Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated out of the Original Tongues.by His majesty's special command.

1st Edition. 876 printed pages. Printed in two columns with frontispiece & 27 engraved full-page illustrations of biblical scenes from drawings by C. B. Birch, A.R.A. . The title bears the words "Printed by Authority"; and on verso is a copy of the licence granted to David Bryce to publish this edition dated 1896, an edition of 25,000 copies. Printed upon the very thinnest Oxford India Paper ever made with a small magnifying glass in the front cover. All edges gilt. Original black endpapers. First ten leaves slightly crinkled on the fore-edges. 28 x 42 mm. Contemporary red morocco, spine with gilt lettering within gilt curlicue pattern decoration and four double ruled panels; covers with empty central oval panel within curlicue pattern decoration and double ruled borders. Spine and corners a trifle rubbed. David Bryce (1845-1923) was one of the world's most prolific and successful makers of miniature books, entering the book trade at the age of 17 when he was made a partner in his father's publishing house, later becaming sole proprietor on his father's death in 1870. Shortly after this, he started producing the miniature books that were to make him famous. David Bryce & Sons of Glasgow was took an active interest around the turn of the 19th century in the latest technological advances in photolithography and electroplates to allow larger volumes to be reduced to the smallest possible size. Their miniature publications have been prized for their clarity and legibility. With Glasgow University Press, Bryce issued the earliest complete miniature Bible in 1896, at the time the smallest complete bible ever printed, a reduced facsimile of the Oxford sextodecimo edition. Many of them were presented to serving soldiers throughout the British Empire, easily carried in the Boer War campaigns at that time & later in the First World War. Bondy, 108. Garbett, 20. Spielmann, 24. Welsh, 559. A scarce miniature marvel of book production. WorldCat lists four UK institutional library holders.…