Please note:
Only 500 copies of the restored 1599 Geneva Bible
have been printed and bound with this soft Italian Calfskin leather. More than
half have been sold already. These numbered editions are valuable collector’s
items and will be treasured family heirlooms. Your great-grandchildren will
pass this Bible down to future generations with great honor. Order your copy
from the second printing before they are sold-out!
When the Pilgrims arrived in America in 1620,
they brought along supplies, a consuming passion to advance the Kingdom of
Christ, a bright hope for the future, and the Word of God. Clearly, their most
precious cargo was the Bible. Have you ever wondered what version of the
Bible the Pilgrims brought to America on the Mayflower? Believe it or
not, it was not the King James Version of 1611. It was actually the 1599
Geneva Bible – a forgotten yet priceless treasure.
The Geneva Bible, printed over 200
times between 1560 and 1644, was the most widely read and influential English
Bible of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This superb translation
was the product of the best Protestant scholars of the day and became the
Bible of choice for many of the greatest writers, thinkers, and historical
figures of that time. Men such as Shakespeare, John Bunyan, and John
Milton used the Geneva Bible, and it was reflected in their
writings. During the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell issued a pamphlet
containing excerpts from the Geneva Bible to his troops. William Bradford
cited the Geneva Bible in his book Of Plymouth Plantation.
The Geneva Bible is unique among all other
Bibles. It was the first Bible to use chapters and numbered verses and became
the most popular version of its time because of the extensive marginal notes.
These notes, written by Reformation leaders such as John Calvin, John Knox,
Miles Coverdale, William Whittingham, Anthony Gilby, and others, were included
to explain and interpret the scriptures for the common people.
For nearly half a century these notes helped
the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland understand the Bible and true
liberty. King James despised the Geneva Bible because he considered the notes
on key political texts to be seditious and a threat to his authority. Unlike
the King James Version, the Geneva Bible was not authorized by the government.
It was truly a Bible by the people and for the people. You can see why this
remarkable version with its profound marginal notes played a key role in the
formation of the American Republic.
Sadly, 407 years after its original publication,
this wonderful version of the Bible has been nearly forgotten. The only
complete version available today is a large, more difficult-to-read
facsimile edition. A facsimile edition contains pictures of the original
pages. The small print and the older English letters and spellings make it
more difficult to read or study. If the 1599 Geneva Bible is to survive the
passing of time and be remembered for generations to come, it must be
resurrected and redistributed.
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