I just noticed in my KJV that the preface dedicated To The Most High and Mighty Prince James is not in my KJV. I have my wifes Mothers Bible in front of me now and it is there. Course I noticed that this Bible was printed in Great Britain. Does that have anything to do with it. My Bible is a KJV Nelson and printed in Nashville, Tennessee. I always thought every KJV had a dedication to James and one could tell if it was a KJV just by this declaration when you looked inside. Is this a copywrite thing or what's up? Just asking never really thought of it before until I was comparing many old KJVs just handed down to us. Also noticed that the KJV of Mothers Bible was printed at Cambridge at the University Press.
What Happened To My KJV?
Discussion in 'Bible Versions & Translations' started by tyndale1946, Aug 19, 2014.
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tyndale1946 Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
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I don't know the answers to your questions. My Nelson KJV likewise does not have the dedication to King James.
However, all my subsequent KJV's have been purchased from Local Church Bible Publishers. Not only is their quality 2nd to R Allan and their prices more than reasonable, their Bibles contain not only the dedication to King James, but also an important document entitled "The Translators to the Reader". This is a good thing to read and understand. -
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The preface would more normally refer to the longer "The Translators to the Reader" in the 1611 edition that is probably not in the majority of KJV editions printed today. Even some or many printers of the KJV in Great Britain may omit or leave out the 1611 preface "The Translators to the Reader."
What may be the first entire edition of the KJV printed in America by Robert Aitken in 1782 did not include the dedication. After the American Revolution, printers in America may have thought that a dedication that favored the authority and majesty of the king of England might not be best in a country that had just rejected the king of England's authority over them.
Some editions of the KJV printed in America in the late 1700's and early 1800's would substitute an address "to the reader" by John Witherspoon (1722-1794) for the dedication to King James. That address to the reader without the name of the person who wrote it was perhaps first printed in the 1791 edition of the KJV printed by Isaac Collins.
Since the first editions of the KJV printed in America after the American Revolution did not include that dedication to King James, it may have become somewhat a tradition that it be omitted in American editions. Some printers in America may now include it.
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The 1560 Geneva Bible had:
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Some editions of the KJV have the "Epistle Dedicatory", some do not. Among my Bibles, I have some that do have it and I think I may have at least one that does not.
Less common is the "Translators to the Reader." -
Ditto, my copy has the Dedication but not the "translators to the readers."
Mine was published by Zondervan.