ORIGINS OF MODERNITY

theology & witchcraft

The Bible translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke
London: Deputies of C[hristopher Barker], 1592.

This version of the English Bible was produced by Protestant reformers who, during Mary's reign, had taken refuge in Geneva. Though never sanctioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, after Archbishop Matthew Parker's death in 1575 it was openly printed in London. This version, is commonly known as the Geneva, or as the Breeches Bible, after the rendering of Genesis III:7 as "and they sewed figge leaves together, and made themselves breeches".

The book became the Elizabethan family bible and remained the Englishman's private bible until the time of Cromwell. At least 144 editions were printed between 1560 and 1644 and it was, in a large measure, responsible for the spread of knowledge of the Bible in England. The Geneva was the Bible of Shakespeare, and of Milton and of Bunyan.

A new feature was its use of Roman instead of Black Letter type and it included prefaces, maps and tables as well as commentaries on the text. For the first time in English, the Bible text was divided into numbered verses, an invaluable aid to reference.