A Textual History of the King James Bible

Contemporary Review, April, 2005

A Textual History of the King James Bible. David Norton. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]55.00 (US$95.00). xii 387 pages. ISBN 0-521-77100-5. This meticulously researched and clearly written book was commissioned to accompany the most recent edition of the Authorised (or King James) Bible published by Cambridge.

The author first gives the history of the 'KJB' from its earliest days as a 'culmination of nearly a century of translation work' to the current text, that of 1769 with six changes and thirty old readings. For the historian this section is the most useful, showing as it does how the text was altered between 1611 and the present. In the second part Mr Norton has two chapters devoted to The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible which resumed the work of modernisation that 'stalled in the eighteenth century'. In these he explains how the work was done and on which presuppositions it was carried on. The final part consists of nine appendices ranging from printer's errors in the 1611 edition, variations between the first and second editions, lists of errors drawn up at different times, spelling changes in the current text and most important for the lover of the Authorised Version, variant readings in the KJB text set out in tabular format. This is a tremendous achievement and a valuable addition to biblical literature. (V.B.M.)