Myth or Reality?

For decades or even centuries, the King James Bible has been the subject of some persistent myths and misconceptions. Some are a natural result of its name or its cultural and religious importance. Others reflect a traditional pairing between the 1611 King James Bible and the works of Shakespeare—two enduring, world-class literary achievements that were produced in about the same time and place. (The two were more playfully linked in the Rudyard Kipling story shown here.)

Rudyard Kipling. Proofs of Holy Writ. London, 1934. Folger Shakespeare Library.