Holy Bible, 1611 King James Version, Commemorative Edition

"Finesse" is the word that comes to mind when handling this bible. It is slightly more expensive than comparable 400th anniversary editions, but you get more than what you pay for. Thomas Nelson has passed on the savings from Printing in China to the consumer. It has a presentation box with cut-outs in appropriate places. The commentary from the Publishers is in a separate glossy booklet and mercifully, Thomas Nelson has not put its own comments between the covers of this bible. The crystal coated cover with gold stamping has impressive antique artwork, as does the spine. So distinct from the usual mono-colour hard covers; even the back cover looks nice, and does not have publisher blurbs, which are relegated to the back of the presentation box. The pages have gold gilt edges. They are fairly thick and pleasant to touch. They do not stick together like some thin paged versions from the same Thomas Nelson publisher. The bible opens up more of less flat on a table. The text reads well. The print is well inked. The cover page proclaims that it is "A word-for-word reprint of the First Edition of the Authorized Version presented in roman letters for easy reading and comparison with subsequent editions". The Apocrypha placed between Old and New Testaments means that opening the bible in the centre does not find Psalms. The nice ribbon over Psalms is thus not centred. I am not hot on ribbons, but another closer to the New Testament would make good symmetry. There is very ample space on the sides of pages to take a multitude of post-it stickers. One unintended drawback of an aesthetically pleasing bible is that it sees less use than one which is perceived to be rugged. This bible is sturdy, and is perhaps more so than a leather cover one. It has a Thomas Nelson "Guaranteed for Life" assurance, whatever that means. This bible is minimalistic. No concordance, no maps, no commentary, and is the way I like it. The first few pages are printed in a way which almost suggests that it is a presentation copy, reinforced by the impressive presentation box. It makes an excellent gift, and for $31, I doubt if any gift at this price is better value and will be better received.

This printing of the original, 1611 version of the King James Bible, offered by the Bible publisher Thomas Nelson, is unique. Unlike Zondervan's offering, Holy Bible, 1611 King James Version: 400th Anniversary Edition , which provides an exact reproduction of the original pages, including the hard-to-read blackletter (a/k/a gothic) typeface, this Bible has replaced the body text with the same text in a Roman typeface that looks natural to the modern reader. Thus, while each page has the very same content as the original -- including ye Olde Tyme spellyng and similar decorations -- the text is much easier to read. The book comes in a clam-shell box and is accompanied by an illustrated booklet on the history of the Bible in English. The book itself has a coated board cover, gilt edges, and a ribbon marker. The binding seems to be sturdy. The type is on the small side (I estimate about 10-point), but there is enough leading between the lines to make reading relatively painless. In terms of show-through, I'd say the paper is slightly above average. If you are looking for the 1611 text in an accessible form and at a reasonable price, this is an excellent choice.

Although it's a card stock hardback rather than leather bound Bible, this actually had the old English writing in it. At first if you don't know which letters in the English language have changed since then and you haven't actually read the Bible then you might have a little bit of a hard time. But it's on of those books you should have as it's not only the Bible but it's also represents the first printing press document. I really want to take some time and go through the writer's comments and see what they had origianlly written to introduce the Bible and it even has some of the Apocrypha books. Just remember if you don't want to read them because they 'aren't part of the cannon' then realize you probably don't want to read Shakespear or C.S. Lewis or any other writer... But seriously just for starter help: I and J are reversed f is old S V and U are reversed You'll find a few others but remember it's not misprint. The English language has actually changed since the original print. It would have gotten only 4 out of 5 stars but I already knew the cover wasn't leather but the five starts are for all the original intros and side notes from the original kept in this reprint.

This 1611 Edition of the King James Version of the Bible is everything I thought that it would be. Prior to ordering it, I performed extensive research into what others who had purchased this Bible thought. It is always a good rule of thumb to read the reviews of others. I have found reviewers for the most part, are honest people. Following my research, I placed my order, and when my Bible arrived, I was so impressed with the formatting of the Old English Language. Brace yourselves, if you have no knowledge of Old English, you are going to have a rough go at it. Thank God I went to American schools when teachers were teachers, and didn't have a political agenda. I read all of the classics, and this includes the works of Greek Philosophers. Getting back to the Bible, I was so bowl over by the professionalism of this production that I have decided to send my daughter and husband a copy in Hawaii!

I gave this version of the Holy Bible 5 stars because it has but 1 very minor flaw, that being the exclusion of the artistically rendered chart of genealogies that's in the original version of the KJV. Apart from that, a flawless reproduction, with the apocrypha included (unlike Zondervan's version, although that one includes the genealogical chart in the front). Well worth owning; the older spellings of words is interesting to me.

Please note, I am not reviewing the actual content of the book here, you all know what the Bible is and have your own view. I am just reviewing this edition of it. So much for a "commemorative" edition! I bought this after reading an American Amazon site review, which lavished praise upon it. I think that must have been for the 60 pound edition. This is rather cheap-looking and tacky version, definitely not worth the 20 pounds being charged for it currently (or 30 pound rrp!). It has ye olde style text inside, which is nice, and the reason I bought this version, but I believe a cheaper and better version is this Holy Bible, 1611 King James Version (400th Anniversary Edition) It comes in a cheap cardboard sleave too, not what I expected from a book billed as commemorative. There are better versions out there! Overall, it is ok, just not worth the money.