Bible that belonged to Taunton's Elizabeth Pole goes up for auction in Belfast

A piece of Taunton’s early Colonial history is about to go up for auction in Northern Ireland.

Elizabeth Pole's copy of the Geneva Bible is being put up for sale in Belfast on Tuesday, Jan. 10, by Bloomfield Auctions. It will be part of the auction house’s first sale of the year.

“Our first sale of the year includes some absolutely superb pieces of antique furniture, really quality fine art, rarely seen on sale in Ireland. One of the highlights of the show is a bible dated 1615, which traveled from Devon with Elizabeth Pole to what is now Massachusetts,” Bloomfield Auctions’ Managing Director Karl Bennett said in a press release.

“Because of the historic importance of the bible, we are expecting considerable interest not just from the UK but from the USA,” Bennett said.

Pole, or Poole, was one of Taunton’s earliest Colonial settlers, and is popularly regarded as the "founder" of Taunton. Although there was no singular founder of the Colonial settlement, she was among the earliest English landowners who came here and she appears today on the city seal with the words “Dux femina facti”: “A woman was the leader of the deed.”

Born in East Devon, England, 1588, Pole came to the “New World” in 1637, when she was 49 years old.

Sailing with her aboard the Speedwell was her copy of the Geneva Bible.

She was “a devout Christian woman and a dedicated Puritan,” writes William Hanna in “A History of Taunton Massachusetts.”

What is the Geneva Bible?

Her edition of the Bible was not only of family significance, and then later of historical significance to Taunton, but was also of a general, greater historic import.

The Geneva Bible was “one of the most historically and culturally significant translations in the world,” Bloomfield Auctions said in the press release.

This version of the Bible predates the King James version by 51 years.

During the reign of Mary I, who was Catholic, a number of Protestant scholars sought refuge in Geneva, Switzerland. They put together this version of the Bible, translated into English, the first full edition of which appeared in 1560. It was printed in England in the latter half of the 1570s. Over 150 editions were issued, with the last probably in 1644.

It was also significant in that, according to Bible Gateway, it was the first “study Bible,” using chapters and verses, and containing extensive marginal notes.

Elizabeth Pole's Geneva Bible

Pole’s edition of the Geneva Bible was printed by Robert Barker, who was printer to King James I and whose father had been Elizabeth I’s printer.

Although he is perhaps best known as the printer of the King James Bible, he and his co-publisher Martin Lucas were responsible for an infamous version of the Bible. They published the “Wicked Bible,” famous for a typo that left out the word “not” in one of the Ten Commandments, so that this version reads, “Thou shalt commit adultery.”

Although the King James Bible was the version used by the Church of England, the Geneva Bible was used by many dissenters, and copies were brought to America with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower.

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Barker printed Pole’s copy of the Geneva Bible in 1615, according to Bloomfield.

“The bible was presented to Sir William Pole [her father], by the Archbishop of Canterbury in recognition of his services to the Church and the poor of Devon,” the auction house said in a press release.

Sir William gave it to his daughter, and she brought it with her when she journeyed across the Atlantic on the Speedwell. The Bible was meant for her brother William as well — They both settled in Taunton.

When Elizabeth Pole died in 1654, the Bible was sent back to her family in England.

How did Elizabeth Pole's Bible end up in Northern Ireland?

“It remained in the possession of the Pole-Carew family until the mid-twentieth century, when it was sold to a collector from Northern Ireland,” Bloomfield said.

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Other items of note in this collection include paintings by English landscape painter Thomas Sidney Cooper.

Bloomfield values the paintings, one oil and one watercolor, as being worth £10,000 to £20,000 and £5,000 to £7,000, respectively. In American money, that would be $12,000 to $24,000 and $6,000 to $8,400.

“The Bible, because of its historic importance, is expected to attract much attention and is valued at between £5,000-10,000,” Bloomfield said.

That would be between $6,000 and $12,000.

The auction begins at 1 p.m. Belfast time on Tuesday, which would be 8 a.m. EST.

Although the auction takes place at Bloomfield’s location in Belfast, buyers can also request a telephone bid.

Will Elizabeth Pole’s Geneva Bible make another Atlantic crossing, almost 400 years after its first?

That all depends on what happens in Belfast on Tuesday.

For more information about Bloomfield Auctions, visit www.bloomfieldauctions.co.uk. To view the collection, visit the auction’s Facebook event page: https://bit.ly/3CvTx93.

Taunton Daily Gazette/Herald News copy editor and digital producer Kristina Fontes can be reached at kfontes@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton: Elizabeth Pole's Geneva Bible up for auction in Belfast