02A.02. Early Editions
II. Early Editions The translation was proposed in January 1604, began in 1607, took two years to accomplish and nine months more to prepare for the printer. The first edition appeared with an engraved title page, a dedication to King James, a Preface to the Reader, genealogies, maps, and other popular features. The engravings were from previously published Bibles and classic books. The pages were unnumbered but there were 1668 of them. It was a stately folio edition measuring 16 x 10½ inches, and was intended to be a "pulpit" edition.
There is no evidence to show that the version ever had the official approval or authority of King James. Evidently the printers on their own authority had been using the phrase "Authorized and Appointed to be Read in the Churches" on copies of the Bishops’ Bible to distinguish it from the Geneva Bible. They continued the same use with the new version. Thus the phrase "Authorized Version" used as a label to distinguish it from other versions was not a historical reality. It appears that the king never even made a contribution toward financing the operation.
Three editions of the KJV appeared during the first year. In the next three years fourteen editions in various sizes were printed. As to be expected under early printing methods, there were many typographical errors in every edition. As old ones were corrected, new ones appeared. Some were quite humorous and some serious.
One of the 1611 editions had "I Corinthians" and "2 Corinthians" listed in the Old Testament instead of Chronicles. But of all the misprints the KJV suffered, none were as scandalous as the omission of the word "not" from the seventh commandment, hence the offending edition was commonly called the Wicked Bible. Another edition was called the Vinegar Bible because the chapter heading of Luke 20 which read vinegar instead of vineyard. The Murderers’ Bible was so called because Mark 7:27 was made to read "Let the children first be killed" instead of filled. Another misprint read "he slew two lions like men" (2 Samuel 23:20). The moral of all this was pointed up most effectually by the careless typesetter who made Psalms 119:161 read, "Printers have persecuted me without a cause"! The classic misprint which has been perpetuated by modern editions is Matthew 23:24, "strain at a gnat" instead of "strain out a gnat." Our present edition of the KJV comes from revisions made in 1762 by Dr. Thomas Paris of Trinity College for Cambridge Press, and 1769 by Dr. Benjamin Blayney for the Oxford Press. These revisions primarily modernized spelling.