Bible 0
A C S I M I L E
EXTS,
THE FIRST PRINTED
ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT.
TRANSL;?TED BY
W I L L I A M T Y N D A L E .
PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHED FROM THE UNIQUE
FRAGMENT,
NOW
THE
GRENV1LI.E COLLECTION, BRITISH MUSEUM.
l **
.i.
;*-
. . .
-0. . . . .
..-.*.*...
%altzlatt :
5 Q U E E N S Q U A R E , B L O O M S B U R Y .
15 FEBRUARY, 1871.
ALL
RIGHT'
RBSERVED.
2-2x
l3=
EV. A M E S
TRATTEN,
IN PERPETUAL TESTIMONY
OF HIS
THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY
I NSCRIBED.
Evidence connected with the first Two Editions of the English
New Testaments, viz. : in
Quart0 and in
Octave.
antecedent,Career . . . . . . . . 7-18 II. The Printing at Cologne . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-24 III. The Printing at Worms . . . . . . . . . . . .
I. WILLIAM TYNDALE'S
24-27 IV. WILLIAM ROY'S connection with these Editions
. . . . . . . . .
27-36 . . . . . . . 36-47 VI. The
V. The Landing and Distribution in England
Persecution in England . . . . . . . . . . . . 48-64 Typographical and Literary Evidence connected with the present
Fragment. . I. It was
CoJogne, before 1526. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
pririted for TYNDALE by PETER
QUENTEL at
65 II. It is not a portion of the separate Gospel of Matthew, printed previous
to that year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65 III. It is therefore certainly a fragment of the
Quart0 . . . . . . 6 6
Is the
Quart0 a translation of Luther's German version ?
Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7 The prologge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7 Inner Marginal References . . . . . . . . . . . . .
a' 67
Outer Marginal Glosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Photo-Zithograjha? Text.
[The Title Page is wanting in the Grenville Copy.] The prologge [by TYNDALE] . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1-14 The bokes conteyned in the newe Testament. . . . . . . .
15 Woodcut [by
WOKMS] . . . . l . . . . . 16 The Gospel according to St. Matthew :
ANTHON VON
Chapters I.-XXII. 12 [where the Fragment ends] . . . . . . . 17-62
Part of the
7TtZe Page of
Rztpertus' In
Matthaxm :
Printed by PETER QUENTEL at
Col&ne, between March and July 1526 64
BY WILLIAM TYNDALE.
TRANSLATED
" THE
true
semaunt and Martyr of God Who for his notable
paynes and
trawl1 may well be
called the
Apostle of England in this
OUI latter
gge."'-JoHN Fox;
A&s and
Monumenfes, p.
1zz4, Ed.
1570. He "put
Englyshe tongue . . .
forthe
certaine
bcokes of the
olde Testament and the hole
newe Testament into the
whereby
sence
thankes be
geuen to God, the
dare of lyght into the
&iptures, hath and
dailie
more and
more
opelled unto
vs, the
whiche before
was many
yeares closed in
darkenes."-
~~NYMOUS
WRITER :
I&m, p.
514, Ed.
1563,
PREFACE.
ITH reverence, almost with awe, we here offer to the reader
the photographic likeness of a priceless gem in English literature. It is the
fontal edition of the English New Testament, to which Mr. Anderson refers as "the veritable origin of all those millions of English Scriptures now being read in so many different and distant parts of the globe-parts, utterly unknown to our immortal Translator, when he sent the sheets to the press-parts, then untrodden by any Englishman-parts, then undiscovered."
unique Fragment of that first and
1 The first PRINTED portions of any part of the English Scriptures were the Gospels of Matthew and Mark; probably separately printed by
Tyndale, somewhere on the
Continent,2 in 1524-5. While there is abundant evidence of the former existence of these two Gospels? no copies of them whatever are now known to be extant. After these,
m time, came simultaneously his first two editions of the New Testament-one in Quarto, with glosses or marginal notes.; the other in
Octave, without glosses-one of which, perhaps both, were
Quart0 edition, there is only the Fragment, here photo-lithographed, known
m England in
Ma%h 1526. Of the
; of the
Octave, there is one perfect text in the library of the Baptist College at Bristol, and a portion-of another in that of St. Paul's Cathedral, London. These three copies, all denuded of their title pages, arethe earliest impressions of any portion of the printed Bible in the English tongue, now known to be in existence.
: 'Annals of the
English Bible.'
vol. i.,
9. 74,
I&f. 1845.
2 The Rev. R.
Demaus, who is writing a
Li/ of
Tynd&, which is to appear this year, has noticed
that
n3 printer is known to have been at
Hamburgh about these years.
6 PREFACE.
Looking over the present photo-lithographed Text, the reader will readily mark the total absence of all those distinctions which have always been used for the separation of books, and the discernment from each other of their
thenames of TRANSLATOR or EDITOR, of the PRINTER, and the PLACE of printing, together with the DATE of printing. As we now have it, it is an unowned, unavowed fragment of black letter English. There is however an accumulation of evidence, perfectly overwhelming, which assures us, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that this fragment is verily and indeed a part of the
several editions. It wants
iVii~ Testament, ever printed in the English language. It is our duty here to exhibit this evidence.
ear&t edition of the
At the outset, however, we must limit this testimony to these first two editions only. Afterwards came 'thicker and threefold
' into England, editions both of the New Testament and of the Bible. Some of these attempted an accurate authenticity, being produced solely from a love to God and Truth
; others were surreptitiously and often carelessly produced by speculators, for the mere sake of money. All these can only be rightly analysed and adjudged in a thorough and complete
' History of the English Bible, both manuscript and printed.' A work yet to be written ;
thought the way has been made smoother by such pioneers as Rev. J. FORSHALL, Sir F. MADDEN
; Revs. J. LEWIS, H. COTTON, D.C.L., Canon B.
WEST-
COTT; Messrs. LEA WILSON, C. ANDERSON, G.
OFFOR, F. FRY, and others. Such a work would be based upon deep sacred interest. It would record a marvellous story of human heroism and self
deniaI, of untiring effort and
labour. It would catalogue all known editions, all accessible early copies, and point out their various differences. And, with it,
wouId be largely interwoven the political and social history of what may be looked upon as our Biblical Century-that hundred years, roughly speaking, of incessant
Biblical translation and revision, which was crowned with that literary marvel, the present authorized version. What Froude has done for the Court and Political History of our Reformation ; what Macaulay for twenty years later on in our National History ; might, with even a more interesting subject-the most interesting of all literary subjects to many-be done for the Story of the Word of God in English. Is any man so bold, so earnest, so devout, as to attempt this work
?' In adducing this Testimony from original sources, and in eliminating it from the confusion of many conflicting and perplexing statements, it will be convenient to quote each passage, once for all., in its principal place ; though it may occasionally anticipate somewhat
m time, or contain extraneous matter.
II* Add.
1 Such a worker may consult with advantage the manuscript transcripts and
notes of Mr.
Offoor,
MSS.z6,6pe5,inthe British Museum.
WZLLIAM
TYiVBALE'S ANTECEDENT CAREER.
We may group the
evidence-
As IT RELATES TO THE FIRST TWO EDITIONS. As IT VERIFIES THE FRAGMENT, HERE REPRODUCED.
As to the two editions, it may be arranged
under-
Tyndak's antecedent career. II. The printing at
WiZZiam
Cdogne. III.
Tkeprinting at Worms. IV.
wit&. these editions. V .
WiZZiam Roy's connection
The
Z%gZand. VI.
Zanding and distribution in
Tkepersecution in
&zgZana'.
As relates to the existing fragment
onlyVII.
; there is possibly,
Ty$ograpkicaZ and Literary
evia'ence.
We must also premise, that, in judging of moral actions by the use made of money, we have followed the usual estimate, in a matter so hard to determine absolutely; that the multiple of Fifteen approximately represents the increased power of the same standard coin in purchasing the neces-
saries. of life (food, raiment, rent, books, and the like), in the reign of Henry VIII., as compared. with the present day. So that
AIO then, represents
od. now; and so on. W e have inserted the modern equivalent, upon this estimate, within
A150 now
; 16s.
&. then,
LIZ 5s.
1, after every sum mentioned.
WiZZiam
TyndaZe's antecedent Career.
1. Tyndale is believed to have been born either at
STINCHCOMB or NORTH
NIBLEY, in the hundred of Berkeley, in the county of Gloucester, not earlier than 1484-6
;l where his family, during the wars of the Roses, had for a time adopted, probably for the sake of concealment, the
namevariously speltof
BiMins or
Notckyns.
; in the editions of his
T/le authority for the early life of our great Englishman is John Fox
etc., published during his lifetime, viz., I 563, I 5 70, I 5 76, I 583
Actes and
Monumentes,
; and in the account partly extracted therefrom and prefixed to
&it/z, and Barnes, 1573, fol.
Tke
Workes of
TyndaZe,
18211 in
1 Mr. Oade
Roberts, of Painswick
[d.
1561, the estate of
Melksham's Court, Stinchcombe,
CON. Add. MSS.
g&.
Phi.
fol.
Lysons
63-66; in the British Museum. Mr. Roberts from Thomas, Lord
Topog.
Wentworth, was the
Transla-
tar's nephew.
thought
that Richard
Tyndale, who purchased, in