Small Grants to Libraries: King James Bible

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The NEH Small Grants to Libraries program brings traveling exhibitions and other types of humanities public programming to libraries across the country. “Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible” is a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas (HRC), the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, and the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office. The exhibition is based upon the content of a larger exhibition developed by the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Bodleian Library. The traveling exhibition and tour are funded by a major grant from NEH to the Folger Shakespeare Library. In Montgomery, Alabama, a memorial honors those who died in the civil rights movement. The simple, powerful design of flowing water over black granite by architect Maya Lin was inspired by the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington: “We will not be satisfied until ‘justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.’” King’s words (quoting the biblical prophet Amos), and thus the memorial, drew powerfully on a shared American cultural touchstone: the language of the King James Bible, translated into English 165 years before the United States was born. King’s use of the word “justice” signals that he is quoting the American Standard or Revised Standard Version. Yet since this substitution of “justice” for judgment” is the only difference from the King James Bible translation, the crowd on the Washington Mall heard almost exactly the same words heard in English-speaking churches since 1611. “Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible” 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 year 2011 marks the four hundredth anniversary of the first printing of the King James Bible.

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