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In our collection at the Chancellor Robert R Livingston Library of Grand Lodge we have a Geneva Bible from 1602.
This version of the Bible is known as the Geneva Bible, the Breeches Bible and as the Pilgrims Bible. It was first printed in Geneva in 1560 and it uses the term ‘breeches’ to describe the coverings that Adam and Eve made for themselves. It was the Bible most frequently used by the Pilgrims to America.
The Geneva Bible holds immense historical importance as the preferred Bible of English Protestants during the 16th and early 17th centuries, including the Pilgrims and Shakespeare. Renowned for its extensive marginal notes, which helped readers understand the scriptures, it was the first English Bible to be fully divided into verses. Published between 1560 and 1644, this translation influenced many of the English Reformation’s religious and political ideas, making it a cornerstone of English Protestantism.