Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible

The little-known story of one of the most widely read and printed books in the history of the English language is on display at the University of Wyoming’s Coe Library.

The traveling exhibition, “Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible,” features an extraordinary selection of rare books, manuscripts and works of art from several libraries’ extensive collections that share the story of the King James Bible in richly personal terms, from its origins and creation to its wide-ranging cultural, social and literary impacts.

The exhibition, which is on loan from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., will be at Coe Library through Oct. 31.

A series of lectures by religious experts and UW faculty members will be offered as part of the traveling exhibition:

• Wednesday, Oct. 10, 4:10 p.m.—Paul V.M. Flesher, UW Religious Studies Program director, “The World’s First Scripture Translations: The Targums and the Septuagint,”  Coe Library Room 506.
• Monday, Oct. 15, 7 p.m.—Philip L. Barlow, Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture, Utah State University, “The Role the KJB Played in Mormonism and the Settlement of the West,” Wyoming Union Yellowstone Ballroom.
• Thursday, Oct. 18, 4:10 p.m.—Kris Utterback, UW Religious Studies Program professor, “Jerome’s Vulgate Translation: The First People’s Bible,” American Heritage Center Wyoming Stock Growers Room.
• Monday, Oct. 22, 4:10 p.m.—Susan Frye, UW Department of English professor, on “Seventeenth-Century Needleworkers and the King James Bible,” Coe Library Room 506.
• Wednesday, Oct 24, 4:10 p.m.—Anne Marie Lane, UW Toppan Rare Books Library curator, “Illustrated Hieroglyphic Bibles for Children in the Late 18th Century,” Coe Library Room 506.

The film, “Fires of Faith: The Coming Forth of the King James Bible,” will be shown at the Albany County Public Library at 2 p.m. Oct. 14, 21 and 28.

For more information, go to the UW Libraries homepage at http://www-lib.uwyo.edu/ and click on the Manifold Greatness link under “Dusty Shelves.”

Additional Resources

National Exhibition and Lecutre Series Celebrates the King James Bible's 400th Birthday

UW Libraries: Exhibits

King James Bible: Myths and Realities