Customer Reviews

The Holy Bible: King James Version

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

this is an amazing value for the money- one of the most beautifully produced books i've seen, it's easily on par with the work of london's folio society.

illustrations- well, they boggle the mind. moser's people are beautifully alive and imperfect- see pg. 765 "the annunciation"; the look on mary's face holds a world of feelings.

the removal of verse index numbers makes the text much more readable. moser's choice of fonts, layout, odd little mark symbols (i know there's a name for them) and the occasional RED letter makes this awe-inspiring work even more beautiful.

Now this has to be one of the weirder things in life: writing a book review of the Bible!

I have to admit that I'd like to own the Deluxe edition, but $30,000.00 is a bit beyond my means at the moment, and the Primary edition at $10,000.00 is a bit much too. These are very limited collectors editions. Here we have the everyman's edition at a reasonable price.

Whether one is religious or not, this book is a treasure. It is fully case bound and ripe with the delicious woodcuts of Barry Moser. The woodcuts are stunning and his work compares to best of Rockwell Kent and Leonard Baskin -- and that is saying a lot!

Now I have to confess: I have not read it through... well parts here and there, but with this great book in hand, I just might. I am not a religious person, but do I view the bible as one of the great pieces of literature and part of the Western Canon. I have always found the standard floppy bible format difficult to read with it tiny type, and wrinkly paper. Also I've never been able to ignore those numbers. The Pennyroyal does not used numbered verses. It is also laid out in two column justified newspaper style. The format and type is designed for reading. It's beautifully typeset in Matthew Carter's Galliard and Mantinia fonts.

The downside and the upside is that it is in the King James version with New Testament included. The downside is it is full of howbeit's and art not thou's, not a language that falls off ones tongue. The upside is that it is King James, and if one wishes to read it as literature, all of the great references that have been made in the Canon are from the King James.

Believer or nonbeliever, heretic or saint, this book belongs on everyone's shelf -- better yet, in your lap.

I am fortunate in that Mr. Moser was a teacher of mine in high school. If he kept track I was also probably his worst calligraphy student. I could not draw a vertical line, so he literally held my hand, and then his guiding hand produced magic. Unfortunately for me, I was, like some teenagers equipped with an organ more akin to a gland than a brain. You cannot review this book. One can comment on whether The King's James Version is or is not enjoyable or the language too dated to push through. This is about the illustrations for each of the collection of books that is The Bible. Try to put aside as best you can the secular nature of the story, forget the words, and look at the images. These works are in black and white, and now that I have seen them I do not believe they can be effectively portrayed any other way. Color can be distracting, color can be inappropriate. In Steven Spielberg's Movie, "Schindler's List" would red blood spreading on white snow have been more or less dramatic? How about the same movie in color? It would not have been the same movie. These images while beautifully composed, and incredibly detailed, accomplish making there point or points with as much impact as a visual experience can be with a simple palette of color, or perhaps better described as contrast. When you see Job you see suffering that is unimaginable, and knowledge of the story, or the fact that it is a Christian story, to me, is missing the point and not recognizing what Mr. Moser has accomplished. Knowing the suffering comes from loyalty does make it even more powerful that this man endures this for something he believes. Any religion can have this loyalty. Knowing a bit of the story makes the image more dramatic, if that's possible. You want pure Human evil, and the horror it creates? Look at the crucifixion series. This shows what it must have been like to suffer such a deranged man-made form of torture and murder. And it is not because Mr. Moser shows you hammers, nails, and blood, that's the easy way out. He shows you enough to trigger the horror within you. To understand what man is capable of doing to his own. It does not matter what sort of building you worship in, or whether you worship at all. You cannot view these images without being affected. These people that he has rendered are the people you see every day. These are not the The Medici's idealized gigantic frescoes, not an altar piece approved by a committee and rendered by Carravagio (I Love Carravagio) on hundreds of square feet of space that will make an impression if only for their size. Some of these illustrations are quite small, they force you to get close, and the size has nothing to do with what they are able to communicate. We are the only Species that tortures it's own. It's a fact, it's sad, and it raises some disturbing questions. But look at these pictures, "read" them. A grieving Mother can be a Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Cherokee, or Zulu. They are the same in their grief. If Mr. Moser could teach Humanity to all "Humans" with his images, then we would be worthy of the world we then would have. Mr. Moser, a sincere thanks.

Make sure you click on the 'look inside this book link', so you can see the quality of the images; they will stick with you for a lifetime.

I have a 7 week old son, and I am certain that in the future, when he thinks of the bible, the images in this book are the images that will come to mind. They are very powerful.

This is one of the best copies of one of the most important books. It should be in your home.

What book would be better to illustrate in a luxurious volume at the millenium than the Holy Bible itself? Barry Moser, illustrator, took upon a monumental project of illustrating fully the entire text of the Bible. Of course one must realize that not every sentence can have an illustration. The presentation of the trade edition of the Pennroyal Caxton Edition is quite impressive - clothbound with nice pages. Its certainly a unique item unto itself as there are no paragraph numbers which seems to be standard in the King James Bible, however, the typesetting is elegant and attractive. Overall I think Moser did a great job in the whole presentation of this work, and must be happy with the completed product on the printed page.

I would also like to point out that Moser completed what only one other person did over a hundred years ago: Gustav Dore. Dore, among his many other works, created engravings for just about every book in the Bible. Moser, like Dore did virtually just that. I thought it would be appropriate to give a comparison of the two works. This being strictly an artistic critique; as for the Bible I feel that it would be silly to critique the text itself for that is not really the purpose of this Bible, otherwise I would not spend 30-65 dollars on a Bible. Furthermore, although the text is not the issue at hand, I would like to comment that I prefer the full text edition with the engravings as opposed to just the drawings themselves. The Dore edition that I am commenting on is printed by First Glance Books (ISBN - 1885440332), this being the only edition I am aware of that is has full Biblical texts as well as the engravings. There is a Dover edition that is available with just the engravings.

Comparing the two one can see Dore's immediate majesty and beauty in his works. The lines are delicate while the whole picture tells more than just a scene, but a story. His compostion is almost perfect while the action of his characters are outstanding in a powerful God-like pose, much mor powerful looking. Moser on the other hand I feel has a more heavy handed look than Dore. Dore's pictures, they all take up the whole page, while Moser has small inserts in between his full page illustrations. As someone commented earlier, Moser's work is dark, which I beleived is attributed to the heavy hand, that is the lines are much bolder and thicker in his work. Which I also found some of the work confusing to look at, for instance the Tower of Babel. I could not tell where it was or what I was seeing, although I specuate it was the base of the Tower, framed in a way to add dynamics through composition, which failed due to its darkeness and design. The main difference between the two is that Moser has a subject without a background, usually in some abstract space, while Dore encompasses the whole setting of Egypt, Jerusalem or Bethlahem. Flipping through the two books one will recognize that they both have chosen their own drawings. I dont know if Moser, probably being aware of Dore's version, decided against doing the same scenes, which in some cases were an added bonus, however I feel he missed some of the major highlights of the book. For instance Moser did not do Moses throwing down the tablets of the Ten Commandments, but just showed the tablets in this ethereal space with a few large letters on each tablet. I could also see that Moser used his artistic liscence on some of the drawings, for I would imagine that there is a 'set' idea of how things 'should' look in the Bible which Moser went ahead and drew his own vision, which I commend him for, while Dore went the more traditional route. Moser's characters are much more modern looking, usually in a photographic pose, as if they were staring at the camera while the artist said "cheese."

Overall, Moser's edition is much more pretty to look at and handle. More elegant and impressive. However, I feel that Dore's drawings surpass Moser in many aspects. I gave this book 4 stars due to its greatness, as I feel all the work Moser put into it is a mighty task that deserves recognition and commemoration. Its a feat that will not be challenged often. I definately reccomend this, either to the Bible lover, artists of every kind, book collector and those looking for a new Bible to put on their shelves.

I guess I'm the lone ranger here, but, on the whole, I did not enjoy Moser's illustrations. The choice of subject matter was extremely idiosyncratic (he manages to get through all four gospels without illustrating miracles or parables) and the overall tone of them was exceptionally dark. This can be appropriate for the mood of a book like Jeremiah or Lamentations, but seems almost absurdly out of place when illustrating the Pauline epistles, which focus so strongly on God's miraculous gift of grace. The cardinal virtues of Christianity are faith, hope and love. Moser's illustrations, however technically masterful they may be (and they obviously are) do not contain the elements that have made the Bible a repeated source of inspiration and strength for two millenia. As such, they define a Bible that is interesting in its own way, but lacks critical dimensions that have been central to this book's longevity, impact and meaning for humanity.

This Bible is simply beautiful. I stumbled onto it through Amazon's Recommendations. The beauty of the King James Version's Jacobean English is unparalleled, and the masterful illustrations by Barry Moser make the text come alive in your hands. This is a book which can easily become a family heirloom. The text has no verse divisions and reads more comfortably as a continuous flow. The large print, the drop caps and the rich illustrations go along with the large format to give a very classical, meaty feel to this gorgeous work of art. It's a beautiful way to display and enjoy God's Word.

The Hardback version is out of print, and I got a superb deal on one from one of Amazon's used booksellers.

We wanted to add a family Bible, a readable work of art that could be displayed with pride, to our collection. And, loving the beauty of the language, a King James Version was another requirement. The idea that truly beautiful, emotion-evoking art could be a part of the package hadn't occurred to us. Then we encountered this Bible. "Readable" took on new meaning as the omission of verse numbers eliminates the distraction of constant interruption. The art is magnificent, as is the language. A great find!

The limited edition of this work is an absolutely stunning achievement in design, illustration, typography and binding, and this is reflected in every page of the (thankfully!) much more affordable trade edition. An exemplar of the book arts that will surely be treasured for generations to come....

This is the most beautiful Bible I have ever seen. I had the opportunity to take a class on the Bible as Art co-taught by Barry Moser, and he is a man of tremendous talent and intellect. Why they ever decided to remainder this book, I do not know, but it is truly a loss to everyone.