Robert Barker and the Great “He” Bible
The first edition of the King James Bible was printed in London by Robert Barker, whose family held the royal patent for state and religious printing. Barker had inherited the business from his father Christopher, printer to Elizabeth I, and invested heavily in the new Bible, reportedly at great personal cost. The 1611 edition was produced in large folio format for use in churches, with the text set in black letter in double columns, accompanied by woodcut initials and decorative headpieces. It included elaborate engraved titles, genealogies of Holy Scripture and, in many copies, a double page map of the Holy Land. Early printings of such a substantial work were prone to typographical slips, and the first issue of the King James Bible is famous for one in particular. In Ruth 3:15, the 1611 text reads “and he went into the citie”, where later corrected issues read “and she went into the city”. This variant has given rise to the traditional distinction between the Great “He” Bible (the earliest issue) and the subsequent “She” Bible where the passage was amended. Because only certain leaves were reprinted once errors were noticed, complete first issue “He” Bibles are significantly rarer than later states, and are now regarded as the most desirable form of the 1611 edition for collectors and institutions alike.