Heading: (Bible in English)
Author:
Title: The Old Testament, Embellished with Engravings, from Pictures and Designs by the most eminent English Artists
Place Published: London
Publisher:Printed for Thomas Macklin, by Thomas Bensley
Date Published: 1800
Description:

Unique hand-colored copy of the Bible, presenting a systematically color-coded copy of the first four books of the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. The creator of this hand-colored text has used the first volume of the famous Macklin Bible printed in 1800 to carry out his design concept. 235 leaves, richly embellished with color; together with a color-printed sheet entitled "Language of Colour" explaining the system of color coding.

Remarkable Bible educational tool, created by Alfred Woods over the course of some twenty years toward the end of the Victorian era (1888-1909). A well-to-do and devout English merchant, Woods sought to illustrate the conceptual and rhetorical architecture of the Biblical text by highlighting words and phrases with bright watercolors according to a system of color coding. Eight different colors are used, with each color representing a conceptual category of the text: Yellow being used to highlight "God Speaking"; Blue highlighting things Good and Honest; Black denoting matters relating to Sin and the Devil; Violet denoting place names; etc. All numbers are overpainted in oversized numerals in differing styles, and important words and quotations are often additionally painted in large or emphatic lettering in the margins. The Macklin Bible ranks as the largest letterpress English Bible ever printed, and Woods almost certainly choose it as the "canvas" for his artistic creation because its size enabled it to be seen and read even at a distance by groups of people. The text here offered is all that is extant, and it comprises only a portion of volume one of the Macklin Bible. An exceptionally exciting display piece, uniquely bringing these supreme Bible texts to "vivid life and color."

Binding worn, broken, the engraved plates are not present (though the oversized headpieces are); a unique and captivating Bible, sold as is.