EARLY ENGLISH PRINTED BIBLES. 195 



I regret to say that amongst the European nations England can 

 only take a very low place as regards the priority of her first 

 printed Bible in her own language. The first printed book 

 known is the Mazarine or Gutenburg Bible, in Latin, about 1455. 

 The first German complete Bible is dated 1466 ; Italian, 1471 ; 

 Low German, 1480 ; French, 1487 ; Bohemian, 1488 ; Dutch 

 (Old Testament only), 1477; English, 1535; Swedish, 1541; 

 Danish, 1550. 



It may be assumed, however, that Caxton was quite ready to 

 print the Bible if he dared, as in his "Golden Legend" of 1483 

 he printed most of the Pentateuch and Gospels, though this fact 

 has been much overlooked, and thus produced the first printed 

 portion of the Bible in the English language. The translation 

 of the 7th verse of Genesis iii. is similar to that in the Genevan 

 version (1560) in regard to the word which is in our version 

 rendered "aprons," but in both of these "breeches," which 

 gives its name to the numerous editions of the Genevan version. 

 The first printed Breeches Bible, though incomplete, may, there- 

 fore, be said to have been Caxton's " Golden Legend" of 1483. 

 [Wycliffe's Bible has also this translation, but it was of course in 

 MS.] I exhibit a photograph of this verse from Caxton. 



Our next English translator was Tyndale, his first publication 

 being the New Testament in 8vo., supposed to have been 

 printed at Worms about 1526, of which two copies only are now 

 known, which passed through several editions. He also trans- 

 lated the Pentateuch (1530) and one or two other books of the 

 Old Testament ; but nearly all were introduced surreptitiously 

 into this country, and many copies were burned, so that all are 

 now very scarce. Tyndale suffered martyrdom at Vilvorde, near 

 Brussels, on Oct. 6, 1536. 



It was not until 1535 that the first complete English Bible was 

 printed, the work of translation in connection with it having 

 been until recently believed to have been done entirely by Myles 

 Coverdale. The printing has been ascribed to many different 

 places, but it would appear pretty certain, from evidence which 

 has only of late years been brought to light, that Jacob van 



