The King James version of The Holy Bible is a critical addition to the American Literature Library. The Holy Bible is primary to the culture of Western civilization and that primacy runs through its literature. Milton, Shakespeare, Herman Melville; just a few of the thousands of authors whose work contains important biblical imagery and references. Even Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was laden with biblical imagery and delivered with a biblical cadence that was well known to his audience.
Oddly, while working knowledge of The Bible aids the study of literature, it is increasingly expunged from modern curricula - often a casualty of the 'politically correct' movement and a tendency by modern day cultural ‘elites’ to denigrate religion. In light of that development, I am particularly pleased to make the text of the King James Version of The Holy Bible part of the American Literature Library.