Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for my Saviour's sake, and receive me into Thy bosom or guide me in Thy ways.
There is another feature about the first editions of the Authorised Version which arrests attention. In 1611 the first folio edition was published. The design with archers, dogs and rabbits which is to be found over the address "To the Christian Reader" which introduces the genealogies is also to be found in the folio edition of Shakespeare over the dedication to the most noble and Incomparable paire of Brethren, over the Catalogue and elsewhere. Except that the mark of query which is on the head of the right hand pillar in the design in the Bible is missing in the Shakespeare folio, and the arrow which the archer on the right hand side is shooting contains a message in the design used in the Bible and is without one in the Shakespeare folio.
In the 1612 quarto edition of the Authorised Version on the title-page of the Genealogies are two designs; that at the head of the page is printed from the identical block which was used on the title-page of the first edition of "Venus and Adonis," 1593, and the first edition of "Lucrece," 1594. At the bottom is the design with the light A and dark A, which is over the dedication to Sir William Cecil in the "Arte of English Poesie," 1589. An octavo edition, which is now very rare, was also published in 1612. On the title-page of the Genealogies will be found the design with the light A and dark A which is used on several of the Shakespeare quartos and elsewhere. (Figure XXI.)
The selection of these designs was not made by chance. They were deliberately chosen to create similitudes between certain books, and mark their connection with each other.
The revised translation of the Bible was undertaken as a national work. It was carried out under the personal supervision of the King, but every record of the proceedings has disappeared. The British Museum does not contain a manuscript connected with the proceedings of the translators. In the Record Office have been preserved the original documents referring to important proceedings of that period. The parliamentary, judicial, and municipal records are, on the whole, in a complete condition, but ask for any records connected with the Authorised Version of the Bible and the reply is: "We have none." And yet it is reasonable to suppose that manuscripts and documents of such importance would be preserved. Where are they to be found?
Chapter XVIII.
HOW BACON MARKED BOOKS WITH THE PUBLICATION OF WHICH HE WAS CONNECTED.
At a very early period in the history of printing, the custom was introduced of placing on title-pages, at the heads and ends of the chapters, emblematical designs. In English printed books these are seldom to be found until the latter half of the 16th century.
An investigation of the books of the period reveals the fact that the same blocks were used by different printers. Articles have been written on the migration of printer's blocks, but, so far, no explanation has been offered as to any object other than decoration for which these blocks were used.