From a thrift shop within walking distance of my apartment, I recently purchased a King James Bible (KJB) in mint condition. The books there generally sell for a dollar apiece, but on this particular Saturday, the shop was running a 20 percent off sale, and so I walked away with the KJB for 80 cents plus tax.
It wasn’t the price that attracted me, however, nor the need for another Bible, but this treasure of print and paper reproduced the text of the 1611 KJB, that cornerstone of the English language translated over 500 years ago by a committee of scholars appointed by King James I. Here’s an example of their work, the first sentence from the “Dedicatorie”: “Great and manifold were the blessings (most dread Soueraigne) which Almighty God, the Father of all Mercies, bestowed upon vs the people of ENGLAND, when first he sent your Maiesties Royall person to rule and raigne ouer us.”
