Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible

Creator

Christina Torbert, University of Mississippi
Alex Watson, University of Mississippi
Leigh McWhite, University of Mississippi
Stan Whitehorn, University of Mississippi

Preview

Creation Date

5-29-2012

Description

[Exhibit description from the American Library Association:]

The year 2011 marks the four hundredth anniversary of the first printing of the King James Bible. “Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible,” a traveling exhibition for libraries, tells the story of the origins, creation, and impact of the book, including its influence on English and American literature, and its multifaceted impact on culture and society to the present day. The fascinating history and influence of the King James Bible will interest many viewers of the traveling exhibit, resulting in a new understanding of the book’s social, cultural, literary, and religious influence over four centuries.

Three copies of the traveling exhibit will travel to 40 libraries from fall of 2011 through winter of 2013. Selected libraries will receive a $2,500 grant from NEH for attendance at an exhibit planning workshop and other exhibit-related expenses. Participating libraries are expected to present at least two free public programs featuring a lecture or discussion by a qualified scholar on exhibition themes. All showings of the exhibition must be free and open to the public. The exhibition consists of 14 graphic panels printed onto seven double-sided banners and requires approximately 600 square feet of display space.

“Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible” was organized by the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., and the American Library Association Public Programs Office. It is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the Folger Shakespeare Library and The Bodleian Library, Oxford University, to mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. The traveling exhibition was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The library was one of only 40 locations throughout the United States selected to host the exhibition. The successful application benefited from the support of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Department of English and Department of History.

In tandem with the exhibit, Archives and Special Collections displayed some interesting bibles from its own collections and other materials related to religious and biblical influences in Southern history and culture.

Link to ALA's Site Support Notebook

Additional files: 1) video report for Ole Miss News compiled by Mary Stanton, 2) captions for video report, SRT file, 3) excerpts from the Manifold Greatness blog, 4) Programming Events calendar, 5) photo from The Daily Mississippian of Dr. Norman Jones by Jared Burleson (6 June 2012), 6) Oxford Eagle article by Melanie Addington (1 June 2012), 7) Article from The Southern Register (Winter 2012)

Relational Format

image

Accessibility Status

Audio or Video Captioning, Searchable text