Two early American revisions of the 1611 KJV

In counting and considering the number of revisions of the 1611 edition of the KJV, two 1791 editions/revisions made in America are often ignored and not mentioned. I know of no KJV-only author that counts these two revisions in their incomplete or partial list of four or of seven claimed revisions. These two editions/revisions are not identical to any one earlier edition or revision whether 1611 edition, 1629 Cambridge, 1638 Cambridge, 1743 Cambridge, 1762 Cambridge, or 1769 Oxford as they were not based on one earlier edition. These two most important early American editions/revisions of the KJV were printed by Isaac Collins and Isaiah Thomas.

Paul Gutjahr maintained that the 1791 Collins edition “for decades was considered the most typographically accurate bible edition printed in America” (An American Bible, p. 90). Concerning it, John Wright wrote: “The Bible was printed with great care, as the proof-sheets were read over eleven times before the final impression was made” (Early Bibles of America, p. 90). Geddes MacGregor noted that in 1791 Collins “brought out a Bible notable for the accuracy of the printing” (Bible in the Making, p. 189). P. Marion Simms observed: “Collins took unusual care to prevent printer’s mistakes” (Bible in America, p. 130). David Daniell noted that Collins’ edition “became famous for its accuracy” and that “it was adopted as the standard of correctness by later printers, particularly by Mathew Carey” (Bible in English, p. 598). Geddes MacGregor agreed that Collins’ edition was “notable for the accuracy of its printing” (Literary History of the Bible, p. 218). Richard Hinson wrote: “Biblical scholars have long referred to the Collins Bible as one of the most correct editions” (American National Biography, Vol. 5, p. 248). Concerning the KJV edition of Collins, KJV-only author Doug Stauffer asserted: “This edition becomes famous for its amazing level of textual printing accuracy” (One Book One Authority, p. 683). Collins is said to have based his edition on the 1784 Oxford edition as compared also to the 1668 Cambridge edition by John Fields, the 1775 Edinburgh edition by Kincaid, and the 1772 London edition by Eyre and Strahan. Collins’ edition substituted an address “to the reader” by John Witherspoon (1722-1794) for the usual Dedication to King James. John Witherspoon was president of the College of Princeton and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. A note at the end of the preface of Noah Webster’s 1833 Bible suggested that the text of Collins’ edition was “prepared for the press” by John Witherspoon (p. v). John Witherspoon, Samuel S. Smith, and James F. Armstrong were appointed by a Presbyterian General Assembly in 1789 to help “revise and correct the proof-sheets” for this edition. Robert R. Dearden maintained that “the Collins Bible received strong support from the Presbyterian General Assembly while being printed” (The Guiding Light, p. 277). Some Baptists and others were also said to be involved in reading and correcting the proof-sheets. The Philadelphia Baptist Association appointed a committee to inspect and read the proof-sheets of this edition being printed by Collins. Some of the Baptists on that committee may have been pastors Samuel Jones (1735-1814), Burgiss Allison (1753-1827), Benjamin Foster (1750-1798), and Oliver Hart (1723-1795). John Wright noted: “In deference to the Baptists some copies were printed without the Apocrypha and ‘Ostervald’s Notes’” (Early Bibles, p. 95).

The edition printed and edited by Isaiah Thomas (1750-1831) has been regarded by some as being the third KJV edition printed in America. David Daniell maintained that in 1791 Isaiah Thomas “printed the first folio Bible from an American press,” and he also printed a quarto edition that same year (Bible in English, p. 594). In his introduction or preface, Isaiah Thomas stated: “The editor furnished himself with nearly thirty copies, printed at different times and places--from these he selected the most correct, by which to revise the whole of this work.” It is said that each sheet was examined by Rev. Aaron Bancroft and Rev. Samuel Austin and others, and was compared with at least eight different copies. Henry Barker wrote: “Every sheet was carefully examined by the clergymen of Worcester and others and was compared with eight different issues of the King James Version--six being from the University Presses of Oxford and Cambridge; one printed in 1626 by Norton and Bill, the owners of the King’s Printers’ Patent, and the remaining copy being dated 1637, from the Press of Cambridge University” (English Bible Versions, p. 258). Daniell noted that Thomas “had worked hard” to make the text of his editions “completely correct” (Bible in English, p. 595). P. Marion Simms asserted that “Thomas took unusual pains to secure a correct text” (Bible in America, p. 128). Robert R. Dearden maintained that “Thomas printed fine copies, the first Bible in folio size and the first Bible in quarto size in the English language in this country” (The Guiding Light, p. 279). Bradford Taliaferro wrote: “Thomas examined and compared 30 other editions as well as having this edition compared with eight others by clergymen and other qualified individuals” (Encyclopedia of English Language Bible Versions, p. 407).

It could be asserted that the American KJV edition by Isaac Collins and the edition by Isaiah Thomas were as carefully edited and printed as the 1769 Oxford edition and other editions printed in England. If these two editions had been carefully considered by printers at Oxford and Cambridge in the 1800’s, a number of printing errors in editions printed in England could have been removed many years earlier.

While based on some of the same earlier KJV editions, it would be interesting to notice the differences between these two carefully prepared and proofread KJV editions/revisions printed the same year in America.

 

The 1769 Oxford edition of the KJV had introduced a new printing error "Zithri" at Exodus 6:21 taken from the last word of Exodus 6:22. That printing error remained in most Cambridge and Oxford editions for around one hundred years. Oxford did not start following its own 1769 text in its editions until around 1784. Most of the Oxford editions in the 1770's still followed a text similar to the 1743/1762 Cambridge text with the exception of a 1774 edition that had the text of a pre-1764 Oxford. It may be possible that there are other exceptions since I have not examined an edition printed in every year from 1770 until 1784.

The 1791 Collins and 1791 Thomas editions of the KJV did not follow and have this error "Zithri" at Exodus 6:21.

Likely because of the influence of these two early American KJV editions and because of the influence of KJV editions printed at Edinburgh, many American KJV editions in the 1800's did not have the typical Oxford error at Exodus 6:21.

 

The only KJV edition that I have found and seen that has "Zithri" at the end of Exodus 6:21 before the 1769 Oxford was an Oxford edition in 1722.

KJV editions printed at Edinburgh kept the correct "Zichri" at Exodus 6:21 for many years after the 1769 Oxford had introduced the typesetting or printing error. Edinburgh editions printed in 1769, 1787, 1789, 1791, 1793, 1802, 1806, 1810, 1820, 1827, 1834, 1842, 1843 still have the correct "Zichri". I have seen the Oxford error "Zithri" at Exodus 6:21 picked up and followed in Edinburgh KJV editions printed in 1851 and 1855.

I have seen at least three editions of the KJV with the opposite error "Zichri" at Exodus 6:22 [1630, 1689 London, and 1810 Woodward).