King James Bible

Amongst many stamps issued in 1999 to mark the forthcoming millennium was a set called The Christians' Tale. Clare Melinsky designed this 26p stamp showing King James I of England with the translation of the Bible that bears his name.

In May 1601 he was still only King James VI of Scotland, when the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland proposed a new translation of the Bible into English. Two years later James acceded to the throne of England, and came to commission the 'King James Version', which was finally published in 1611.

The King James Bible is considered a building block of the modern English language; seen as an influence on the works of Dryden, Milton, Melville, Wordsworth and more. It is one of the most widely-read works ever written in English.

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