Lot 26: Bible. English, King James version. , The Holy Bible Containing the Bookes of the Old & New Testament. Cambridge: John Field, 1660[-59]

Folio (440 x 290 mm.), 2 volumes, text in double columns, engraved hand-coloured title-page depicting Solomon on his throne, letterpress New Testament divisional title, double-page map of the Holy Land, engraved portrait of Charles II by Sherwin (555 x 435 mm.) inserted as frontispiece to volume I, hand-coloured engraved royal arms by Hollar inserted as frontispiece to volume II, illustrated with 118 double-page engraved plates of biblical scenes engraved by Visscher from works by various artists, red-ruled margins, contemporary red velvet with metal centrepieces of a coronet with a bird perching on top and monogram, gilt-edged, marbled endpapers, blue silk ties, both volumes with fore-edge painting depicting two cherubs holding a coronet on which is perched a bird, with various flowers and the initials "ts" , lacking Ogilby's dedication to Charles II, joints weak, binding worn in places, slight damage to two centrepieces, one silk tie missing, marginal repairs to first preliminary leaf, [NT] K2, margin of plate following O6, and T3

Herbert 668; Wing B2258

?T'Serclaes family; C.J. Clarke (armorial bookplate)

an exquisite binding in celebration of the restoration of the monarchy. This Bible was a re-issue of Field's 1659 Bible (the date 1659 is found on the New Testament title and colophon), updated to reflect the momentous political change - including a new title-page that celebrated divinely-appointed monarchy by depicting Solomon enthroned. Copies of this Bible vary widely in the number of Visscher's plates they contain, and some copies also incorporate the Book of Common Prayer. The heraldic coronet and initials ("TS") that figure on the fore-edge painting suggests that this book may have belonged to a member of the T'Serclaes family, one of the great aristocratic families of the Spanish Netherlands. They would have had reason to take a close interest in the Restoration as Charles II had spent the years 1656-60 in the Low Countries as a pensioner of the Spanish king.