Editing King James Version (section)

===Printing===
[[File:Richard Bancroft.png|thumb|[[Archbishop]] [[Richard Bancroft]] was the "chief overseer" of the production of the Authorized Version.]]

The original printing of the Authorized Version was published by [[Robert Barker (printer)|Robert Barker]], the King's Printer, in 1611 as a complete folio Bible.{{sfn|Herbert|1968|p=309}} It was sold [[looseleaf]] for ten [[shilling]]s, or bound for twelve.{{sfn|Herbert|1968|p=310}} Robert Barker's father, Christopher, had, in 1589, been granted by Elizabeth I the title of royal Printer,{{sfn|Daniell|2003|p=453}} with the perpetual Royal Privilege to print Bibles in England.{{efn|The Royal Privilege was a virtual monopoly.}} Robert Barker invested very large sums in printing the new edition, and consequently ran into serious debt,{{sfn|Daniell|2003|p=451}} such that he was compelled to sub-lease the privilege to two rival London printers, Bonham Norton and John Bill.{{sfn|Daniell|2003|p=454}} It appears that it was initially intended that each printer would print a portion of the text, share printed sheets with the others, and split the proceeds. Bitter financial disputes broke out, as Barker accused Norton and Bill of concealing their profits, while Norton and Bill accused Barker of selling sheets properly due to them as partial Bibles for ready money.{{sfn|Daniell|2003|p=455}} There followed decades of continual litigation, and consequent imprisonment for debt for members of the Barker and Norton printing dynasties,{{sfn|Daniell|2003|p=455}} while each issued rival editions of the whole Bible. In 1629 the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge successfully managed to assert separate and prior royal licences for Bible printing, for their own university presses—and Cambridge University took the opportunity to print revised editions of the Authorized Version in 1629,{{sfn|Herbert|1968|p=424}} and 1638.{{sfn|Herbert|1968|p=520}} The editors of these editions included John Bois and Samuel Ward from the original translators. This did not, however, impede the commercial rivalries of the London printers, especially as the Barker family refused to allow any other printers access to the authoritative manuscript of the Authorized Version.{{sfn|Daniell|2003|p=4557}}

Two editions of the whole Bible are recognized as having been produced in 1611, which may be distinguished by their rendering of Ruth 3:15;<ref>{{bibleref|Ruth |3:15|KJV}}</ref> the first edition reading "he went into the city", where the second reads "she went into the city";{{sfn|Norton|2005|p=62}} these are known colloquially as the "He" and "She" Bibles.{{sfn|Anon.|1996|p=}}

[[File:Kjv-hebrews.png|thumb|upright=1.2|left|The opening of the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]] of the 1611 edition of the Authorized Version shows the original [[typeface]]. The text of the Bible (only) is in black text. Marginal notes reference variant translations and cross references to other Bible passages. Each chapter is headed by a précis of contents. There are decorative initial letters for each chapter, and a decorated headpiece to each book, but no illustrations in the text.]]

The original printing was made before [[English spelling]] was standardized, and when printers, as a matter of course, expanded and contracted the spelling of the same words in different places, so as to achieve an even column of text.{{sfn|Norton|2005|p=46}} They set '''v''' for initial '''u''' and '''v''', and '''u''' for '''u''' and '''v''' everywhere else. They used the long '''s''' ('''[[long s|ſ]]''') for non-final '''s'''.{{sfn|Bobrick|2001|p=261}} The letter or [[glyph]] '''j''' occurs only after '''i''', as in the final letter in a [[Roman numeral]], such as XIIJ. [[Punctuation]] was relatively heavy (frequent) and differed from modern practice.{{how|date=September 2023}} When space needed to be saved, the printers sometimes used ''ye'' for ''the'' (replacing the [[Middle English]] [[thorn (letter)|thorn]], Þ, with the continental '''y'''), set '''ã''' for ''an'' or ''am'' (in the style of scribe's [[shorthand]]), and set '''&''' for ''and''. In contrast, on a few occasions, they appear to have inserted these words when they thought a line needed to be padded.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} Later printings regularized these spellings; the punctuation has also been standardized, but still varies from current usage.

As can be seen in the example page on the left, the first printing used a [[blackletter]] [[typeface]] instead of a roman typeface, which itself made a political and a religious statement.{{explain|date=September 2023}} Like the [[Great Bible]] and the [[Bishops' Bible]], the Authorized Version was "appointed to be read in churches". It was a large [[Book size|folio]] volume meant for public use, not private devotion; the weight of the type—blackletter type was heavy physically as well as visually—mirrored the weight of establishment authority behind it.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} However, smaller editions and roman-type editions followed rapidly, e.g. quarto roman-type editions of the Bible in 1612.{{sfn|Herbert|1968|pp=313–14}} This contrasted with the Geneva Bible, which was the first English Bible printed in a roman typeface (although black-letter editions, particularly in [[folio]] format, were issued later).

In contrast to the Geneva Bible and the Bishops' Bible, which had both been extensively illustrated, there were no illustrations in the 1611 edition of the Authorized Version, the main form of decoration being the [[historiated initial]] letters provided for books and chapters{{spaced ndash}}together with the decorative title pages to the Bible itself, and to the New Testament.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

In the Great Bible, readings derived from the Vulgate but not found in published Hebrew and Greek texts had been distinguished by being printed in smaller [[roman type]].{{sfn|Scrivener|1884|p=61}} In the Geneva Bible, a distinct typeface had instead been applied to distinguish text supplied by translators, or thought needful for English [[grammar]] but not present in the Greek or Hebrew; and the original printing of the Authorized Version used roman type for this purpose, albeit sparsely and inconsistently.{{sfn|Scrivener|1884|p=70}} This results in perhaps the most significant difference between the original printed text of the King James Bible and the current text. When, from the later 17th century onwards, the Authorized Version began to be printed in roman type, the typeface for supplied words was changed to [[italics]], this application being regularized and greatly expanded. This was intended to de-emphasize the words.{{sfn|Norton|2005|p=162}}

The original printing contained two prefatory texts; the first was a formal ''[[s:Bible (King James)/Preface|Epistle Dedicatory]]'' to "the most high and mighty Prince" King James. Many British printings reproduce this, while most non-British printings do not.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

The second preface was called ''[[s:Bible (Authorized Version)/Translators to the Reader|Translators to the Reader]]'', a long and learned essay that defends the undertaking of the new version. It observes the translators' stated goal, that they "never thought from the beginning that [they] should need to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one, ... but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principal good one, not justly to be excepted against; that hath been our endeavour, that our mark." They also give their opinion of previous English Bible translations, stating, "We do not deny, nay, we affirm and avow, that the very meanest translation of the Bible in English, set forth by men of our profession, (for we have seen none of theirs [Catholics] of the whole Bible as yet) containeth the word of God, nay, is the word of God." As with the first preface, some British printings reproduce this, while most non-British printings do not. Almost every printing that includes the second preface also includes the first.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}
The first printing contained a number of other [[Critical apparatus|apparatus]], including a table for the reading of the Psalms at [[matins]] and [[evensong]], and a [[calendar]], an [[almanac]], and a table of holy days and observances. Much of this material became obsolete with the adoption of the [[Gregorian calendar]] by Britain and its colonies in 1752, and thus modern editions invariably omit it.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

So as to make it easier to know a particular passage, each chapter was headed by a brief précis of its contents with verse numbers. Later editors freely substituted their own chapter summaries, or omitted such material entirely.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} [[Pilcrow]] marks are used to indicate the beginnings of paragraphs except after the book of Acts.{{efn|name=Norton}}