1566 Great Bible Page - Henry VIII Protestant Reformation - Select Your Passage

The Bible in Englyshe of the Largest and Greatest Volume that is to saye; the contents of the holye Scripture, booth of the oulde and newe Testament …

1566 Great Bible Folio Size Leaf

Genuine Pages from a 400+ Year Old Bible Scroll down to select your available passage.

Description: Offered here is an authentic 1566 Great Bible leaf, printed in large folio format during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. These are original pages from the first English Bible ever officially authorized for use in the Church of England.

This is not a facsimile or reproduction. Each leaf is a genuine 16th-century page printed in large folio format (approx. 15" x 10"), featuring impressive black-letter type and decorative woodcut initials.

The Great Bible was ordered to be placed in every church in England and was often physically chained to the pulpit for public reading. Its imposing size earned it the name “The Bible of the Largest Volume.”

History of the Great Bible:

The Great Bible holds a unique and monumental place in English history. Commissioned by Thomas Cromwell and overseen by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, it was first printed in 1539 under the authority of King Henry VIII.

After earlier English translations of William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale met resistance or suppression, Henry VIII ordered that an English Bible be made available in every parish church. Cromwell directed that the new edition be printed in the “largest volume,” ensuring it would be suitable for public reading and difficult to conceal.

The Great Bible became the first officially authorized English Bible, and for a time it was the only Bible legally permitted in England. Parishioners gathered around chained copies to hear Scripture read aloud in their own language, a revolutionary development only a few years after Tyndale’s execution.

Although revised by Coverdale, the Great Bible remained heavily indebted to Tyndale’s earlier translation, preserving much of the phrasing that would later influence both…