dated titles, but a Sotheby's description catalogues a 'Great She Bible' as Herbert 319 with a general title dated 1613 and a New Testament title dated 1611, while other descriptions reverse that configuration. The Ruth 3:15 test establishes priority between the two 1611 folios; it does not by itself date a copy, and full collation against Herbert is needed.

## Is this the true first?
There is no UK-versus-US or original-language precedence question: London: Robert Barker, 1611 is the only original, the work being the translation made by the companies appointed by King James I. Both 1611 folios are collected and both should be named: the 'He' Bible (Herbert 309) has priority, and the 'She' Bible follows as the second issue — a wholly reset setting rather than a reissue of the 'He' sheets. Complete copies are uncommon and made-up copies are closer to the norm than the exception; the Bonhams copy examined for this entry lacked the 18 preliminary leaves before Genesis and 43 leaves at the close, which is the usual pattern of loss at the extremities. Expect supplied or facsimile leaves, and check the engraved Boel title first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
This is the record where the donor caveat matters most: a Bible in a family's hands is almost always a 19th-century or later printing whose interest is genealogical rather than bibliographic. The single most important reprint tell is the 1833 Oxford 'exact reprint', which follows the 1611 page-for-page and word-for-word — spelling, punctuation, italics, capitals, and the distribution into lines and pages all reproduced with scrupulous care — but which substitutes roman type for the original's black letter. Typeface alone separates it from the original at a glance. Photographic facsimiles of the 1611 are widely sold and are generally identifiable by machine-made paper and modern binding structure.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Holy Bible (King James Version, 'He' Bible)* by [translators appointed by King James I] a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-holy-bible-king-james-version-he-bible
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.