Importance: A King James Bible printed in London by Henry Hills and John Field in 1660, marking the start of the reign of King Charles II. This edition is widely regarded as one of the most attractively typeset octavo-format Bibles of the 17th century.
Binding: Octavo (6.8125” x 4.875” x 2”). 1 lb 12 oz. Late 19th c. blind and gilt tooled full fine purple calf leather binding with a.e.r. Spine with five raised single blind and gilt filleted bands and six compartments. Second compartment with gilt-lettered title in capitals HOLY BIBLE and sixth compartment LONDON 1660. Boards with blind and gilt rolled pattern borders. Late 19th c. red endpapers with an original rear flyleaf. Moderate wear and fading with spine detaching. Text block splitting. Traces of gilt on the fore-edges indicate the text block edges were originally in gilt.
Provenance: Late 17th c. ownership inscription to recto of Engraved Presentation page: Anno Dom. Benedicta Mx. 1666.
Early 19th c. ownership inscription to recto of front flyleaf: R. White Goudhurst. As well, a late 19th c. ownership inscription: This Bible belongs to W[illia]m Segar of Ticehurst Sussex, 1st July 1868.
William Segar (1820-1892) married Naomi Rumens (1844-1905) in 1882.
Collation & Notes: OT: [284] ff.; [568] pp.; π2 ([π1r] Dedication & [π2r] Engraved Presentation), A-Z8 ([A1r] GTP), Aa-Mm8, Nn2v. APOC.: [64] ff.; [128] pp.; A-H8v. NT: [89] ff.; [178] pp.; Nn3-Nn8 ([Nn3r] TP), Oo-Zz8, Aaa3v, Aaa4 flyleaf. Total [437] ff. & [874] pp.
Complete with two original title pages, Apocrypha, and 144 (OT 40 & NT 104) single-page copper engraved plates on interleaved sheets by notable engravers. Engravings feature Hebrew, Latin, or English captions. Vertical chain lines but interleaved sheets are horizontal. Late 19th c. modern laid plain paper flyleaves (one at front and two rear). D&M 527. H670. WING B2256A. USTC 15. ESTC R28924. WC/OCLC 6. The same edition as D&M 526 and H669 except the general title page, which is engraved and bears the name Henry Hills only, and the Apocrypha is inserted.
Condition: ff. (6.5625” x 4.4375”). Lightly toned & stained. Tail margins sporadically deckled. Headlines generally good. OT: A1 two .75” tail tears; A3 1.25” tail tear; 25th Eng. 1” fore-margin tear; 31st Eng. .75” fore-margin tear; C3 .75” tail tear; G8 .1875” hole in text; O1 .5” tail paper loss; Hh6/Kk1 tiny hole in text. APOC.: E3 .5” tail tear; F2 .5” fore-margin tear. NT: 1st Eng. 1” tail tear; Nn8 fore-edge & tail slightly cut slanted; Xx2 tail corner slight paper loss.
