The Holy Bible, with the Apocrypha, 5 volumes (Nonesuch Press Edition)

[HOLY BIBLE] (illus. Stephen Gooden; typography arranged by Francis Meynell). The Holy Bible, Reprinted According to the Authorised Version 1611: With the Apocrypha. London: The Nonesuch Press, 1924-1927. 5 vols.

Quarto. All five volumes uniformly bound in full vellum, gilt-titled to spine. Comprising: The Apocrypha (1924); Genesis to Ruth (1925); Samuel to Psalms (1925); Proverbs to Malachi (1926); The New Testament (1927). Each volume with an engraved pictorial title page, headpiece, and tailpiece, all designed and engraved on copper by Stephen Gooden. Printed by Frederick Hall and John Johnson, printers to the University, at the Oxford University Press. Deluxe limited edition. One of 75 sets printed on Arnold unbleached rag paper for sale in England and America (the Bible proper limited to 75 of this issue from a total edition of 1,075; the Apocrypha, originally an independent 1924 publication, limited to 75 of this issue from a total edition of 1,325). This set of the four Bible volumes printed for S. T. Thomas; the accompanying Apocrypha volume numbered XIV in its own separate limitation sequence, consistent with the Apocrypha's distinct original publication and subsequent pairing with later-issued Bible volumes to form complete sets. Bookplates of Edward E. Whitmont and Milton Whitmont to the front of all five volumes.

Containing the earlier Apocrypha volume, this set is the complete 75-copy Arnold rag paper issue, bound uniformly in vellum, and considerably scarcer than the standard Japon vellum issue.

Francis Meynell (1891–1975) founded the Nonesuch Press in 1922 with the explicit conviction that neither of the two books an educated Englishman might take to a desert island — Shakespeare and the Bible — existed in a contemporary edition worthy of either the occasion or the text. The Nonesuch Bible, issued volume by volume between 1924 and 1927, was his answer: a complete reprint of the Authorised Version of 1611, set by Meynell himself at a page size he described as striking "a happy compromise between the manageable and the majestic," printed at the Oxford University Press, and illustrated throughout by the young engraver Stephen Gooden (1892–1955) — his second major book commission for the press, following the Nonesuch Anacreon of 1923, and the beginning of a collaboration that would establish Gooden as one of the foremost English copperplate engravers of the twentieth century. Gooden's engraved title pages for the Bible, with their echoes of seventeenth-century architectural frontispieces, are widely regarded as among the finest achievements of his long association with the press.

The Nonesuch Bible is counted among the defining productions of the British private press movement in the twentieth century, and among the most significant achievements of Meynell's own distinguished career — a career that would later see him knighted for his services to fine printing and publishing. 

The provenance of this set carries its own considerable interest. The bookplates of Edward E. Whitmont and Milton Whitmont — presumably members of the same family, and the latter a documented Australian collector whose library and bookplate have themselves been the subject of scholarly study — situate this set within a collection that, on the evidence gathered elsewhere in this catalogue, encompassed serious holdings in psychology, exploration literature, Australiana, and now, with this set, the private press tradition at its highest level.

Near fine. Bindings sturdy throughout the set; some mild markings to vellum covers. Gilt edges remain bright and bold. A little faint and scattered foxing here and there throughout. A remarkable set that presents very well.

Please note: This is a five-volume set and is heavy. Additional postage costs may apply. If so, we will contact you after purchase.

This book is currently not on display in store.
If you would like more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact: rarebooks@harryhartog.com.au

Catalogue Number: HH000678