Alfred Deakin Prime Ministerial Library   The Geneva Bible
''With most profitable annotations upon all the hard places''
The oldest book within the Special Collections of Deakin
University Library is a fine example of a Geneva Bible,
published in London in 1599. The Geneva Bible was first
published in Geneva in 1560 and its most significant feature is
mentioned in the title page which reads: ''The Bible, that is,
the Holy Scriptures conteined in the Olde and Newe Testament,
translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke, and conferred with
the best translations in divers languages. With most profitable
annotations upon all the hard places, and other things of great
importance ...''  The Geneva Bible recognized that the
Scriptures contained many 'hard places' and in order for people
to engage directly with the word of God, explanatory and
illustrative material needed to be included which would provide
clarification and ensure that misunderstandings did not arise.
Thus it included prefaces and annotations in pl