The King James Bible - What did the original 1611 version look like?

 I was recently sent this by a correspondent.

Now anyone reading that would think that the King James version of 1611 was quite readable, but what is in fact there is a later revision of typeface and spelling. What is listed above is NOT the 1611 version! In fact, the changes in the 1611 also reflect how English has changed!

Here is the original:

Matters of note:

Tthe original typeface and spelling of the King James version was very different. It has been modernised over time! Note the spellings -  psalme ( extra e and the old "s" in that typeface reads like an "f"). Other spellings - shepheard, downe, greene, mee, soule, walke, shado, staffe, cuppe etc.

The original 1611 King James Bible was printed in a Gothic blackletter typeface, also known as black-letter or Gothic. This style was common for printed books in England at the time.

The f-like s (like an f without the crossbar) was a tall variant used at the start or in the middle of a word, which the modern s was used at the end or after a tall s. It is hard for us to read easily.

The King James Bible's typeface and spellings were modernized over time, with the most significant changes occurring in the 18th century. While the original 1611 edition used blackletter typeface and spellings common to that era, later editions, particularly the 1769 Oxford edition, standardized the spelling and punctuation, and switched to a more modern roman typeface.

Further modernization, including the use of quotation marks and more thorough spelling updates, was undertaken by Cambridge University Press in 2005.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

1611 Original Edition:

The original King James Bible, published in 1611, featured blackletter (also known as Gothic or Old English) typeface and spellings that reflected the language of the early 17th century.

18th Century Standardization:

In 1769, Benjamin Blayney at the University of Oxford produced an edition of the KJV that made significant changes. This included a shift to a more modern roman typeface, more consistent punctuation, and updated spelling, making it closer to 18th-century standards.

Further Modernization in 2005:

Cambridge University Press released the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible in 2005, which further modernized the spelling to be more consistent with contemporary English and introduced quotation marks.