z 7 770ft G 5^G a -J 2: 5 P CT-" J t.5 CT" Eg 06 » VO — s9 mis The date shows whenthis volume was taken. To renejfr this book cop^the call No. and give to ?' , the fih^rian ..^i.lcuacyouj HOME USE RULES. All Boeks subject to Recall All books must be re- turned at end of coll^je year for inspection and Students must re- turn all books before leaving town. Officers should arrange for the .return of books wanted during their absence from town. Books needed by more than one person are held on the reserve list. Volumes of periodi- cals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as possible. For special purposes they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not use their library & privileges for the bene- IT fit of other persons. 4 Books of , spec* / value and gift bor / when the giver w* ^flw ^*W ^fcfcte r / mA./. ■ ^ Fl Kv 1 ' '^ v^^te»5!^i2 P fJH WILLIAM EUING 1788-1874 <'\ Sketch of the History of the English Versions from the earliest days down to King James's Version In order to understand the history of our English Bible it is necessary to recall the nature of the original documents out of which it arose. In the case of the Old Testament, these consisted of a number of rolls, or books in roll-form, the time of whose composition extended over a period of several centuries. These rolls were written (with a few trifling exceptions) in the Hebrew language, and mainly, if not entirely, on skins. And it is characteristic of the conservatism that generally prevails in religious matters, that to this day the Jews still prefer the use of leather and the roll -form for Synagogue use (No. 1). And though, as a matter of fact, the oldest Hebrew MS. we possess does not date further back than the ninth century after Christ, there are many proofs known to scholars which show that the original text has on the whole been faithfully preserved. Nor must we forget that it is not only in the original Hebrew that the Books of the Old Covenant have been preserved for us. About two hundred years before Christ, the whole Old Testament was translated into Greek. And while this translation was intended primarily for the Jews of the Dispersion, it came to be largely used in Palestine itself by those to whom the original Hebrew was gradually becoming more and more unfamiliar, owing to Aramaic having taken its place in general use. The Septuagint indeed, as this Greek translation was called, may be said to have formed the Bible of our Lord and His Apostles, if we njay judge from the fact that the majority of quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament approximate more closely to the Greek than to the Hebrew version. A2 As regards the New Testament, its books, in the form in which we have them now, were all written in the ordinary vernacular Greek of the day, and, it can hardly be doubted, on papyrus, then the common writing material (No. 2). Nor, at first, did any such authority or sanctity attach to them as was the case with the books of the Law and the Prophets. Gradually, however, they won their way to canonical acceptance, until about the close of the second century the Christian Church virtually possessed what is now our Bible, with its two parts, the Old and the New Testaments, both of which are preserved for us in the great codices of the fourth century — the Codex Vaticanus (No. 3), and the Codex Sinaiticus (No. 4). By the aid of these Greek MSS., and many others of varying degrees of value, critics are now engaged in the all-important work of reconstructing, as far as possible, the actual words of the sacred writers. In this task a welcome aid is afforded by the different versions or translations into which from a very early date the books of the Bible were rendered. And amongst these there is one which has a very direct bearing on our present inquiry. From the second century onwards parts of the Bible had appeared in a Latin dress ; but, gradually, so many various readings and renderings had sprung up, that, towards the close of the fourth century, the need of an authoritative revision became apparent. This task was accordingly entrusted by Pope Damasus to Eusebius Hieronymus, or Jerome, as he is generally called. And the result of his labours was the Vulgate, or commonly received Latin Text, which in the Sixtine-Clementine recension of 1592 is still the alone authoritative Scripture of the Boman Catholic Church (Nos. 5-7). It is this Latin Bible, then, that St Augustine and his fellow- missionaries brought with them to England in the sixth century, and consequently it formed the basis of those Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman paraphrases which for nearly seven hundred years formed the only vernacular versions of Scripture which the people in this country possessed. The story of the early paraphrasts is a very interesting one, embracing as it does the names of the Saxon cowherd Caedmon who, in obedience to a Divine vision, sang " the beginning of created things" (No. 8); of the venerable Bede, the most famous scholar of his day in Western Europe, whose last work was a translation of the Gospel of St John; and of the priest Aldred, who, about the middle of the tenth century, wrote an Anglo-Saxon word-for-word trans- lation between the lines of the Latin Gospels written at Lindisfarne in honour of St Cuthbert (No. 9). But important as the work of these and others was, it cannot be said to have done more than familiarize the minds of the people with the leading facts in Old and New Testament history, until . such time as they should have the whole Bible in their own hands. The man to whom this was principally due was JohnWyclif, "the morning star of the Reformation." Struck by the evils and distresses of his times, Wyclif felt that what, above all, the people required was a wider acquaintance with the truths of the Gospel. " Christian men," so he wrote, " ought much to travail night and day about text of Holy Writ, and namely [especially] the Gospel in their mother- tongue, since Jesus Christ, very God and very man, taught this Gospel with His own blessed mouth and kept it in His life." Accordingly, with the assistance of his friend Nicolas Hereford, he set to work so earnestly at the task of translation that by the middle of the year 1382 he had the joy of seeing the whole Scriptures in the hands of the people in a form they could understand. Six years later a revised edition appeared under the editorship of Wyclif's former assistant, John Purvey. Such a result ought to have pleased the Church, but instead it brought down upon Wyclif the bitter hostility of the priests and others in authority, and he had to look for his reward in the eager- ness with which his versions were sought for by all classes of the people. They were indeed admirably suited by the homeliness and directness of their diction for popular use. And it may not be without interest to recall how familar some of their expressions still are to Scottish ears : " Twey men metten hym, that hadden deuelis, and camen out of graues, ful woode [mad] " (Matt. viii. 28) ; " And loo ! in a greet bire [rush] al the droue wente heedlyng in to the see " (viii. 32) ; " And he cometh, and fyndith it voide, and clensid with besyms [brooms], and maad faire " (xii. 44). Of the original Wycliffite MSS., a large number are still extant, and of those in the possession of the University, four form part of the present Exhibition (Nos. 10-13). One great defect these versions possessed. They were all made 8 from the Latin, and hence were only translations of a translation ; while the fact that they were prepared entirely by hand necessarily made copies very expensive, as much as £30 or £40 of our money being sometimes paid for a complete copy. The publication in the first half of the fourteenth century of the Biblia Pauperum, a series of rough woodcuts with texts from Scripture attached, did some- thing, no doubt, in the way of spreading a knowledge of Bible History amongst the people (No. 13 2 ). But the instruction these books conveyed was small, and it is to two other events that we must principally look for the preparation by which the appearance of our next version was heralded. One was the Discovery of Printing. About the middle of the fifteenth century, Fust, a goldsmith of Mainz, perfecting Gutenberg's experiments, issued from the press the first printed Latin Bible, generally known as the Mazarin Bible, from a copy found in the library of Cardinal Mazarin. The new discovery soon spread, and of the Latin Bible alone ninety-one editions were issued before the close of the century. The other was the Revival of Learning. By the fall of Con- stantinople in 1453, Greek scholars were driven westward, and a fresh era began in the study of Greek. The result was the appear- ance of Erasmus' Greek Testament at Basle in 1516 (No. 14), which in matter of publication, though not of actual printing, antedated by several years the New Testament in the Complutensian Polyglot edition of Cardinal Ximenes (No. 15). New editions of the Hebrew Old Testament, along with Hebrew and Greek Grammars, also began to appear, offering invaluable aids for the work of translation. And with the hour came the man. It is impossible to sketch even in outline the romantic story of William Tindale (1490-1536). It must be enough that from the hour when in controversy with a Eoman Catholic opponent he exclaimed, " If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scriptures than thou doest," until the day — 6th October, 1536 — when he died a martyr at the stake at Vilvorde near Brussels, his whole energies were directed to his self- imposed task. It was in exile that that task was performed, for, as he pathetically remarks, " there was no place to do it in all England." Voluntarily.therefore, he left his native land, never to see it again ; and after passing through various vicissitudes and dangers, at length at Worms, in the year 1525, produced the first complete printed New Testament in English. Copies, both in the original quarto (No. 16) and in a smaller octavo edition (No. 19), were at once for- warded to England ; but warning of their coming had already been sent, and thousands of copies were seized and burnt at the old Cross of St Paul's. It was only what Tindale had expected. "In burn- ing the New Testament," he wrote, two years later, "they did none other thing than that I looked for : no more shall they do if they burn me also, if it be God's will that it shall so be." Thanks, however, to the printing press, the place of the burnt copies was soon supplied, and the New Version was scattered broadcast over the land. Thus in 1528 one Eobert Necton confessed to carrying on a regular work of colportage, selling the New Testaments at 2s. or 2s. 6d. bound, or, according to the present value of the money, £1 10s. or £1 17s. 6d. each. And there is further evidence that "divers merchants of Scotland bought many of such books, and took them to Scotland, a part to Edinburgh, and most part to the town of St Andrews." Meanwhile the translator was continuing his work abroad, and in 1534 he put forth a revised edition of his New Testament with certain Old Testament lessons attached, in the preface to which he called upon all men to read what he had translated, "for that pur- pose I wrote it, even to bring them to the knowledge of the Scripture," adding, with characteristic humility, a request to all who found any fault in his work to show it to him that he might amend it (cf. Nos, 18, 19). But the heroic life was drawing to its close. Tindale had many enemies in England, and now when the Eoyal Envoy was instructed to decoy him to return, he would not venture. " If it would stand," so he pleaded in eloquent and pathetic terms, " with the King's most gracious pleasure to grant only a bare text of the Scripture to be put forth among his people ... I shall immediately make faithful promise never to write more, nor abide two days in these parts after the same ; but immediately to repair unto his realm, and there most humbly submit at the feet of his Eoyal Majesty, offer- ing my body to suffer what pain or torture, yea, what death his Grace will, so that this be obtained." The self-sacrificing plea was of no avail ; and soon afterwards he was betrayed into the hands of his enemies by an unprincipled Englishman named Philipps, and, after suffering an imprisonment of nearly a year and a half, was first 10 strangled and then burned. His last words were, " Lord, open the King of England's eyes." Of Tindale's worth as a man, and of his unwearied efforts in the cause of Bible translation and Bible diffusion, the little that we have been able to say is sufficient proof. On his place as a scholar it is impossible to ' enter. It must be enough that while his version undoubtedly bore traces of the influence of the Wycliffite versions at home and of Luther's Testament in Germany, he was too good a linguist to be slavishly dependent on any one, and can justly claim the credit of being the first in England at any rate (with the possible exception of Bede) to go straight to the Hebrew and Greek originals. While as showing in turn the extent of his influence upon the future history of our Bible, it has been calculated that in the whole of his New Testament there are not more than 350 words which do not occur in the Authorized Version, and many of the latter's most happy phrases and sentences are directly traceable to the old trans- lator. No doubt Tindale's version had its faults, chief among them perhaps his love, for the sake of variety, of rendering the same Greek word in different ways. But take his work all in all, and Fuller's eulogy is not exaggerated : " What he undertook was to be admired as glorious; what he performed, to be commended as profitable; wherein he failed, is to be excused as pardonable, and to be scored on the account rather of that age, than of the author himself." Nor had Tindale left himself without worthy successors, foremost amongst whom was one Miles Coverdale (1488-1569), who had already assisted Tindale in his translation of the Pentateuch, and who now, urged on by his "singular good master," Thomas Cromwell, set himself so diligently to the task of Bible translation that in 1535, probably at Antwerp, the first complete Bible printed in English was issued from the press (No. 20). In his Dedication to Henry VIII Coverdale modestly disclaims the position of an independent translator, and speaks of having " purely, and faythfully " followed "fyue sundry interpreters," who are generally identified with Luther (No. 21), the Zurich Bible, the Vulgate, the Latin version of Pagninus, and Tindale. At the same time he was very far from being a mere " proof-reader or corrector " of the labour of his predecessors. His work possesses undoubted original value ; and if Tindale in his translation " gave us the first great outline distinctly and wonderfully etched," Coverdale " added 11 those minuter touches which soften and harmonize it." Thus, for example, to turn to his version of the Psalms, which may still be read almost unchanged in the English Book of Common Prayer, it is to Coverdale that we owe such musical renderings as, " My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." " Oast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me." " For Thy lovingkindness is better than life ; my lips shall praise Thee." While, as illustrations of the man and of the time, the following quaint renderings may be given — "bare it in hir nebb" (Gen. viii. 11); "cast a pece of a mylstone upon Abimelech's heade, and brake his brane panne " (Judg. ix. 53) : " the foolish bodyes saye in their hertes : Tush, there is no God " (Ps. xiv. 1); "there is no more Triacle at Galaad" (Jer. viii. 22). In 1537 Coverdale's version was reprinted by an English printer, Nycolson of Southwark (No. 22). Other translations now followed in rapid succession, one of which is generally known as Matthew's Bible (1537). Its real editor, however, was a certain John Rogers, afterwards the proto-martyr in the Marian persecution. His version, embracing as it did the results of Tindale's and Coverdale's labours, proved in its turn the basis of all subsequent versions. The Kinges most gracious lycece, by which it was heralded, was obtained in spite of, perhaps in ignorance of, Tindale's close connexion with the book (No. 23). Two years later (1539) there appeared another version under the name of Richard Taverner, which bore to be " newly recognised with great diligence after most faythful exemplars." But the changes introduced were not as a rule of any great importance, and, so far as we can discover, Taverner's Bible was only once reprinted (No. 24). Of much greater importance was yet another Bible which owed its inception to the great minister of Henry VIII, Thomas Cromwell, who had already proved himself such a steady friend of Bible translation. Not yet satisfied with any of the existing versions, Cromwell called in the aid of Coverdale to prepare yet another version, which might rank as a National Bible. The work of printing was begun in Paris, but before it was completed the Inquisition stepped in, and it was with great difficulty that the precious sheets were saved and the presses sent over to England. There the work was soon finished, and in April, 1539, the Great 12 Bible, as being the Bible "in the largest volume," was issued from the press. On the elaborate title-page, ascribed to Holbein, the contents are described as " truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke testes, by ye dylygent studye of dyuerse excellent learned men, expert in the forsayde tonges." But there can be no doubt that the work was principally Coverdale's, and that in his revision of Matthews' text he made large use of various Latin versions. From the Vulgate more especially he introduced a number of various readings, but "certain godly annotations" by which he promised to explain "the dark places of the text" never appeared (No. 25). In 1540 a new edition was called for, containing a long Preface by Archbishop Cranmer, which has led to its being called Cranmer's Bible, while from the fact that several editions were printed by Whitchurch, the Great Bible is sometimes known as Whitchurch's (No. 26). Every effort was made to get the people to accept the new version, Cromwell, as the king's vicegerent, issuing instructions to the clergy to provide without delay "one boke of the whole Bible of the largest volume in Englyshe," to be set up in the churches, and to "expresslye provoke, stere [stir], and exhorte every parsone [person] to rede the same, as that whyche ys the verye lively worde of God." Whatever the clergy may have thought, the opportunity thus afforded was gladly taken advantage of by the people, and in old St. Paul's and elsewhere it was a common sight to see an eager crowd gathered round the chained Bible, while some one more educated than the rest read aloud. "Even little boys," the chronicler tells us, "flocked among the rest to hear portions of the holy Scriptures read." We must not, however, imagine that this open reading of the Scriptures was everywhere viewed with favour. Thus, to confine ourselves to what took place in our own country, on 1st March, 1539, through the influence of Cardinal Beaton, five persons were burnt on the Castle Hill of Edinburgh, apparently for no other crime than that they " did not hesitate to study the books both of the Old and New Testament." And at the trial of one of them, the Bishop of Dunkeld actually made it a subject of boasting — " I thank God that I never knew what the Old or New Testament 13 was." This deplorable state of matters was not, however, long allowed to continue. In 1543 it was proposed in the Parliament meeting at Edinburgh that " all the lieges in this realm may read the Scriptures in our native tongue," and proclamation to the above effect was duly made at the Market Cross. And so eagerly was the privilege taken advantage of, that twenty-five years later John Knox in describing the effects of this Act was able to write : " This was no small victory of Christ Jesus. . . . Then might have been seen the Bible lying almost upon every gentleman's table. The New Testament was borne about in many men's hands." The Bible to which Knox refers in these words was one in whose production he himself in all probability had a share, though for its story we must turn from Scotland to Geneva. In the troublous times following the accession of Queen Mary, a number of the leading Reformers had taken refuge in the city of Calvin and Beza, and there, as they themselves tell us, "We thought we could bestow our labours and study in nothing which could be more acceptable to God, and comfortable to His Church, than in the translating of the Scriptures into our native tongue." The immediate result was the appearance in 1557 of a translation of the New Testament by one of their number, William Whittingham, who describes his work as specially intended for " simple lambs " (No. 27). And it was doubtless the thought of the same class of readers that led to the numerous annotations of all hard places, and to the adoption of the convenient, but often misleading, division of the chapters into verses, which E. Stephanus had introduced into his Greek Testament of 1551 (No. 28). But this New Testament was soon cast into the shade by the publication in 1560 of the famous Genevan Bible, often familiarly known as the Breeches Bible from its rendering of Gen. iii. 7, "They sewed fig-tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches " (No. 29). The translation, as a whole, was due to the combined labours of William Whittingham, Thomas Sampson, and Anthony Gilby, and deserves high praise from the care that was bestowed upon it. Many of its renderings were very felicitous, and have passed through it into the Authorized Version, while its numerous notes, combined with the convenient size in which it appeared, did much to account for the popularity it long enjoyed. A3 14 The Grenevan Bible has, also, this further interest for us that it was the first Bible to be printed in Scotland (1579); this is generally known as the Bassandyne Bible, from the name of one of its publishers (Nos. 30, 31). It was not to be expected, however, that the successors of Cromwell and Cranmer would look with favour on a translation from the school of Calvin, and containing so many "prejudicial notes." Accordingly, in 1563-64, Archbishop Parker set on foot a scheme for the revision of Coverdale's version, and in 1568 the Bishops' Bible, so called from the number of bishops engaged on it, was completed, and a copy presented to Queen Elizabeth. An effort was made at the same time that it alone should be licensed " to draw to one uniformity." But this licence was never granted, and the version cannot be said to have had any marked influence on succeeding translations (Nos. 32, 33). Much the same may be said of another version executed by certain English Roman Catholics who had taken refuge on the Continent during Queen Elizabeth's reign. In 1582 there appeared at Bheims a New Testament " translated faithfvlly into English out of the authentical Latin" (No. 34), and this was followed in 1609-10 by the publication of the whole Bible at Douai (No. 35, cf. 36, 37). From its extreme adherence to " the old vulgar approved Latin," this Bheims and Douai Bible is often stilted, and sometimes even unintelligible, while the markedly polemical character of many of its notes was a further hindrance to its commanding much success. ' Leaving it out of sight, therefore, we are met at the beginning of the seventeenth century with three versions of the Bible in more or less general use. There was the Great Bible of Henry VIII, still to be seen chained to the desk in many country churches ; there was the Genevan Bible, the favourite Bible of the people ; and there was the Bishops' Bible, supported by ecclesiastical authority. Such a state of things could not, however, continue, and the way lay open for the advent of a new version, which was gradually to supersede all its rivals, and become for three centuries the Bible of all English-speaking peoples. Regarding this version it is certainly strange, considering its importance, how little is known regarding its origin, which seems indeed to have been of an incidental, almost accidental, character. One of the first acts of King James, on ascending the throne of 15 England, was to convene a Conference at Hampton Court Palace in January, 1604, to hear and determine "things pretended to be amiss in the Church," and during the second day's proceedings the suggestion was thrown out "that there might be a new translation of the Bible because those which were allowed in the reign of King Henry VIII and Edward VI were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the original." Such a project at once commended itself to the King, proud as he was of his own theological attainments, and he proposed that tbe new trans- lation should be undertaken by "the best learned" men in the kingdom, adding as a special condition "that no marginal notes should be added," some of those in the Genevan Bible seeming to him to savour " too much of dangerous and traitorous conceits." Notwithstanding, however, the Royal favour bestowed upon it, the actual work was not commenced until 1607, and it was 1611 before the new version was published with the title : " The Holy Bible, conteyning the Old Testament and the New. Newly Trans- lated out of the Originall tongues : & with the former Translations diligently compared and reuised by his Maiesties speciall Comande- ment. Appointed to be read in Churches." (No. 38.) Other editions followed rapidly, and particulars regarding a few of these will be found in the Catalogue (Nos. 39-61). It will be noticed that the word Authorized, by which the new version has come to be known, is not here applied to it, and, as a matter of fact, there is no evidence that it was ever publicly sanctioned by Convocation, or by Parliament, or by the King. Only slowly, and by the force of superior merit, did King James' version attain its commanding position. It became the " authorized " version simply because it was the best. Nor indeed was it, strictly speaking, a new translation, but rather a revision of the principal versions that had preceded it. And, consequently, through the Bibles of the Eeformation period, through Tindale, through Wyclif, even through the early para- phrasts, it links itself step by step with some of the most stirring events in our national history, and has obtained a hold over the national mind and consciousness unparalleled in the history of any other English translation. None, indeed, have shown themselves more ready to admit its commanding merits than those who in 1870, owing to the discovery of ancient manuscripts, and the new 16 light, linguistic and otherwise, that had been thrown upon its original texts, were appointed to revise it. "We," so the New Testament revisers tell us in their Preface, "have had to study this great Version carefully and minutely, line by line; and the longer we have been engaged upon it the more we have learned to admire its simplicity, its dignity, its power, its happy turns of expression, its general accuracy, and, we must not fail to add, the music of its cadences, and the felicities of its rhythm." And the testimony of Faber, after his secession to the Church of Rome, to the same effect is often quoted. Speak- ing of the marvellous English of the Authorized Version, he says : "It lives on the ear like a music that can never be forgotten, like the sound of Church bells which the convert scarcely knows how he can forgo. Its felicities often seem to be things rather than words. It is part of the national mind, and the anchor of the national seriousness. . . . The memory of the dead passes into it. The potent traditions of childhood are stereotyped in its verses. It is the representative of a man's best moments; all that there has been about him of soft and gentle and pure and penitent and good, speaks to him for ever out of his English Bible." The story we have been following is its own best lesson, but if we are to point the moral, it cannot be done better than in the following words from the noble Preface, which was originally attached to the Authorized Version. "But now," ask the translators, " what piety without truth t What truth, what saving truth, with- out the word of God 1 What word of God, whereof we may be sure, without the Scripture ? The Scriptures we are commanded to search If we be ignorant, they will instruct us ; if out of the way, they will bring us home; if out of order, they will reform us ; if in heaviness, comfort us ; if dull, quicken us ; if cold, inflame us. Tolle, lege; tolle, lege." 17 1. Synagogue Roll of the Pentateuch, opened at Exod. xv. 2. An original papyrus-leaf from Oxyrhynchus, containing a pro- perty-return of A.D. 90, to illustrate the outward appearance of the New Testament autographs. 3. Bibliorum Sacrorum Graecus Codex Vaticanus. Bomae, typis et impensis S. Congregationis de Propaganda Fide. 1868-81. 4°. A facsimile edition of the famous Codex Vaticanus, belonging to the middle of the fourth century, now preserved in the Vatican Library at Rome. 4. Bibliorum Codex Sinaiticus Fetropolitanus. Petropoli. 1862. 4°. A typographic imitation of the Codex Sinaiticus, belonging to the middle of the fourth century, which was discovered by Teschendorf in the Convent of St Catherine at Mount Sinai in 1859, and is now preserved in the Imperial Librarj' at St Peters- burg. The page shown contains Mark xvi. 2-Luke i. 18, the last twelve verses of St Mark being omitted, as in the Codex Vaticanus and some other authorities. 5. Biblia Sacra Vulgata. A Latin MS. Bible on vellum belonging to the thirteenth or fourteenth century. 6. Biblia Sacra Vulgata. An illuminated MS. of the Latin Bible, belonging to the close of the fifteenth century. 7. Bihliae Sacrae Latine tomus secundus. The second volume of a Latin Bible printed at Strassburg by H. Eggestein, about A.D. 1468. 2°. 18 8. Facsimile of a leaf of the Junius MS. of Caedmon in the Bodleian Library. Eeproduced in the Palaeographical Society Facsimiles. Second Series I. Plate XV. London. 1884-94. 2°. 9. Facsimile of a leaf of the Cotton MS. of the Lindisfarne Gospels. Eeproduced from Facsimiles of Biblical Manuscripts in the British Museum. Plate XL London. 1900. 2°. 10. The New Testament. Translated by John Wyclif. A fifteenth century MS. on vellum of Wiclifs translation of the New Testament. 11. The Gospel according to St Mark. Translated by John Wyclif. A fifteenth century MS. on vellum of Wyclifs translation of St Mark's Gospel. 12. The Gospels of St Matthew, St Mark, and St Luke. Translated by John Wyclif. A MS., belonging to the close of the fifteenth century, with Wyclifs translation of the first three Gospels. 13. The Gospel according to St John, the Epistles of St James, St Peter, St John, and St Jude, and the Apocalypse i.-v. 6. Translated by John Wyclif, The MS. belongs to the close of the fifteenth century 13 2 . Biblia Pauperum. Believed to have been executed between A.D. 1420 and 1435. 14. Novum Instruments omne, diligenter ab ERASMO ROTERO- DAMO recognitum & emendatum, no solum ad graecam ueritatem, uerumetiam ad multorum utriusque linguae codicum, eorumque ueterum simul et emendatorum fidem. . . . Apud inclytam Germaniae Basilaeam. 19 The first published edition of the Greek Testament, issued by Erasmus from the press of Frobenius at Basle in 1516. It is dedicated to Pope Leo X, who is reminded of his duty to "make known to the Christians again the commandments of their Master out of the evangelical and apostolic writings themselves." 15. Novum testamentum grece et latine in academia Complutensi nouiter impressum. 2°- The New Testament in the Polyglot Bible of Complutum, which was prepared under the direction of Cardinal Ximenes, Great Inquisitor and Prime Minister of Spain. The New Testament was completed January 10, 1514, but was first published along with the rest of the work in 1520, with Papal approbation. 16. Facsimile of the Grenville Fragment of the first printed English New Testament. Translated from the Greek by William Tindale. [Peter Quentell : Cologne, 1525.] Photo-lithographed from the only known fragment of this quarto edition, now in the Grenville Collection, British Museum, by E. Arber (London, 1871). 17. Facsimile of the earliest known complete English New Testament. Translated by William Tindale. . . . [Peter Schoeffer: Worms. 1525-6.] A lithographic reproduction of the Bristol copy of this octavo edition by Francis Fry (Bristol, 1862). Only one other copy of the original issue of 3000 copies is now known to exist; it is in St Paul's Cathedral Library. 18. The Newe Testament yet once agayne corrected by willyam Tindale : where vnto is added a necessarye Table : wherin easely and lightelye maye be foude any storye contaynd in the foure Euangelistes, and in the Actes of the Apostles. . . . Prynted in the yere of oure Lorde God. M.D. and XXXUJ. [Antwerp ?] 4°. Three quarto editions of Tindale's second revision appeared in 1536, one of which is known as the "Mole" edition from the 20 woodcut at the beginning of 1 Corinthians, in which the Apostle is represented resting his foot upon a stone, which has a mole engraved upon it. 19. The newe Testament in Englyshe and Latyn accordyng to the translacyon of doctour Erasmus of Roterodam. Anno. M.CCCCC. XXXVIII Frynted in Fletestrete by Robert Redman. Set forthe vnder the kynges moste gracious lycence. 4° The earliest edition containing Tindale's English New Testament, with the Latin of Erasmus. 20. Biblia. The Bible, that is, the holy Scripture of the Olde and New Testament, faithfully and truly translated out of Douche and Latyn in to Englishe. M.D.XXXV. [Christopher Froschover: Zurich?] 2°. The first complete Bible printed in English, the names both of printer and place being somewhat uncertain. The translator, whose name does not appear on the title-page, was Miles Coverdale. There is a curious reading in Jer. viii. 22, where " Balm at Gilead " is rendered "Triacle at Galaad." 21. Die Propheten alle Deudsch. D. Mar. Luth. Gedriickt Zu Wittemberg durch Hans Lufft. M.D.XXXIIII. 2°. The second volume of the Wittemberg edition of Luther's Bible in 1534. 22. Biblia. The Byble, that is the holy Scrypture of the Olde and New Testament, faythfully translated in Englysh, and newly ouersene and corrected. M.D.XXXVII. Imprynted in Sowthwarke for James Nycolson. 2°. The second edition of Coverdale's Bible, and the first folio Bible printed in England, 1537. A quarto edition issued in the same year bore to be ' Set forth with the Kynges moost gracious licence.' 21 23. The Byble, which is all the holy Scripture: In whych are contayned the Olde and Newe Testament truly and purely translated into Englysh by Thomas Matthew M,D, XXXVII, Set forth with the Kinges most gracyous lycece. [Printed for B. Grafton and E. Whitchurch of London. Antwerp ?] 2°. The first edition of Matthew's or Rogers' Bible, which from its close connexion with the best work of Tindale and Coverdale is generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible. As in the quarto edition of Coverdale's Bible, the Royal licence is again mentioned. 24. The Most Sacred Bible, whiche is the holy scripture, con- teyning the old and new testament, translated into English, and newly recognised with great diligence after most faythful exemplars, by Eichard Taverner. . . . Prynted at London in fletestrete at the sygne of the sonne by John Bydell, for Thomas Barthlet, Cvm Frivilegis ad imprimendum solum. M.D.XXXIX. 2°. A revision of Matthew's Bible of 1537, in which Saxon are often substituted for Latin words, as spokesman for advocate. 25. The Byble in Englyshe, that is to saye the content of all the holy scrypture, bothe of y e olde and newe testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke textes, by y e dylygent studye of dyuerse excellent learned men, expert in the forsayde tonges. Prynted by Rychard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch. . . . 1539. The first edition of the " Great Bible," printed partly in Paris, and partly in London. 22 26. The Byble in Englyshe, that is to saye the contet of al the holy scrypture, both of y e olde, and newe testamet, with a prologe therinto, made by the reuerende father in God, Thomas archbysshop of Cantorbury. This is the Byble apoynted to the vse of churches. Prynted by Edward Whytchurche M.D.XL. 2°. The second edition of the Great Bible (April, 1540), and the earliest to contain Cranmer's Prologue. The title-page bears the significant words, This is the Bylle apoynted to the vse of churches. 27. The Newe Testament of Our Lord Iesus Christ. Conferred diligently with the Greke, and best approued transla- tions. With the arguments, as wel before the chapters, as for euery Boke & Epistle, also diuersities of readings, and moste profitable annotations of all harde places : wherunto is added a copious Table. At Geneva Printed By Conrad Badius. M.D.LVII. 8°. The only edition of any part of the Scriptures issued during the reign of Queen Mary (1553-1558). It was published at Geneva, and is the work of William Whittingham, who was married to Calvin's sister-in-law, and in 1559 succeeded Knox as pastor of the English congregation in Geneva. 28. TH2 KAINH2 AIA9HKHS AIIANTA. Ex Bibliotheca Begia. Lutetiae. Ex offlcina Roberti Stephani typographi Regij . . . MDXLVI. The first edition of the Greek Testament of Stephanus or Stephens, which in later issues formed the principal source of the Textus Beceptus, or Eeceived Text, from which our Authorized Version is taken. In the edition of 1551 Stephenus introduced for the first time the division of the text into verses, which he is said to have arranged during a journey on horseback from Paris to Lyons. " I think," says an old commentator, "it had been better done on his knees in the closet." 29. The Bible and Holy Scriptures conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. Translated according to the Ebrue 23 and Greke, and conferred With the best translations in diuers langages. With moste profitable annotations vpon all the hard places, and other things of great importance as maye appeare in the Epistle to the Reader. At Geneva, printed by Rouland Hald. M.D.LX. 4°. The first edition of the so-called "Genevan version," of which at least 140 editions appeared between 1560 and 1644. Its popularity- was due partly to its compact form, and partly to its numerous explanatory notes, which are often very Calvinistic in tone. The cost of the work was defrayed by members of the congregation at Geneva whose heartes God . . . touched to encourage the revisers not to spare any charges for the fortherance of such a benefite and fauowr of God. 30. The Bible and Holy Scriptvres conteined in the Olde and Newe Testament. Translated according to the Ebrue and Greke, and conferred with the beste translations in diuers languages. With moste profitable annotations. . . . Printed in Edinbrvgh Be Alexander Arbuthnot, Printer to the Kingis Maiestie, dwelling at ye Kirk of feild. 1579. 2°. The first English Bible printed in Scotland, and for thirty-one years the only edition of the Scriptures printed there. It is an exact reprint of the Genevan version of 1561-2, and by order of the General Assembly every parish in Scotland subscribed a fixed amount before the work was undertaken. The New Testament portion was printed by Thomas Bassandyne in 1576 ; hence the edition is generally described as the " Bassandyne Bible." 31. The Bible that is, the Holy Scriptvres contained in the Olde and New Testament. Translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke, and conferred with the best transla- tions in diuerse languages. ... At Edinbvrgh, Printed by Andro Hart, and are to be sold at his Buith, on the North-side of the gate, a litle beneath the Crosse. Anno Dom. 1610. 2°. The second edition of the Bible printed in Scotland. At a meeting of the diocesan Synod of St Andrews, April, 1611, it was 24 ordained that any member who failed to urge his parishioners to buy one of these Bibles should "pay at the next synod 6 lib. money," equivalent to about £3 to-day. This Bible was much admired, and for long it was counted a high recommendation to be " conform to the edition printed by Andrew Hart " ; cf. No. 47. 32. The. holie. Bible, conteynyng the olde Testament and the newe. R. Jugge : London. 1568. 2°. The first issue of the Bishops' Bible. In 1571 the Convocation of Canterbury ordered that every Archbishop and Bishop should have at his house a copy of this edition, and "that it should be placed in the hall or large dining-room, that it might be useful to their servants or to strangers." At that time it was sold for 27s. 8d., equivalent to about £16 in our present money. 33. The noli bible. The colophon bears — Imprinted at London in powles Ohurchyarde by Richard Jugge, Printer to the Queenes Maiestie. 1569. 4°. Another issue of the Bishops' Bible. 34. The New Testament of Iesvs Christ, translated faithfvlly into English, out of the authentical Latin, according to the best corrected copies of the same, diligently con- ferred with the Greeke and other editions in diuers languages: Vvith Argvments of bookes and chapters, Annotations, and other necessarie helpes, for the better vnderstanding of the text, and specially for the dis- couerie of the Corrvptions of diuers late translations, and for cleering the Controversies in religion, of these daies : in the English College of Bhemes Printed at Bhemes, by Iohn Fogny, 1582. Cum Privilegio. 4°. The first Roman Catholic version of the New Testament printed in English. In a Preface to the Reader, the translators claim to have been "very precise and religious" in following their copy, " the old vulgar approved Latin." Nor can there be any doubt that their version, though not specially recommended to King James's 25 Eevisers, influenced them considerably, and supplied them with many significant phrases and happy arrangements of words. 35. The Holie Bible faithfvlly translated into English, ovt of the avthentical Latin. Diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greeke, and other editions in diuers languages. With argvments of the Bookes, and Chapters : Annota- tions, Tables : and other helpes, for better vnderstanding of the text ; for discouerie of Corrvptions in some late translations : and for clearing Controversies in Religion. By The English College of Doway. . . . Printed at Doway by Lavrence Kellam, at the signe of the holie Lambe, M.DC.IX. 4°. The first Eoman Catholic version of the whole Bible in English, again based on the "old Latin text" as being "free from partiality." The habit of not translating many terms such as Pasch, Azimes, Breads of Proposition, is defended on the ground that English has no suflBcient equivalents. 36. The Holy Bible Translated from the Latin Vulgat : diligently compared with the Hebrew, Greek, and other Editions in divers Languages. And first published by The English College at Doway, Anno 1609. Newly revised, and corrected, according to the Clementin Edition of the Scriptures. With Annotations for clearing up the prin- cipal Difficulties of Holy Writ. [Dublin 1] 1750. 4 vols. 12°. A revision of the Douai Old Testament by Eichard Challoner, tending to simplify that version, and to bring it into closer harmony with King James's Bible. 37. The Holy Bible translated from the Latin Vulgate . . . first published by the English College at Douay, Anno 1609. Newly revised and corrected. . . . With Annotations. . . . John Moir, Paterson's Court, Edinburgh. 1796. 4 vols. 12°. An Edinburgh edition of Challoner's revision of the Douai Old Testament. 26 38. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New. Newly Translated out of the Original! tongues : & with the former Translations diligently compared and reuised by His Maiesties speciall Comandement. Appointed to be read in Churches. Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, Printer to the Kings most excellent Maiestie, Anno Dom. 1611. 2°. The first issue of King James's Bible, commonly known as the "Authorized" Version. There seem to have been two impressions of this first issue, which are distinguished as the "She" and "He" editions, according as they read : "She went into the citie," or "He went into the citie" in Kuth iii. 15. This is a copy of the "He" impression. 39. The Holy Bible, conteyning the Old Testament and the New. Newly translated out of the Originall tongues : and with the former Translations diligently compared and reuised by his Maiesties speciall Comandement. Appointed to be read in Churches. Imprinted at London by Bobert Barker Printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie. Anno Dom. 1612. 4°. The first quarto edition of King James's version ; printed in Roman type. 40. The Holy Bible Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie. Anno 1612. 8°. The first octavo edition of King James's version. The words Appointed to be read in Ghwrches are regularly omitted from the early octavo editions. 27 41. The Holy Bible, containing the Old Testament, and the New. Newly translated out of the Original Tongues : and with the former Translations diligently compared and reuised, By his Maiesties speciall commandement. Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, . . . 1616. 2°. The first small folio edition of King James's version ; printed in Eoman type. 42. Fragment of an edition of the New Testament, containing the Epistle of James, the Epistles of Peter and John, the Epistle of Ivde, and the Revelation of Saynct Iohn. [Imprinted in Aberdene, by Eivard Raban, 1631.] 12°. This fragment is said to be unique. 43. The Holy Bible Barker and Assigns of Bill : London. 1631. 8°. This edition is generally known as the " Wicked Bible," owing to the printers' having left out the word not in the Seventh Command- ment, Exod. xx. 14. For this they are said to have been fined £300. 44. The Holy Bible, containing the Old Testament and the New. Newly translated out of the originall tongues, and with the former diligently compared and revised, by his Majesties speciall commandement. Appointed to be read in Churches. Edinburgh, Printed by the printers to the Kings most excellent Majestic Cum Privilegio. Anno Dom. 1633. [Robert Young.] 8°. The first edition of the Authorized Version printed in Scotland. The printer, Robert Young, a Londoner, is said to have become King's printer for Scotland, 12th April, 1632. It has been conjectured that this Bible may have been published in connexion with the coronation of Charles I at Edinburgh in June, 1633. 28 45. The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Newly translated out of the original Greek: and with the former translations diligently compared and revised by his Majesties speciall command. Edinburgh, Printed by Robert Young . . . 1633. 8°. An edition of the New Testament is said to have been printed at Edinburgh in 1628 by the heirs of Hart, but, with that exception,' this is the earliest edition of the New Testament of the Authorized Version printed in Scotland. 46. The Holy Bible, containing the Old Testament and the New. . . . Printed by Tho: Buck and Eoger Daniel, Printers to the University of Cambridge. [1638.] 2°. A folio edition of the Authorized Version printed in Cambridge, and showing evidence of a careful revision of the text, italics, and marginal readings. The edition is also noted for containing the famous reading in Acts vi. 3 : " Whom ye [for we] may appoint." The alteration is sometimes attributed to the Puritans, and is even said to have cost Cromwell a bribe of .£1000 : whereas, as a matter of fact, it occurs first here, in a Bible published in 1 638 under Royal sanction. 47. The Bible : That is, The Holy Scriptures Contained Amsterdam. Printed by Thomas Stafford . . . clolocxliv. According to the Copy printed at Edinburgh by Andro Hart, in the yeare 1610. 2°. The copy followed is the Genevan version, with Tomson's revised New Testament ; and this may probably be regarded as the latest seventeenth century issue of the Geneva Bible. As showing, how- ever, its continued use, it may be mentioned that in the year 1639 the celebrated Alexander Henderson, in preaching before the General Assembly, read a long text from the Geneva Bible. 48. The Holy Bible. . . . Edinburgh, Printed by Evan Tyler, Printer to the Kings most excellent Majesty, 164.9. 8°. On the verso of the general title are the Royal arms, with the initials GR. 29 49. The Holy Bible London, printed by Iohn Fetid, Printer to the Parliament, 1653. 24°. An edition notorious for its errors, e.g. Matt. vi. 24, " Ye cannot serve and mammon"; 1 Cor. vi. 9, "Know ye not that the imrighteous shall inherit the Kingdom of God." 50. The Holy Bible London, Printed by Iohn Feild one of his Eighnes's Printers, - 1657. 12°. 51. The Holy Bible London, Printed by Iohn Field one of His Highness 's Printers, 165S. 24°. 52. The Holy Bible. Containing the Books of the Old and New Testament. John Field, Printer to the Universitie : Cambridge, 1660. 2°. ' A reissue of Field's folio of 1659, and "illustrated with Choro- graphical Sculps by J. Ogilby." 53. [The New Testament Glasgow, printed by Robert Sanders, and are sold in his shop. 1666.] 12°. This is said to be the first edition of Scripture printed at Glasgow. No other copy is known to exist. 54. The Holy Bible Printed by Andrew Anderson, Printer to His most Sacred Majesty, King Charles the second, in the 28 year of His reign. Anno Bom. 1676. [Edinburgh.] 8°. " We do not know of any Scottish edition of the size since the time of Watson, which is equal to it " (Lee, Memorial for the Bible Societies in Scotland, p. 163.) 30 55. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Printed 1679. [Glasgow.] 56. The Holy Bible Edinburgh, printed by James Watson, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majesty, MDGGXXII. 2°. In 1717 the General Assembly instructed its Commission to take steps " to get the printing, vending, and importing of the incorrect copies of the Holy Scriptures . . . stopped and prevented." These instructions were renewed two years later, and to this fact Lee (Memorial, p. 193) attributes the accuracy with which this edition is printed. 57. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Glasgow : Printed by J. Bryce and D. Paterson MDGCLIV. 58. The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testament; or, a Family Bible, with Annotations and Parallel Scriptures. ... By Samuel Clark, M.A. Glasgow: Printed by Joseph Galbraith and Company, for John Orr Bookseller, and to be sold by him at the first shop above Gibson's Wynd, Saltmercat. MBCCLXV. 2°. 59. The Holy Bible Oxford, Printed by T. Wright and W. Gill, Printers to the . . 1769. 4°. The quarto impression of the Oxford " Standard Edition " of the Authorized Version, which was carefully revised by Dr Benjamin Blayney, on the lines of Dr Paris' Cambridge edition of 1762. Paris and Blagney have been described as "the great modernizers of the diction of the version, from what it was left in the seventeenth century, to the state wherein it appears in modern Bibles" {Scrivener, The Authorized Edition ... p. 30). 31 60. The Holy Bible: that is, the Sacred Scriptures contained in the Old and New Testament With most profitable annotations upon all the hard places, and other things of great importance. By the Archbishops, Bishops, etc., etc. . . . London : Printed by M. Lewis MDCCLXXV. 2°. According to a MS. note attached to the copy, this Bible, though called the Bishops' Bible, and having Archbishop Parker's Preface prefixed to it, has nothing in common with the real Bishops' Bible. It corresponds closely to the Genevan version, the word breeches being, however, omitted in Gen. iii. 7. 61. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by Sir D. Hunter Blair and J. Bruce, Printers to the King's most Excellent Majesty, 1811. 12°. This is sometimes described as the " Immaculate Bible," no error having yet been discovered in it. Bibles Printed in Scotland To the specimens of Bibles printed in Scotland already exhibited there are here added a number of issues belonging to the seven- teenth and eighteenth centuries, and a few examples from the first half of the nineteenth century. Those interested in the subject of the printing of the Bible in Scotland may be referred to Principal Lee's well-known Memorial for the Bible Societies in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1824), with its Appendices, and to W. T. Dobson's History of the Bassandyne Bible (Edinburgh, 1887). 62. The New Testament Edinburgh, Printed by Robert Yoimg, Printer to the Kings most excellent Majestie. Cum privilegio. Anno Dom. 1635. 8°. A very scarce edition. 63. The Holy Bible Edinbwrgh, Printed by Robert Young, Printer to the Kings most excellent Majestie. Gvm privilegio. Anno Dom. 1637. .8°. The second octavo edition of King James's version printed in Scotland. The New Testament title is dated 1636. 64. The Holy Bible Edinbwrgh, Printed by Robert Young his Majesties Printer for the, Kingdome of Scotland. Cum privilegio. Anno Dom. 1638. 32°. 33 65. The New Testament Glasgow, Printed by Robert Sanders, Printer to the Town, and are to be sold in his Shop. M.DG.LXX. 18°. 66. The New Testament Edinburgh, Printed by Andrew Anderson and his Partners, Printers to the Kings most Excellent Majesty : 1675. 12°. To judge from the signature, this New Testament originally formed part of a Bible. 67. The New Testament 1679. 16°. No place or printer, but supposed to be a Glasgow edition and very scarce. Bound up with it is a copy of The Psalms of David in Meeter, newly translated, & diligently compared with the Original Text, and former Translations : More plain, smooth, and agreeable to the Text, than any heretofore. Allowed by the Authority of the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland, and appointed to be sung in Congregations and Families. Edinburgh, Printed by Evan Tyler, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majesty, 1650. 16°. 68. The New Testament Glasgow, Printed by Robert Sanders, One of Their Majesties Printers. Anno Bom. 1691. 12". The title-page bears a device surrounded by the motto, Lord let Glasgow flourish through the preaching of Thy Word. 69. The Holy Bible Edinbwgh, Printed by the Heirs and Successors of Andrew Anderson, Printer to His most excellent Majesty. Anno Bom. 1698. 2 vols. 24°. 34 According to Lee (Memorial, p. 164) this edition is " not only indistinctly printed, but full of errors." He instances, by way of examples, Kom. vi. 17, Ye were not the servants of sin, for Ye were the servants of sin, and Col. iii. 19, Be not better (for bitter) against them. 70. The Holy Bible. ... Edinburgh, Printed by the Heirs and Successors of Andrew Anderson, Printers to the Queen's most excellent Majesty, Anno Bom. 1712. 4°. The outside cover bears the inscription, From the Magistrates of Canongate, 1819. The bad printing of Mrs. Anderson had long been complained of. On the expiry of her patent the privilege was granted to James Watson and Robert Freebairn. Both were excellent printers, but being Jacobites they did not long enjoy the privilege. 71. The Holy Bible. . . . Edinburgh, Printed by James Watson, One of His Majesties Printers, Anno Bom. 1715. Cum privilegio. 8°. An edition "deservedly in great request" from its neatness and accuracy (Lee, Memorial, p. 187 f.). 72. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by James Watson, One of His Majesty's Printers. Sold at his Shop, opposite to the Lucken-Booths, 1716. 24°. 73. The Holy Bible Edinburgh : Printed by James Watson, One of the Printers to the King's Most Excellent Majesty, MBOCXVIII. 4°. 74. The Holy Bible. . . . Edinburgh, Printed by John Baskett and Company, His Majesty's Printers. MBCCXXVI. Cum privilegio. 8°. A quarto edition of the same year is apparently the earliest Edinburgh edition that bears Baskett's name on its title-page. 35 As a rule the common editions of Baskett's Bibles did not enjoy a great reputation for accuracy. A folio, printed at Oxford in 1717, is known as the Vmegar Bible, because the running title at Luke xx reads The parable of the vinegar (for vineyard). John Baskett was an English printer, and a gigantic monopolist. When Freebairn forfeited his patent Mrs. Anderson and Baskett managed to get the exclusive right of printing the Scriptures in Scotland for 41 years. 75. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by Robert Freebairn and Company, His Majesty's Printers. MDGGXXX. 18°. 76. The Holy Bible Edinburgh, Printed by Robert Freebairn, His Majesty's Printer. M.DGG.XXXIV. 2 vols. 4°. The copy of Principal Leechman's Bible with his MS. notes, bequeathed by him with other books to the Divinity Library. Freebairn is said to have been the fourth instance of a King's printer in Scotland, charged with seditious practices, owing to his having retired from Edinburgh to Perth, and set up there as the Pretenders printer. Notwithstanding this, King George and his successors continued to employ Freebairn and his assigns as printers till 1752. See Lee, Memorial, p. 183 note. 77. The Holy Bible. . . . Edinburgh, Printed by Richard Waikins, One of His Majesty's Printers. M.DGG.XLIII. 2 vols. 12°. 78. The Holy Bible Edinburgh : Printed by Richard Wathins, His Majesty's Printer. M.DGC.XLVII. U°. With John Canne's address To the Beader and marginal notes. The Bibles of B. Watkins are more correct than the common editions of Baskett. 36 79. The New Testament Glasgow, Printed by John Robertson and Mrs M'Lecm in Company, and sold at their Shops in the Salt Mercat. M.DCGXLVIII. 12°. These small editions of the New Testament were used as school- books. During the greater part of the eighteenth century, children were generally taught to read in country schools, by using first the Shorter Catechism, then the Proverbs, afterwards the New Testament, and, lastly, the Bible. The New Testaments, as well as the Catechisms and Proverbs used in schools, were commonly printed in Glasgow. 80. The Holy Bible Edinbwrgh: Printed by Adrian Wafkins His Majesty's Printer. M.DCC.LII. 4°. On the outside cover of this Bible is a label with the words Scots Church Campvere No. 14. 81. The Holy Bible. . . . Edinburgh: Printed by Adrian WatHns His Majesty's Printer. MDCCLIV. 8°. With Canne's Preface and marginal matter. Adrian Watkins succeeded Eichard in 1747. 82. The New Testament Glasgow : Printed by Archibald M'Lean for John Orr Bookseller in the Salt Mercat. MDCCLVI. 12°. 83. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by Alexander Kincaid His Majesty's Printer. MDCCLVIII. 12°. Kincaid's Commission as King's Printer in Scotland is dated 21st June, 1749 : see Lee, Memorial App., No. XXXII. He never produced anything that ranked above mediocrity. 37 84. The Holy Bible. . . . Edinburgh: Printed by Alexander Kincaid His Majesty's Printer. MDCGLX. 12°. 85. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by Alexander Kincaid His Majesty's Printer. MDOCLXII. 12°. Said to be full of typographical errors. 86. The Family Expositor: Containing the Sacred Text of the Old and New Testament ; illustrated with a Commentary and Notes. . . . Wherein the Text is explained, Doubts resolved, Scriptures paralleled, and various Readings observed. Dwndee: Printed by Henry Galbrazth, M.DCC.LXIII. 2°. 87. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by Alexander Kincaid His Majesty's Printer. MDCGLXIV. 12°. 88. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by Alexander Kincaid His Majesty's Printer. MDCCLXVI. 12°. This copy formerly belonged to the Rev. John Adamson, and contains his autograph and MS. notes. Among the mottoes on the fly-leaf are the words from an epistle of Erasmus : " Saltern mihi detur in Sacris Literis tranquille consenescere ! " 89. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by Alexander Kincaid His Majesty's Printer. MDCGLXX. 12°. 90. The New Testament Edinbwgh: Printed by Alexander Kincaid, His Majesty's Printer. MDCCLXXVIII. 12°. 38 91. The Holy Bible Edinburgh : Printed by the Assigns of Alexander Kincaid, His Majesty's Printer. MDCGLXXXIII. 2 vols. 12°. 92. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by the Assigns of Alexander Kincaid, His Majesty's Printer. MDGCLXXXVII. 8°. 93. The Holy Bible Edinburgh : Printed by Mark and Charles Kerr, His Majesty's Printers. MDOCXGIII. 2°. In 1793 the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr transmitted an overture to the General Assembly regarding the better printing of the Bible, in which it was said : — "it is notorious that the late common edition of the Bible is printed so imperfectly, and on such bad paper, as to be almost illegible." 94. The Pronouncing Testament : a work, on an Original Plan, Intended to facilitate the Beading of the New Testament with Propriety. ... In which the Words are arranged in Alphabetical Order before each Chapter where they first occur. . . . With their Pronunciation ascertained. . . . By the Bev. William Brown, Minister of Bedrule. Edinburgh: Printed for J. Fairbairn and Ar. Constable, Edinburgh . . . MDCCXCVI. 8°. 95. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by Mark and Charles Kerr, His Majesty's Printers. MDCCXCVI. 8°. 96. The Holy Bible Edinburgh: Printed by Sir D. Hunter Blair and J. Bruce, Printers to the King's most Excellent Majesty. 1811. 24°. 97. The Holy Bible Coldstream : Published by the Scottish Board for Bible Circulation, Rev. Adam Thomson, D.D., Secretary. MDCCCXLIV. 18° For Eph. vi. there has been misprinted Luke xii. 39 98. The Holy Bible Glasgow: Macgregor, Poison, & Company, 75 Argyll Street. MDCGGXLV. 8°. 99. The Imperial Family Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments. . . . Blackie & Son, Queen Street, Glasgow, . . . MDCCCXLVII. 2°. 100. The Holy Bible . . . With marginal references . . . and explana- tory notes, by the Rev. John Brown ... and numerous additional . . . notes ... by the Rev. J. B. Patterson, and the Rev. A. S. Patterson. Coldstream: Printed by Robert Kerr, for the Free Bible Press Company; Rev. Adam Thomson, D.D., Secretary. M.DCCC.XLVIII. 4°. "The printing of the Scriptures was kept upon the footing of a monopoly, with the effect of poor work and high prices, till our own age, and so lately as 1823 the patentees, in a legal document, set forth their expenses in erecting a printing-office and ' other charges of various descriptions,' as entitling them 'to enjoy the relative profits and emoluments without interference from any quarter.'" Chambers, Domestic Annals of Scotland, iii. p. 366. GLASGOW : PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEH08E AND CO. LTD.