Case 5
Coverdale Bible, Zurich?, A.D. 1535
A leaf from the editio princeps (that is, the first printed
edition) of the complete Bible in English, translated and edited by
Miles Coverdale, a Yorkshireman. It was probably printed in Zurich.
Coverdale leaned heavily on Tyndale's translation, Luther's German
version, and a Swiss-German text by Zwingli and Leo Juda, and the
Latin version of Sanctes Pagninus rather than the Greek and Hebrew
originals. Coverdale's version included the Apocrypha (the books between
the Testaments) from which a page of the Book of Esdras is shown.
Geneva Bible, Geneva, R. Hall, A.D. 1560
Issued in a smaller, more convenient format than its predecessors,
the Geneva Bible was produced by Protestant refugees in Switzerland,
after having fled the Roman Catholic persecution in England under
Queen Mary. This was the first English Bible to use verse divisions
and the first to be printed in Roman type. It was sometimes called
the "Breeches Bible," because of the translation of Genesis 3:7: "they
[Adam and Eve] knewe that they were naked, and they sewed fig tre
leaues together, and made them selues breeches."
Case 6
The Great Bible, London, E. Whitchurch, A.D. 1541
First published in 1539, the Great Bible is a revision
by Coverdale of Matthew's Bible (1537), corrected with the aid of
Sebastian Münster's translation of the Old Testament, Erasmus's
version of the New Testament, the Vulgate, and other sources. Coverdale
worked under the patronage of Thomas Cromwell; thus the version is
sometimes called "Cromwell's Bible." It is also know as "Cranmer's
Version," because of the addition of a prologue by Thomas Cranmer
for the 1540 edition.
On display is the sixth issue of the Great Bible, the fifth with
Cranmer's prologue. It was printed by Edward Whitchurch who, eight
years later, also printed one of the issues of the first edition of
the Book of Common Prayer.
Case 7
King James Bible, London, R. Barker, A.D. 1611
Sometimes called the Authorized Version, this was, for
350 years, the standard version wherever the English language was
spoken. The translation was enthusiastically supported by James I
of England. It is a revision of the Bishop's Bible, taking into account
the version by Tyndale, Matthew, and Coverdale as well as the Great
and Geneva Bibles. There were two issues in 1611, sometimes distinguished
as the "He" and "She" Bible. The copy exhibited is the "She" (corrected)
version in which Ruth 3:15 reads: " and she went into the city." Shown
here is Genealogy 1.
Thank you for viewing this on-line exhibit! A CD-ROM version of the
exhibit, The Evolution of the English Bible, with extensive
additions and many images illustrating over thirty different texts,
is also available from the University of Michigan Press. This exhibit
is on display annually in the Special Collections department of the
Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library at the University of Michigan, during
the months of December-January.
Return to the Exhibits
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