King James Bible (Authorized Version) printed edition

Timeline

1. 1604–1611London, Oxford, Cambridge · EnglandAt the 1604 Hampton Court Conference, James I approved a new English Bible to replace the controversial Geneva Bible (1560) and Bishops' Bible (1568). About 47 scholars from the Church of England, Puritan, and Royalist camps divided into six groups working at Westminster, Oxford, and Cambridge, consulting Hebrew and Greek originals and earlier translations by Tyndale, Coverdale, and others, completing the work after seven years. The 1611 first edition was printed in folio by London royal printer Robert Barker.
2. 1611–1620Parishes throughout England · EnglandAfter the 1611 first edition, the King James Bible was printed in folio (pulpit reading copy) and octavo (personal reading copy) formats. The first printing contained errors (such as the 1611 so-called 'Wicked Bible'), later corrected through multiple revisions. Although Puritans initially still preferred the Geneva Bible, under James I's policies of enforced promotion the King James Bible gradually replaced the Bishops' Bible as the standard liturgical text of the Church of England and began to circulate in Scotland, Ireland, and elsewhere.
3. 1620–1630Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony · New EnglandIn 1620 Puritan migrants aboard the Mayflower brought the King James Bible to North America, founding the Plymouth Colony, where the Bible became the spiritual core of colonial religious life, law, and morals. In 1630 John Winthrop led a larger wave of Puritan migrants (about 700) to Massachusetts Bay, establishing settlements such as Boston and bringing large numbers of printed King James Bibles. Between 1621 and 1630 the King James Bible became in New England the material vehicle of education, preaching, and community cohesion, profoundly shaping the religious character of American culture.