Pierpont Morgan Library/Art Resource, NY

In the dedication page (shown here, compare with photo of title page) from the first edition of the King James translation, the 40 translators expressed their appreciation for the support that came from the “most high and mightie” James. In their introduction (not shown), the translators explained that they saw their work as the culmination of a long tradition of translation: “Truly, good Christian Reader,” they wrote, “we never thought from the beginning that we should need to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one; … but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones one.”