After Whitgift became Archbishop of Canterbury no more Geneva Bibles ' of the
largest volume ' were printed for use in Church, and large folio editions of the
Bishops' Bible were produced for this purpose as they were needed. But the Arch-
bishop either could not or would not insist on editions of the Bishops' version being
printed in sizes suitable for private use, and after a large and a small quarto in 1584
no complete Bishops' Bible in any size smaller than folio was printed. In 1588
Christopher Barker obtained a renewal of his patent as Queen's Printer with leave to
exercise the office by deputy. Geneva Bibles and New Testaments for private ownership
continued to be poured out by his Deputies, as previously by himself, in various
convenient sizes, from small folio to 32mo, so that copies of these ' Breeches Bibles '
as they are popularly called, from their reading in Genesis iii. 7, are among the
commonest of old books. In or before 1595 a single Deputy began issuing octave
New Testaments of the Bishops' version. Save for this concession, it would appear
that only Bishops' Bibles could be bought for use in Church and only Geneva Bibles
for private use. Even in Elizabeth's reign this anomalous division of the field
inspired projects for a new translation, and at the informal conference at Hampton
Court, held by James I, in January, 1604, to hear the views of the leaders of the
Puritan party and the comments of the Bishops, a revision of the Bible was proposed
by Dr. Reynolds, President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, chief spokesman for the
Puritans, accepted by the Bishops and taken up with enthusiasm by the King. On
the spur of the moment the latter sketched out a plan for ' one uniforme translation,
to bee done by the best learned in both the Universities, after them to be reviewed
by the Bishops and the chiefe learned of the Church ; from them to bee presented to
the Privie Councell, and lastly to bee ratified by his Royall authoritie, and so the
whole Church to be bound unto it and none other '. 