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The 1611 King James “The Great He Bible.”

Fewer than 200 original printings of the 1611 are known to exist (and out of that number, fewer than 50 are complete “He” variants.

IMG_0060

FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHORIZED VERSION

Arguably the most important book ever published in English.

KNOWN AS THE GREAT “HE” BIBLE, with the reading in Ruth III:15:

“he [referring to Boaz] measured sixe measures of barley and laide it on her; and he went into the citie.”

The second pronoun “he” actually refers to Ruth, so it should read “and she went into the citie.” Because of this error, this first edition is often referred to as “The Great He Bible.”  (after the Hebrew text), rather than “and she went” (after the Latin Vulgate) in the second edition.IMG_0067 Also with all other first edition readings.

IMG_0061

210J   KJV  

       The Holy Bible, : conteyning the Old Testament, and the New: newly translated out of the originall tongues: & with the former translations diligently compared and reuised, by His Maiesties speciall com[m]andement. Appointed to be read in churches.

Imprinted at London : By Robert Barker, printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie. 1611                $220,000

Large Folio,  15 1/4 x 10 1/2 inches :  732 leaves  A6 B2 C6 D4 A-5C6; A-2A6}.  complete
see below:
 
descriptive positioning and condition of the signatures.  
IMG_0059 A-C⁶ D²; (O.T. and Apocrypha) A-Ccccc⁶; (N.T.) A-Aa⁶unpaginated or foliated. The General title mounted and with c. 18 small holes, mostly from old attempts to ink out a prior ownership inscription; the next several leaves have rust-like marks resulting from the damage to the title just mentioned; A2 has a closed tear; the double page map is a facsimile; the blank outer corner is torn from B1 (Mt 10) & there is a closed tear to B2; a strip is torn from the blank outer margin of X6 (Hebrews 12/3); a small piece is torn from the top of Aa5, removing most of a word of text and a word of the headline, recto & verso; Aa6 (the final leaf) was missing and is replaced in facsimile; the final leaves of the NT are increasingly worn and lack the crisp, clean nature of the bulk of the text.  Generally the text is crisp and clean, BUT at both front and rear the top margin is shaved, especially in Exodus & Numbers & to the beginning of Deuteronomy (and again at the end of the NT) touching the rule and occasionally the top of the headlines (elsewhere the top margins are small); there is a dampstain at the top from mid-I Kings, retreating to the inner corner in the Prophets, but persisting there to the Gospels: there is a bit more general staining at the end of the NT; the bottom outer corner is a bit creased and dog-eared pretty much throughout, evidencing the use such a Bible received in its early days as a lectern Bible; the outer edge of the leaves is slightly abraded at a few points.
Binding: This copy is bound in full modern calf in an appropriate style, as you can see in the following Images

 

 

IMG_0078

Called “the only literary masterpiece ever to have been produced by a committee,” the King James Bible was the work of nearly 50 translators, organized in 6 groups. G.M. “The editors who passed the book through the press were Miles Smith … and Thomas Bilson …”, see Herbert.

IMG_0076

Trevelyan stated “for every Englishman who had read Sidney or Spenser, or had seen Shakespeare acted at the Globe, there were hundreds who had read or heard the Bible with close attention as the words of God. The effect of the continual domestic study of the book upon the national character, imagination and intelligence for nearly three centuries to come, was greater than that of any literary movement in our annals, or any religious movement since the coming of St. Augustine.” Thomas Babington Macaulay described it as “a book, which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.”

To prove that point I have made a list of just a few of the phrases which seem inseparable from English.

IMG_0064

Bite the Dust from Psalms 72:9, “They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.” (KJV)

The Blind Leading the Blind Matthew 15:13-14, “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”

Broken Heart from Psalms 34:18, ” The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (KJV).

Can a Leopard Change his spots?from Jeremiah 13:23 (KJV), “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.”

IMG_0080Cast the First Stone from John 8:7, “And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”.

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry from Ecclesiastes 8:15, “because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.”

Eye for Eye, Tooth for tooth from Matthew 5:38, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”


IMG_0062Fall From Grace from Galatians 5:4, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”

Fly in the Ointment from Ecclesiastes 10:1 (KJV), “”Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.””

For Everything there is a Season from Ecclesiastes 3.  Ecclesiastes 3 is also the IMG_0072motivation for the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by the Byrds.

Forbidden Fruit from Genesis 3:3 when Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”

Go the extra mile from Matthew 5:41 that says, “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain” (KJV).

Good Samaritan from Luke 10:30-37, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword from Matthew 26:52, “Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”IMG_0069

How the Mighty have Fallen from 1 Samuel 1:19, “The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!”

Let there Be Light from Genesis 1’s creation account.

Nothing but skin and bones from Job 19:19-20, “All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. I am nothing but skin and bones.”

IMG_0068The Powers that Be from Romans 13:11 (KJV), “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Pride comes before a fall from Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (KJV). IMG_0073

Put words in one’s mouth from 2 Samuel 14:3, “And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.”

Rise and shine is from Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.”

The Root of the Matter from Job 19:28 (KJV), “But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the Root of the matter is found in me?”

Scapegoat from the Old Testament Law (Leviticus 16:9-10 specifically) where a goat is chosen by lot to be sent into the desert to make atonement for sin.

See eye to eye from Isaiah 52:8 (KJV), “Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.”

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Sign of the times from Matthew 16:3 (KJV), “And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

Strait and Narrow from Matthew 7:14, “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Twinkling of an Eye from 1 Corinthians 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

There’s nothing new under the sun from the book of Ecclesiastes.  Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJV)  says, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

Wash your hands of the matter from Matthew 27:24 (KJV), “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.”

Weighed in the balance from Job 31:6, “Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.”

Wit’s End from Psalm 107:27 (KJV), “They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.”  And the Psalm does not refer to the Whit’s End with the Imagination Station.

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing from Matthew 7:15 (KJV), “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

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Carl H. Pforzheimer Library,; 61; English Short Title Catalogue,; S122347; Pollard, A.W. Short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English books printed abroad, 1475-1640 (2nd ed.),; 2216; Herbert, A.S. Historical catalogue of printed editions of the English Bible, 1525-1961,; 309 Printing and the Mind of Man 114. ;Rumball-Petre, Rare Bibles, 122;

 

Two Formats of KJV’s

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Scholastic Philosophy

read this one first

Law, Politics, and Philosophy

 

Introduction

Putting aside its religious and salvific significance to the faithful, and to those who once lived and died for it, Christianity has played a very important role for the longevity of human knowledge and culture. During the period called the Dark Ages, following the collapse of the once glorious Greco-Roman civilization, the entire western civilization entered a state of economic turmoil and social anarchy. As implied by the term “Dark Ages,” there was both a bankruptcy in human knowledge and culture. The brutish barbarians sacked into ruins the proud Roman states and colonies, including their important cultural sites, and destroyed almost all the works of the great Greek and Roman thinkers, as they were lost and burned into ashes. The ignoble vandals ravishingly placed human civilization at the verge of destruction.

A sudden spark of light was initiated by the Christian Carolingian Period. This period, spearheaded by Charlemagne…

View original post 2,714 more words

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ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY

Worth a read! a nice introduction

Law, Politics, and Philosophy

I. Introduction

Most people look at Christianity only as an instrument for spiritual salvation. But little do they know, Christianity has been an instrument for the longevity of human knowledge and culture. In the period called the Dark Ages, following the collapse of the once glorious Greco-Roman civilization, the entire western civilization entered a state of anarchy. As implied by the term “Dark Ages,” there was both a bankruptcy in human knowledge and human spirituality. The brutish barbarians sacked into ruins the proud Roman states and colonies, including their important cultural sites. As a result almost all the works of the great Greek and Roman thinkers were lost and burned into ashes. The ignoble vandals ravishingly put human civilization at the verge of annihilation.

A sudden spark of light was initiated by the Christian Carolingian Period. This period, spearheaded by Charlemagne, aimed at reviving education and religion. The so-called Medieval…

View original post 2,713 more words

0

The 1611 King James “The Great He Bible.”

Fewer than 200 original printings of the 1611 are known to exist (and out of that number, fewer than 50 are complete “He” variants.

IMG_0060

FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHORIZED VERSION

Arguably the most important book ever published in English.

KNOWN AS THE GREAT “HE” BIBLE, with the reading in Ruth III:15:

“he [referring to Boaz] measured sixe measures of barley and laide it on her; and he went into the citie.”

The second pronoun “he” actually refers to Ruth, so it should read “and she went into the citie.” Because of this error, this first edition is often referred to as “The Great He Bible.”  (after the Hebrew text), rather than “and she went” (after the Latin Vulgate) in the second edition.IMG_0067 Also with all other first edition readings.

IMG_0061

210J   KJV  

       The Holy Bible, : conteyning the Old Testament, and the New: newly translated out of the originall tongues: & with the former translations diligently compared and reuised, by His Maiesties speciall com[m]andement. Appointed to be read in churches.

Imprinted at London : By Robert Barker, printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie. 1611                $220,000

Large Folio,  15 1/4 x 10 1/2 inches :  732 leaves  A6 B2 C6 D4 A-5C6; A-2A6}.  complete
see below:
 
descriptive positioning and condition of the signatures.  
IMG_0059 A-C⁶ D²; (O.T. and Apocrypha) A-Ccccc⁶; (N.T.) A-Aa⁶unpaginated or foliated. The General title mounted and with c. 18 small holes, mostly from old attempts to ink out a prior ownership inscription; the next several leaves have rust-like marks resulting from the damage to the title just mentioned; A2 has a closed tear; the double page map is a facsimile; the blank outer corner is torn from B1 (Mt 10) & there is a closed tear to B2; a strip is torn from the blank outer margin of X6 (Hebrews 12/3); a small piece is torn from the top of Aa5, removing most of a word of text and a word of the headline, recto & verso; Aa6 (the final leaf) was missing and is replaced in facsimile; the final leaves of the NT are increasingly worn and lack the crisp, clean nature of the bulk of the text.  Generally the text is crisp and clean, BUT at both front and rear the top margin is shaved, especially in Exodus & Numbers & to the beginning of Deuteronomy (and again at the end of the NT) touching the rule and occasionally the top of the headlines (elsewhere the top margins are small); there is a dampstain at the top from mid-I Kings, retreating to the inner corner in the Prophets, but persisting there to the Gospels: there is a bit more general staining at the end of the NT; the bottom outer corner is a bit creased and dog-eared pretty much throughout, evidencing the use such a Bible received in its early days as a lectern Bible; the outer edge of the leaves is slightly abraded at a few points.
Binding: This copy is bound in full modern calf in an appropriate style, as you can see in the following Images

 

 

IMG_0078

Called “the only literary masterpiece ever to have been produced by a committee,” the King James Bible was the work of nearly 50 translators, organized in 6 groups. G.M. “The editors who passed the book through the press were Miles Smith … and Thomas Bilson …”, see Herbert.

IMG_0076

Trevelyan stated “for every Englishman who had read Sidney or Spenser, or had seen Shakespeare acted at the Globe, there were hundreds who had read or heard the Bible with close attention as the words of God. The effect of the continual domestic study of the book upon the national character, imagination and intelligence for nearly three centuries to come, was greater than that of any literary movement in our annals, or any religious movement since the coming of St. Augustine.” Thomas Babington Macaulay described it as “a book, which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.”

To prove that point I have made a list of just a few of the phrases which seem inseparable from English.

IMG_0064

Bite the Dust from Psalms 72:9, “They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.” (KJV)

The Blind Leading the Blind Matthew 15:13-14, “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”

Broken Heart from Psalms 34:18, ” The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (KJV).

Can a Leopard Change his spots?from Jeremiah 13:23 (KJV), “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.”

IMG_0080Cast the First Stone from John 8:7, “And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”.

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry from Ecclesiastes 8:15, “because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.”

Eye for Eye, Tooth for tooth from Matthew 5:38, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”


IMG_0062Fall From Grace from Galatians 5:4, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”

Fly in the Ointment from Ecclesiastes 10:1 (KJV), “”Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.””

For Everything there is a Season from Ecclesiastes 3.  Ecclesiastes 3 is also the IMG_0072motivation for the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by the Byrds.

Forbidden Fruit from Genesis 3:3 when Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”

Go the extra mile from Matthew 5:41 that says, “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain” (KJV).

Good Samaritan from Luke 10:30-37, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword from Matthew 26:52, “Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”IMG_0069

How the Mighty have Fallen from 1 Samuel 1:19, “The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!”

Let there Be Light from Genesis 1’s creation account.

Nothing but skin and bones from Job 19:19-20, “All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. I am nothing but skin and bones.”

IMG_0068The Powers that Be from Romans 13:11 (KJV), “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Pride comes before a fall from Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (KJV). IMG_0073

Put words in one’s mouth from 2 Samuel 14:3, “And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.”

Rise and shine is from Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.”

The Root of the Matter from Job 19:28 (KJV), “But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the Root of the matter is found in me?”

Scapegoat from the Old Testament Law (Leviticus 16:9-10 specifically) where a goat is chosen by lot to be sent into the desert to make atonement for sin.

See eye to eye from Isaiah 52:8 (KJV), “Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.”

IMG_0066

Sign of the times from Matthew 16:3 (KJV), “And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

Strait and Narrow from Matthew 7:14, “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Twinkling of an Eye from 1 Corinthians 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

There’s nothing new under the sun from the book of Ecclesiastes.  Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJV)  says, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

Wash your hands of the matter from Matthew 27:24 (KJV), “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.”

Weighed in the balance from Job 31:6, “Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.”

Wit’s End from Psalm 107:27 (KJV), “They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.”  And the Psalm does not refer to the Whit’s End with the Imagination Station.

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing from Matthew 7:15 (KJV), “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

IMG_0079

Carl H. Pforzheimer Library,; 61; English Short Title Catalogue,; S122347; Pollard, A.W. Short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English books printed abroad, 1475-1640 (2nd ed.),; 2216; Herbert, A.S. Historical catalogue of printed editions of the English Bible, 1525-1961,; 309 Printing and the Mind of Man 114. ;Rumball-Petre, Rare Bibles, 122;

 

Two Formats of KJV’s

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TWO ERASMUS BIBLES 1548 & 1560.

186J Desiderius Erasmus von Rotterdam(1466-1536)

The First Tome (and second) or Volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus  upon the newe testament.     

Enpriented at London in fletestete at the signe of the sunne by Edwarde Whitchurche, the last daie of Januarie, 1548.     $38,000

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TwoFolio volumes  12 1/2X 7 1/2  & 11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches. First edition. Vol I: ( )6, (:)6, A-Q6, R4, (:)6, Aa6, B-O6 (leaf O6 blank and present), ¶6, (::)6, a-z6, aa-dd6, ee8, A-R6, S8, A-N6, O4 [lacking final leaf O4]. 565 leaves. “O4 is missing in all the copies examined, but it may be assumed that the recto is blank and the verso contains device McKerrow 107.” –Devereux. This two are bound in beautiful original boards heavy blind. stamped in tool and panel tools. They do not match,see note below.

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IMG_0129IMG_0127

Vol II: †6, ††6, ¶4, A-G6, H2, Aa-Ff6, Gg8, Hh-Kk6, Ll4, aa-cc6, dd4 (dd4 blank and present), ¶6 (¶6 blank and present), AA-BB6, CC4 (CC4 blank and present), AAa6, BBb4, aaaa6, bbbb4, AAAa-BBBb6 (BBBb6 blank and present), AAAA-EEEE6, FFFF4, AAAAa-DDDDd6, EEEEe4 (EEEEe4 blank and present), *2, ¶-¶H6, ¶I8, ¶¶A-¶¶F6, ¶¶G4. 362 leaves

   Not 1548/9; copies were bought before the autumn of 1548”-Devereux). The “second Tome” was not begun until the autumn of 1548 and did not appear in print until 1549, with the date of August 16. The two publications are not uniform in format, the second volume having been printed on smaller paper and set with fewer lines of type per page. Furthermore, Edward VI’s royal injunctions of July 1547 only specified the purchase of the first volume (see Craig, p. 316) with the result that many parishes never bought the companion volume. Thus, few“sets” exist as such.The English Paraphrases:

“Erasmus’ ‘Paraphrases in Novum Testamentum’ were written between 1517 and as extended popular commentaries on the whole ‘New Testament

except ‘Revelation’, a result of his work on the Scriptural text and the ‘Annotations’. Paraphrasing was, as C. R. Thompson has remarked, ‘a literary, hermeneutic, and pedagogical method admirably suited to Erasmus’ purpose, which was not that of replacing the Gospels but of making them easier to read and more fruitful.’ Bishop Stephen Gardiner was to object to the form, which he argued allowed Erasmus to write as Christ and the Apostles rather than simply as commentator, but it is clear that Erasmus had based his work on long study, the Fathers and the ‘consensus ecclesiae.’ Despite Gardiner’s complaint, the ‘Paraphrases’ were successful and highly popular.
“The impact of Erasmus’ ‘Paraphrases’ was enormous. Like his edition of the Greek New Testament and his ‘Annotations’, the ‘Paraphrases’ made the Bible increasingly more accessible to ordinary people. In his dedicatory epistle to the paraphrase on Mark, Erasmus expresses satisfaction at seeing ‘Christian literature, and especially the New Testament, studied so eagerly by everyone, even laymen in private station, that professional experts in the Scriptures are quite often worsted by them in debate.’”(Erika Rummel)

Their impact was particularly strong in England, where Edward VI ordered that an English translation of Erasmus’ work, undertaken at the behest of Catherine Parr in 1543, should be made available in all churches “with a further hope of having them printed and circulated as widely as possible as an aid to Bible study.” (Devereux)

“On 12 July 1543, King Henry VIII married Catherine Parr, a lady well known for her humanist and religious interests. Fairly soon afterwards she began to use her position to get the whole of the ‘Paraphrases’ translated into English, with a further hope of having them printed and circulated as widely as possible as an aid to Bible study. By the autumn of 1545 the translations of the Gospels and Acts were in her hands, that of John having been done for her by Princess Mary, with the help of her chaplain Francis Malet, Mark by Thomas Key, and Luke by Nicholas Udall…who became the general editor of the work…

“[Edward Vi’s injunctions of July 1547] included the order that all parish churches must provide copies of the Great Bible and ‘the Paraphrasis of Eramsus also in Englishe upon the Gospelles’, to be set up in churches where all parishioners could ‘resorte unto the same, and reade the same.’ The books were to be paid for half by the parish and half by the parson or holder of the advowson, and were to be bought within a year of the ensuing visitation. Clergy under the degree of BD were also supposed to have copies of the New Testament and Paraphrases and ‘diligently study the same, conferring the one with the other.’

“In the autumn of 1548 Whitchurch himself brought together translators to complete the ‘Paraphrases’. His new patroness, the Duchess of Somerset, could not give as much support as the Queen had, and Udall moved on to other fields, leaving the post of general editor to Myles Coverdale, who had worked with Whitchurch ad Grafton on the Great bible. The translation became more openly Protestant, without the restraints of Queen Catherine or the old king, and added to Erasmus both the paraphrase of Revelation by the Swiss reformer Leo Jud and Tyndale’s ‘Prologue to Romans’, which was itself mainly a translation of Luther’s. Coverdale himself did much of the translation, at least Romans, Corinthians and Galatians. Whitchurch’s friend John Old, of whom little is known, did Ephesians, Philippians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Philemon, and the Canonical Epistles, for which the duchess got him a Warwickshire benefice. He also sought out Leonard Cox, to get him to revise his earlier version of Titus.

“The ‘First tome’ appeared with the date 31 January 1548, a date retained for issues and editions until the revised edition of 1551… It is possible that the date was not the actual day on which printing was completed, but was chosen as being a half-way between the date of Edward VI’s injunctions and 31 July 1548, by which time the first churches visited would have been obliged to procure copies…. Work began on the ‘Second tome’ began in the autumn of 1548 and was fairly complete by July 1549.
“Objections to the book that Erasmus had written ‘aboue 26 yeres a goo, when his penne was wanton’ were raised by Bishop Gardiner, who wrote a series of letters against the ‘Paraphrases’ from prison to the Council. He argued that they were not only wrong and misleading, but undermined the foundations of the English Church. […] The book, he claimed, stated that kings ruled not by ‘debt or ryght, but mutuall charitie: which is a meruelous matter,’ defended Purgatory and the invocation of saints, called the Eucharist a symbol, and allowed remarriage after divorce for adultery. He felt that the translator, whose name he did not know, was ‘ignoraunt in Latten and Englishe, a man farre vnmete to meddle with such a matter, and not without malice.’” (Devereux)
STC 2854; Devereux’s first checklist C67.5; Devereux 26.4.5; II. STC 2866; Devereux’s first checklist C68.1; Devereux 26.5.1. See also: Darlow and Moule 73; Bagster, “History of the English Bible”, Ch. VII.; E.J. Devereux, “English Translations of Erasmus 1522-1557”. For the bindings: Oldham, “English Blind-stamped Bindings”, p. 50 and Plate XLVI (#753 HE c (1)).

 

))O((

 

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193J [Biblia. Testamentum Novum ]

Testamenti Aeditio postrema. per D. Erasmum, cum Scripturae concordantiis. Omnia picturis et novo indice illustrata. Acc- esserunt nova capitum argumenta, elegiaco carmine, per Rodolphum Gualterum.         

Francofurti ad Menum; Vvigandum Han,1560         $5,000

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Octavo, 61/4 x 4 inches  †8,*8,A-Z8,Aa-Bb8. Bound in a Beautiful Pigskin binding over wooden boards with blind stamped bible scenes, one clasp present and working  the other has perished

 

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In the desire to spread “the Wisdom of Christ” and make it more available to all those that were literate, thus initially published in 1516 together with the Greek Testament, cf. Darlow & Moule, note after no. 6096. He said that he had found more than Six-Thousand errors in the Vulgate  New Testament. He felt that his translation was closer ,clearer , more emotionally charged as well as more syntaticly correct, and thus Purer.

 

This  Bible begins with a Perpetual calendar beginning in 1551 to 1579.The preliminary leaves include Pope Leo X’sletter to Erasmus; “Erasmus … pio lectori”; and “Des. Erasmi … Paraclesis … ad Christianæ philosophiæ stadium “The N.T. text and the “argumenta” of Gualtherus are in italic type, other editorial matter in roman type. The text is not divided into verses.  Eusebian canons. Lives of Mark, Luke and John precede their Gospels; Erasmus’ “argumenta” precede the epistles In the margins, parallel references, etc.; references to the Eusebian canons in the Gospels. including  an index of the woodcut  illustrations.

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The Addition of commentary of Rodolph Gwalter (1519-1586) is very interesting. Gwalter was a point person for the Swiss reformation, he was in close contact with Heinrich Bullinger during his youth . For Bullinger, he was a valuable collaborator in the management of the Zurich church and in assisting with his widely dispersed correspondence network By 1541 he returned to Zurich where he received the pastorate of St. Peter’s Church to replace Leo Jud. He married Huldrych Zwingli’s daughter Regula (1524–1565). As Zwingli’s son-in-law, he sought to preserve the great reformer’s heritage and remained true to his theological orientation. Gwalther’s Latin translations of Zwingli’s works helped disseminate his thought in the Romance language world.

With Zwingli, Bullinger, Wolfgang Musculus, and Thomas Erastus, Gwalther was a prime advocate of the Swiss German single-sphere model of church-state relations, and was a significant influence on the evolution of a statist model of church organization within the Church of England. (see, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation, vol 2, 203)

There are 12woodcut illustrations, each for a month calendar.

Plus another One-hundred 1/3 page woodcuts describing the Biblical passage surrounding.

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The combination of the Re-translation,  the commentary of a Swiss Reformer and the Woodcuts, and the ‘pocket size’ makes this a perfect Bible for  personal and protestant devotion.

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VD 16 B 4294.  {quite rare, no North American copy listed)

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George Joye (1495-1553) ! too many Ceremonies

189J      Anonymous; attributed to George Joye (1495-1553)

 

Our sauiour Iesus Christ hath not ouercharged his chirche with many ceremonies.       

 

[At Zijrik] [i.e. Antwerp : Widow of C. Ruremond?], M.D.XLIII. in Febru. [1543]                                  $11,000

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Octavo,   First and only edition A-B8 C6 . this copy is nicely bound in modern red Morocco. IMG_0113

Like Coverdale, Joye was probably also employed in the printing business as proofreader, translator, and author of religious books.

His first, now lost publication was a Primer, the first Protestant devotional book ever published in English Based on contemporary accounts, it probably contained the translation of the seven penitential psalms, “Mattens and Euensong” with the Commendations (Psalm 119). The book was criticized by Thomas More for omitting the Litany of the Saints, the hymns and anthems to the Blessed Virgin, and the Dirge.

After the publication of his Primer, containing perhaps as many as thirty psalms, Joye set out to translate the rest of the Book of Psalms, which appeared in 1530. Joye used Martin Bucer‘s recent Latin translation of the Hebrew text, which was published under the pseudonym Aretius Felinus. In the same year Joye produced a revised version of his earlier primer with the title Ortolus animae. The garden of the soule.

In 1531, Joye’s translation of the Book of Isaiah appeared, which seems to have been intended as a twin volume to Tyndale‘s translation of the Book of Jonah. In 1531 Joye also published a defence countering the charges of heresy put against him by Ashwell in 1527.

By 1532 he married. Butterworth and Chester suggest that Joye published the translations of the Book of Proverbs and of Ecclesiastes in 1533 in Antwerp, of which only later London reprints have survived It is now also believed that Joye is the author of an anonymously published treatise entitled The Souper of the Lorde, which was earlier attributed to Tyndale. In this Joye described his position on the Eucharist, based on that of Zwingli.

Joye’s translation of the Book of Jeremiah, of Lamentations, and a new translation of the Psalter followed (this time from the Latin Psalter of Zwingli, whose Latin commentaries and translations had also served as source texts for Joye’s translations of the other books of the Old Testament). All these translations were the first of these books ever printed in English.

In 1534 Joye undertook the proofreading of Tyndale‘s New Testament edition that had been reprinted three times without any English-speaking corrector by the Flemish printing firm of the family Van Ruremund. Joye, however, not only corrected the typographical errors, but he also changed the term “resurreccion” as found in Tyndale’s text by expressions such as “the lyfe after this” in some twenty occurrences of the word. Joye believed, as he later explained, that the original term in the Bible in those places did not refer to the bodily resurrection but to the intermediate stateof the soul At the same time, Joye retained Tyndale’s original formulation at the some 150 other occurrences of the word, where he agreed with Tyndale that the term did refer to the bodily resurrection. Tyndale reacted by bringing out his own revised version of his New Testament in November 1534, in which he inserted a second foreword attacking Joye and his editorial work. Tyndale accused Joye of promoting the heresy of the denial of the bodily resurrection and causing divisions among Protestants. After an inconclusive attempt to reconcile the parties, Joye published an apology to refute Tyndale’s accusations in February 1535.

STC (2nd ed.), 14556  Copies  N.America

Folger ,Pierpont Morgan Library , University of Illinois

 

Much of this information is from “Charles C. BUTTERWORTH, & Allan G. CHESTER, George Joye (1495?–1553). A Chapter in the History of the English Bible and the English Reformation, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1962” and Graham Hardy’s Wiki page on Joye.

 

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Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury

187J      Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury Cranmer (1489-1556)

A Defence of The True and Catholike doctrine of the sacrament of the body and bloud of our sauiour Christ, with a confutation of sundry errors concernyng the same, grounded and stablished vpon Goddes holy woorde, & approued by ye consent of the moste auncient doctors of the Churche. Made by the moste Reuerende father in God Thomas Archebyshop of Canterbury, Primate of all Englande and Metropolitane.

 

Imprynted at London : in Paules Churcheyard, at the signe of the Brasen serpent, by Reynold Wolfe. Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum, anno Domini. M. D. L. [1550]    $28,000

IMG_0105Quarto 7 x 5 ½inches   [4], 117, [3] leaves Collation: *4, A-Z4, Aa-Gg4

IMG_0100This copy is bound in contemporary, blind-stamped English calf with small medallion portrait rolls. The boards are composed of printer’s waste taken from John Bale’s ” Illustrium Maioris Britanniae Scriptorum” of 1548. The text block is backed with vellum manuscript fragments.

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A number of blank leaves have been bound in at the beginning of the volume. Internally, this copy is in excellent condition with clean, wide margins. Both the binding and the text are in strictly original condition.

Thomas Cranmer rose to prominence as the architect of the ecclesiastical arguments used to legitimize Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon. For his services in this matter, Henry rewarded Cranmer with the primacy, making him Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533. Cranmer’s subsequent promotion of the English Bible and his central role in the development of the early reformed church “has associated his name more closely, perhaps, than that of any other ecclesiastic with the Reformation in England.” After the death of Henry VIII, Cranmer oversaw and participated in the production of several key texts of the reformed church, including the two Prayer Books of Edward VI (1548, 1552) and the “Forty-two articles of Edward VI” (I553).

“In Cranmer’s response to Gardiner, “A Defence of the True and Catholike doctrine of the sacrament of the body and bloud of our sauiour Christ”, the archbishop offers a semi-official explanation of the Eucharistic theology that lay at the heart of his Prayer Book.
“The ‘Defence’ is divide into five sections, whose polemical architecture was dependent on the relatively brief first section. This set out the nature of the Eucharistic sacrament, centering on a recitation of all the Gospel and Pauline texts that could be considered as referring directly to it. Cranmer took two principal points from these citations. First, when Christ referred to the bread as his body, this was precisely to be understood as a signification of ‘Christ’s own promise and testament’ to the one who truly eats ‘that he is a member of his body, and receiveth the benefits of his passion which he suffered for us upon the cross’; likewise Christ’s description of the wine as his blood was a certificate of his ‘legacy and testament, that he is made partaker of the blood of Christ which was shed for us.’ Secondly, one must understand what was meant by the true eating of Christ’s body: although both good and bad ate bread and drank wine as sacraments, Cranmer emphasized in a classic expression of the ‘manducatio impiorum’ that ‘none eateth of the body of Christ and drinketh his blood, but they have eternal life’, and that this could not include the wicked.

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Cranmer went on in a now celebrated passage to the heart of his quarrel with the old world of devotion:

‘Many corrupt weeds be plucked up…But what availeth it to take away beads, pardons, pilgrimages and such other like popery, so long as two chief roots remain unpulled?…

The very body of the tree, or rather the roots of the weeds, is the popish doctrine of transubstantiation, of the real presence of Christ’s flesh and blood in the sacrament of the altar (as they call it), and of the sacrifice and oblation of Christ made by the priest for the salvation of the quick and the dead. Which roots, if they be suffered to grow in the Lord’s vineyard, they will spread all the ground again with the old errors and superstitions.’
“This was the purpose of his book, and his duty and calling as Primate of all England: ‘to cut down this tree, and to pluck up the weeds and plants by the roots.’ Yet there is a contrast in the Preface (and in the ‘Defence’ as a whole) with the unpleasing monotony of Cranmer’s answer to the western rebels of 1549: here, there is an obvious and urgent pastoral concern for the people entrusted to his care. He called, ‘all that profess Christ, that they flee far from Babylon’. ‘Hearken to Christ, give ear unto his words, which shall lead you the right way unto everlasting life.’ This was the language of the Prayer Book given a revolutionary edge.” (Diarmaid MacCulloch, “Thomas Cranmer, A Life” pp. 461-469)
When Mary Stuart assumed the throne in 1553, Cranmer was charged with both treason and heresy (for his support of Lady Jane Grey and an unpublished declaration he had written against the mass.) In March, 1554, Cranmer, along with Latimer and Ridley, was tried as a heretic at Oxford. In early 1556, Cranmer subscribed to several “recantations”., when Cranmer was asked to repeat his recantations at St. Mary’s Church on March 21st, he “declared with dignity and emphasis that what he had recently done troubled him more than anything he ever did or said in his whole life; that he renounced and refused all his recantations as things written with his hand, contrary to the truth which he thought in his heart; and that as his hand had offended, his hand should be first burned when he came to the fire.” When Cranmer was put to the stake, “stretching out his arm, he put his right hand into the flame, which he held so steadfast and unmovable, (saving that once with the same hand he wiped his face,) that all men might see his hand burned before his body was touched.”

STC 6002 (with catchwords B4r “des”, S1r “before”.) Title page border: McKerrow & Ferguson 73; Printer’s device: McKerrow 119. References: Diarmaid MacCulloch, “Thomas Cranmer, A Life”; G.W. Broniley, “Thomas Cranmer, Theologian”.)

 

 

 

 

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The Description of Scotland

222J Hector Boece       1465?-1536        (1465?-1536)

Hector Boetius in Latine, and afterward translated into the Scotish speech by John Bellenden Archdeacon of Marrey, and now finallie into English by R.H. Wherevpon is inferred the historie of Scotland, conteining the beginning, increase, proceeding, continuance, acts, and gouernement of the Scottish nation, form the originall thereof unto the yeare 1571, gathered and written in English by Raphaell Hollindshead: and continued from 1571, to 1585, by otheres.

London, Finished in Ianuarie 1587, and the 29 of the Queenes Maiesties reigne, with the full continuation of the former yeares, at the expenses of Iohn Harison, George Bishop, Rafe Newberie, Henrie Denham, and Thomas VVoodcocke. At London printed [by Henry Denham] in Aldersgate street at the signe of the Starre 1585.                                $4,000

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Large Folio 14 x 11 inches. A-C8 (-C1), D-U6, Aa-Nn6, Oo4, Pp6, Qq-Rr5, Ss4, Tt6, ¶8

IMG_0095.jpgBound in its original blind ruled full calfskin, this copy has been rebacked with label, internally the pages are in good condition with decorative head and tailpieces and woodcut initials.

The description of Scotland, written at the first by Hector Boetius in Latine. A section from Holinshed’s chronicle. Within this series, “The historie of Scotland” has separate title page dated 1585“Boece or Boyce [Lat. Boethius] one of the early Scottish historians,. He finished his studies and graduated at the University of Paris, where he subsequently became professor of philosophy. His “History of Scotland” (in Latin, 1526) ranks among the best historical works of that period. (Thomas, Vol. 1, p. 496) Prior to this no history of Scotland had been printed except the compendium of Major. They were related in a style which the admirers of Boece compared to Livy, and like Livy he sacrifices accuracy to a flowing narrative adapted to the public for whom it was written In 1577, it was done into English for Holinshed’s chronicles by William Harrison, ‘This is the cause wherefore I have chosen rather only with the loss of three or four dayes to translate Hector out of the Scottish (a tongue veri like unto ours) than with more expense of time to devise a newe or follow the latin copy.

 

STC (2nd ed.), 13569

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“By modern standards, Boece’s approach to history was rather credulo us

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He tended to uncritically blend historical fact with myth and folklore, and he also t

ended to write with an eye to ensuring he stayed in good favour with James V. This meant he tended to set the Stewart dynasty in a very flattering light, and play down the merits of their enemies. One famous result was his historically unfair treatment of King Macbeth, and it was Boece’s version of history which was later enshrined in the plot of William Shakespeare’s play about Macbeth. By the very dodgy standards of early Scottish histories, however, Boece’s was not only comparatively accurate, it was also written in an unusually accessible style and achieved considerable popularity, especially after its translation from the original Latin into French and Scots.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

quoted from :Copyright Undiscovered Scotland © 2000-2018  https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/b/hectorboece.html

 

see also : https://www.academia.edu/980754/The_Scotorum_Historia_of_Hector_Boece_A_study.IMG_0093

 

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Hugh Latimer The First& …. Sermon preached before King Edward, March 8, 1549

“Of all the English Reformers, Bishop Hugh Latimer was the most popular in his time and probably has the greatest place in the affections of posterity.   Although a passionate preacher and a zealot for reform, in a day when religious executions were all too common, he completed his three-score years and ten, before sealing his testimony with his blood”

62a42fb10374022f642fca3062618eef--uk-history-tudor-history
Edward VI listening to a sermon by Hugh Latimer at St. Paul’s Cross, London on January 29, 1548.

(Harold S. Darby, Hugh Latimer (London: Epworth Press, 1953), p. 7.)

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Latimer preaching to Edward VII From John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments, artist unknown.

850G Hugh Latimer 1485-1555

 

The fyrste Sermon of Mayster Hughe Latimer, whiche he preached before the kynges Maiest. wythin his graces palayce at Westminster M. D. XLIX. the viii. of Marche. (,’,) Cu gratia et Privilegio ad imprimendum solum.

[bound with]

The seconde Sermon of Maister Hughe Latimer, whych he preached before the Kynges maiestie, iv in his graces Palayce at Westminister y. xv. day of Marche. M. ccccc.xlix. Cum gratia et Privilegio ad Imprimendum solum.

[London: by Jhon Day, dwellynge at Aldergate, and Wylliam Seres, dwellyng in Peter Colledge, 1549]                                                                  $14,200

 

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DSC_0076Octavo 137 x 88 mm A-D8, A-Y8, Aa-Ee8 (Lacking Ee7 and 8, undoubtedly blank.) First editions, each of the two works is one of three or four undated variants, attributed to the year 1549. This copy is bound in nineteenth century calfskin, the hinges starting to crack but holding strong.

DSC_0078 The Encyclopedia Britannica calls Hugh Latimer’s sermons, “classics of their kind. Vivid, racy, terse in expression; profound in religious feeling, sagacious in their advice on human conduct. To the historical student they are of great value as a mirror of the social and political life of the period.”

“All things which are written, are written for our erudition and knowledge. All things that are written in God’s book, in the Bible book, in the book of the Holy Scripture, are written to be our doctrine.” (from Hugh Latimer’s Sermon of the Plow)

“This was the first of Latimer’s famous Lenten sermons on the duty of restoring stolen goods which resulted in the receipt of considerable sums of ‘conscience money.’” (Phorzimer Catalogue)“The seven sermons which he preached before the king in the following Lent are a curious combination of moral fervor and political partisanship, eloquently denouncing a host of current abuses, and paying the warmest tribute to the government of Somerset.” (DNB)

 

STC 15270.7; STC 15274.7; Pforzheimer #581 and 582; McKerrow & Ferguson 64.

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FROM :

Article reprinted from Cross†Way Issues Winter 1994, Spring 1995, Spring 1996, Summer 1996 & Autumn 1996 (Nos. 55, 56 60, 61 & 62)

(C)opyright Church Society; material may be used for non-profit purposes provided that the source is acknowledged and the text is not altered.

HUGH LATIMER – APOSTOLIC PREACHER.   By David Streater.:

 

“With the accession of Edward VI at the beginning of 1547, the danger to Latimer’s life receded and he was released from the Tower of London under a general pardon. He returned to preaching and as Darby says in his book, Hugh Latimer (1953):-

Latimer’s fame is most secure as a preacher. It was in that way that he served best in the days of Henry VIII: it was almost the only way that he served during the short reign of his son. The six years gave him his fullness of opportunity to follow his natural bent.

It was during these years that the First Prayer Book of 1549 and the Second, more Protestant, Prayer Book of 1552 were drawn up with the Forty Two Articles and the First Book of Homilies. With such a programme of reform, it was clear that Latimer would be the natural choice to return to

the See of Worcester. He was invited to do so but he declined the appointment on the ground of age and infirmity. This was accepted, and as preaching was his high calling, he preached extensively before the young king. Most of our knowledge of his sermons dates from this period of his ministry. He became a champion, not only of the spoken word, but of the Word preached directly to the present congregation. It was a word relevant to the condition of the nation as a whole.

His earlier convocation sermon which had attacked the lethargy and worldliness of the clergy had won Latimer the respect of the nation. His refusal of high office and the wealth which went with it gained their hearts. It would be true to say that no other English preacher has ever been held in such high esteem, including the Wesleys and George Whitefield, as well as Charles Spurgeon. It would also be true to say that no other preacher has ever accomplished as much good in the life of the nation. The records of the State Paper Office and British Museum bear out this testimony. But Latimer was now ageing and after Lent 1550, he resigned as the King’s preacher and he returned to his home country, his beloved Midland Counties, continuing to preach from Lincolnshire to Warwickshire.”

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Latimer preaching to Edward VII From John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments, artist unknown.

Hugh Latimer preaching to King Edward VI of England, a woodcut in John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments, better known as Foxe’s English Martyrs. By the time this book was published in 1563, Edward VI was revered as a pious patron of the English Reformation, a new Josiah who loved nothing better than to hear sermons, during which he often took notes. He is depicted here listening from a gallery to a sermon by Bishop Hugh Latimer, who, along with Thomas Cranmer and Nicholas Ridley, was a key figure in the development of Protestantism in Edward’s reign and, like them, a martyr under Edward’s Catholic successor Queen Mary I. Historian Diarmaid MacCulloch stresses the accuracy of this image of Edward, though fellow historian Jennifer Loach cautions against too ready an acceptance of the portrayal of Edward by Reformation propagandists such as Foxe, who called Edward a “godly imp”. The pulpit in the Privy Garden at the Palace of Whitehall had been built by Henry VIII in an enclosure which continued to be used for animal-baiting and wrestling. The king’s pulpit became the most fashionable preaching place in London, provoking Latimer to complain: “Surely it is an ill misorder that folk shall be walking up and down in the sermon-time, as I have seen in the place this Lent: and there shall be such huzzing and buzzing in the preacher’s ear that it maketh him oftentimes to forget his matter”. (References: Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Boy King: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002, pp. 21–25, 107; Jennifer Loach, Edward VI, New Haven (CT): Yale University Press, 1999, pp. 180–81.) & Chris Skidmore, Edward VI: The Lost King of England, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007, ISBN 9780297846499.

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