Historical information

This Bible belonged to the Bell family. Joseph Bell was born on May 9th 1829. He married Elizabeth, who was born on October 22nd, 1833. Their marriage was conducted on September 12th, 1854, at St Pauls, Bristol, England. On the front pages of the bible there used to be a list of their ten children and their birthdates but there are only remnants of a heavy weight paper; the opposite Fly page with publication details is also missing, along with the Family Records section, which no longer has pages for Births and Marriages, only precise edges of two pages .

The Bible is the King James Version, named after James Charles Stuart (1556-1625) who was King James VI of Scotland from 24 July 1567, and who was crowned King James I of England, France and Ireland from 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625.

The Hampton Court Conference of 1604 commissioned a new and more accurate version of the Holy Bible that was translated from the original Sacred Scriptures and that included only the approved books. This task was undertaken be a group of learned scholars who worked in teams and compared notes, working to ensure a true and accurate version. It was completed in 1611 and became widely known as the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible and is still widely used and greatly respected for its poetic language.

The first printed page of this Bible is the Translators Speech at the completed work which was handed over to King James I in 1611.

Significance

This Bible was published after 1611, and likely to have been purchased at the time of the marriage of the previous owners, Joseph and Elizabeth Bell, in 1854, so it is possibly a century and a half old.
The decorative cover and metal clasp are a sign that the Bible was a book to be treasured,. Indeed, our Collection included several Bibles brought to Australia by immigrants, even though luggage was tightly restricted.
This Bible was once used as a family record, similar to Bibles printed in modern times, with lined blank pages in the centre for the owners to record their own, their ancestors' and their descendants' life events. Sadly, these pages are no longer within the Bible.

Physical description

Book, black textured leather front and back covers, gold leaf page edges, metal clasp on centre edge of front and back covers holds them together. The title is inscribed in gold embossing on the front cover. The Bible has coloured illustrations, cross references and maps. The front inside cover has remnants of a previous stuck-down page, the Fly page, and the Family Records pages for Births and Marriages has been cut out of the book.
TITLE: The Holy Bible.
PRINTER: University Press, London, England
PREVIOUS OWNERS; Joseph and Elizabeth Bell, married in Bristol, England in 1854.

Inscriptions & markings

Embossed in gold on cover: "HOLY BIBLE"