[George Offor, Esq., of Hackney, has kindly favoured us with a reply to
this and the following Query: "Eighteen different editions of the
Bible, printed by John Field, are in my collection, published between
the years 1648 and 1666. In some of these he is described as printer to
the University of Cambridge, in others as 'One of His Highness's
Printers;' but in those which _tradition_ says were published for the
army, he is called 'Printer to the Parliament.' They are all as
correctly printed as Bibles were generally published during that time,
excepting that by Giles Calvert the Quaker, published in 1653, which is
singularly correct and beautiful. Field's editions being remarkable for
beauty of typography and smallness, have been much examined, and many
errors detected. That of 1653 is the most beautiful and called genuine,
and is the copy said to have been printed for the use of the army and
navy. Of this I have five different editions, all agreeing in the error
in Matthew, ch. vi. v. 24., 'Ye cannot serve and mammon;' and in having
the first four psalms on one page. But in some the following errors are
corrected, 1 Cor. vi. v. 9., 'The unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom
of God;' Rom. ch. vi. v. 13., 'Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of righteousness unto sin.' The copy of 1658, which SIR. W.
C. TREVELYAN describes, is a counterfeit of the genuine edition of
1653, vulgarly called 'The Bastard Field's Bible.' These were reprinted
many times. I possess four different editions of it, so exactly alike
in form and appearance, that the variations throughout can only be
detected by placing them in juxtaposition. They are all neatly printed,
without a black line between the columns, and make thicker volumes than
the genuine edition. I have never been able to verify the tradition
that the Field's Bible, 1653, was printed for the army by order of
Cromwell. It is the only one, as far as I can discover, 'Printed by
John Field, Printer to the Parliament.' I received the tradition from
my father nearly sixty years ago, and have no doubt but that it is
founded in fact. It is an inquiry well worthy of investigation.--G.
OFFOR."]
_Canne's Bible._--What is the value of a good copy of Canne's Bible,
printed at Edinburgh by John Kincaid, 1756?