400th anniversary of the King James Version

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2011 was the 400th anniversary of the King James Version, when a series of events and exhibitions took place commemorating the four-hundredth anniversary of the publication of the King James Version in 1611.

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United Kingdom

The Shakespeare's Globe theatre marked the anniversary by a week-long complete recital of the work during Holy Week 2011, [1] along with a revival of its 2010 production of Anne Boleyn , which dealt with the King James Version's inception. The Royal Shakespeare Company commissioned a new play, Written on the Heart , also dealing with the KJV translation, to premiere in October 2011.

The Royal National Theatre hosted a reading of 12 extracts from the KJV by actors from its company in October and November 2011 directed by Nicholas Hytner, James Dacre and Polly Findlay [2] [3] and the Bush Theatre reopened in October 2011 on its new site with a performance cycle entitled 'Sixty-Six Books', in which each book of the KJV is responded to by a different writer. [4]

The anniversary was also marked by exhibitions at the libraries of Oxford [5] (supported by a lecture series [6] ) and Cambridge [7] universities and in Lambeth Palace Library. [8] Exhibitions were also held at Winchester Cathedral [9] and in the John Rylands Library in Manchester. [10]

United States

Zondervan released The Holy Bible: 1611 King James Version 400th Anniversary Edition as a replica of the original Authorized Version as it was released in 1611, to mark the anniversary. Digital images from the Bible Museum in Goodyear, Arizona were used to produce this work with the Apocrypha excluded. King James Bible Society marked the 400th anniversary with the online release of the AvBible, an audio visual of the Authorized Version.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Abbot (bishop)</span> Archbishop of Canterbury from 1611 to 1633

George Abbot was an English divine who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1611 to 1633. He also served as the fourth chancellor of the University of Dublin, from 1612 to 1633.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King James Version</span> 1611 English translation of the Bible

The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of King James VI and I. The 80 books of the King James Version include 39 books of the Old Testament, 14 books of Apocrypha, and the 27 books of the New Testament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodleian Library</span> Research library of the University of Oxford

The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in Britain after the British Library. Under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, it is one of six legal deposit libraries for works published in the United Kingdom, and under Irish law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or "the Bod", it operates principally as a reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geneva Bible</span> 16th-century English translation of the Bible

The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the Douay Rheims Bible by 22 years, and the King James Version by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th-century English Protestantism and was used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne and others. It was one of the Bibles taken to America on the Mayflower, and its frontispiece inspired Benjamin Franklin's design for the first Great Seal of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scofield Reference Bible</span> Study Bible

The Scofield Reference Bible is a widely circulated study Bible. Edited and annotated by the American Bible student Cyrus I. Scofield, it popularized dispensationalism at the beginning of the 20th century. Published by Oxford University Press and containing the entire text of the traditional, Protestant King James Version, it first appeared in 1909 and was revised by the author in 1917.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas James</span> English librarian and Anglican clergyman

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">King James Only movement</span> Bible translation (KJV) advocacy groups

The King James Only movement asserts the belief that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is superior to all other translations of the Bible. Adherents of the King James Only movement, mostly members of certain Conservative Anabaptist, traditionalist Anglo-Catholic, Conservative Holiness Methodist and some Baptist churches, believe that the KJV needs no further improvements because it is the greatest English translation of the Bible which was ever published, and they also believe that all other English translations of the Bible which were published after the KJV was published are corrupt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douay–Rheims Bible</span> English-language Catholic Bible

The Douay–Rheims Bible, also known as the Douay–Rheims Version, Rheims–Douai Bible or Douai Bible, and abbreviated as D–R, DRB, and DRV, is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by members of the English College, Douai, in the service of the Catholic Church. The New Testament portion was published in Reims, France, in 1582, in one volume with extensive commentary and notes. The Old Testament portion was published in two volumes twenty-seven years later in 1609 and 1610 by the University of Douai. The first volume, covering Genesis to Job, was published in 1609; the second, covering the Book of Psalms to 2 Maccabees plus the three apocryphal books of the Vulgate appendix following the Old Testament, was published in 1610. Marginal notes took up the bulk of the volumes and offered insights on issues of translation, and on the Hebrew and Greek source texts of the Vulgate.

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Modern English Bible translations consists of English Bible translations developed and published throughout the late modern period to the present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Douce</span> English antiquary and curator

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Lake (bishop)</span> Bishop of Bath and Wells

Arthur Lake was Bishop of Bath and Wells and a translator of the King James Version of The Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Cambridge Paragraph Bible</span> Edited edition of the King James Version (KJV) bible published by Cambridge University Press

The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible with the Apocrypha is a newly edited edition of the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) published by Cambridge University Press in 2005. This 2005 edition was printed as The Bible in 2006. The editor is David Norton, Reader in English at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Norton is author of A History of the Bible as Literature (1993) revised and condensed as A History of the English Bible as Literature (2000). He wrote A Textual History of the King James Bible as a companion volume to the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Millennium Bible</span> 1998 minor update of the King James Version of the Bible

The Third Millennium Bible (TMB), also known as the New Authorized Version, is a 1998 minor update of the King James Version of the Bible. Unlike the New King James Version, it does not alter the language significantly from the 1611 version, retaining Jacobean grammar, but it does attempt to replace some of the vocabulary which no longer would make sense to a modern reader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Bilson</span>

Thomas Bilson was an Anglican Bishop of Worcester and Bishop of Winchester. With Miles Smith, he oversaw the final edit and printing of the King James Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodley Medal</span> Bodleian Library award

The Bodley Medal is awarded by the Bodleian Library at Oxford University to individuals who have made "outstanding contributions ... to the worlds of communications and literature" and who have helped the library achieve "the vision of its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley, to be a library not just to Oxford University but also to the world".

Reginald Philip Carr is an English librarian, who was Bodley's Librarian from 1997 until his retirement in 2006. He is a member of the Christadelphian church.

Anne Boleyn is a play on the life of Anne Boleyn by the English author Howard Brenton, which premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in 2010. Anne Boleyn is portrayed as a significant force in the political and religious in-fighting at court and a furtherer of the cause of Protestantism in her enthusiasm for the Tyndale Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psalm 46</span> Biblical psalm

Psalm 46 is the 46th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 45. In Latin, it is known as "Deus noster refugium et virtus". The song is attributed to the sons of Korah.

Sixty-Six Books was a set of plays premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2011, to mark the theatre's reopening on a new site and the 400th anniversary of the King James Version. It drew its title from the 66 books of the Protestant Bible. The special show ran from 10 October 10 to 29 October 2011, with special 24-hour shows on 15 and 29 October; the production featured 130 actors, including Miranda Raison, Ralf Little, Billy Bragg, and Rafe Spall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Witmore</span>

Michael Witmore is a Shakespearean, scholar of rhetoric, digital humanist, and director of a library and cultural institution. In 2011, he was appointed the director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., where he continues to serve.

References

  1. ↑ "The Bible (2011) / Shakespeare's Globe". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  2. ↑ "King James Bible: In the Beginning - Productions - National Theatre". Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "King James Bible: The 12 extracts - Production Seasons - National Theatre". Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  4. ↑ "Bush Theatre". Archived from the original on 18 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  5. ↑ "Bodleian Libraries | Bodleian Libraries Summer Exhibition 2011 opens: Manifold Greatness: Oxford and the Making of the King James Bible". Bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Corpus Christi College Oxford - King James Bible Lecture Series". Ccc.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "Great and Manifold Blessings: The Making of the King James Bible". Lib.cam.ac.uk. 18 June 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Forthcoming Exhibition | LAMBETH PALACE LIBRARY". www.lambethpalacelibrary.org. Archived from the original on 11 April 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ↑ "Anniversary of the King James Bible - Winchester Tourist Information - Winchester Hotels & Events". Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "Exhibitions (The University of Manchester)". Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
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