Rare Great She Bible valued at £8,000 to be sold at Shrewsbury books auction
A rare 411-year-old bible valued at up to £8,000 will be going under the hammer at a leading Shropshire fine art auction house next week.
The Great She Bible of 1613, a second folio edition of the King James Bible by royal printer Robert Barker, is one of the potential stars of Halls Fine Art’s books, coins and stamps auction in Shrewsbury on Wednesday, November 6.
The bible has been consigned by its North Wales owner and has been in the same family for several generations. It’s called ‘Great’ because of its size and ‘She’ to distinguish it from some copies of the 1611 edition which have the reading in Ruth 3 verse 15 – ‘…and he went into the citie’ instead of ‘..and she..’.
This auction bible also contains the remarkable error in Matthew 26 verse 36 where ‘Judas’ is used instead of ‘Jesus’, In this copy, the verse reads: ‘Then cometh Judas with them unto a place called Gethsemane’.
Chris Moore, Halls Fine Art’s books specialist, explained: “Early bibles are nearly always defective and this one is missing the general title, which would have been dated 1613, as well as some leaves at the end.”
Another interesting lot, which is likely to attract bidders from America, comprises signed photographs of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), President of the United States from 1933-45 and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), which were presented to noted British violinist Margaret Harrison.
Estimated at £800 to £1,200, the framed photograph of the President shows him seated at his desk with the inscription ‘For Miss Margaret Harrison from Franklin D Roosevelt’. In the bottom right corner, there is a medallion with the words ‘The seal of the President of the United States’.
The framed, signed photograph of First Lady standing at the foot of a flight of stairs carries the inscription ‘To Miss Margaret Harrison with good wishes, Eleanor Roosevelt’.
The frames of both photographs have a brass plaque which states: ‘This wood was part of the White House roof erected about 1817 and removed in 1927′.
Margaret (1899-1995) was the youngest of four sisters, the others being May, Beatrice and Monica. All talented and pioneering female musicians, the Harrisons were leading figures in the British classical music scene during the first half of the 20th century.
The photographs were presented to Margaret during one of her tours of the United States with her sister Beatrice, a cellist. Their circle of friends included famous composers, artists, writers politicians and even royalty, notably Princess Victoria, daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria.
Margaret was for 50 years a leading breeder of Irish Wolfhounds and donated one of her dogs to the Irish Guards whenever they needed a new regimental mascot.
The autographs section includes the signatures of Jimi Hendrix (1942-‘70) and his band, which is expected to fetch up to £300. The famous guitarist signed ‘Best of success Jimi Hendrix’ on a piece of paper pasted to the half title of Sharon Lawrence’s book ‘Jimi Hendrix: the Man, the Music, the Truth’ published in 2005.
The paper is also signed by Mitch Mitchell (1946-2008) drums, Noel Redding (1945-2003) bass and road manager Neville Chesters (1945-2023). In addition, the book itself is signed on the front free endpaper by Mitchell and Billy Cox, bassist and only surviving musician who played regularly with Hendrix.
Also valued at up to £300 is an autograph of King Louis XIII of France on a letter, dated August 1628, to Captain Laugiron concerning military matters. Louis XIII (1601-43) was King of France from 1610-’43.
The auction also includes a full set of Collins New Naturalist series, four lots of early Wisden Cricketers’ Almanacks and several lots of Shropshire books.
