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nine or ten parts, wliicli he caufed to be traiifcribcd into 

 papcr-buoks, and to be dillributed among the moil learned 

 bifhops, and otheii; ; rcquiritig that tUty would perfectly 

 correct tlicir rcfpcflive purtioiis, and return them to him at 

 a limited lime. When tha afli^^iied day came, every man 

 fciit his appropriate portion to Lambctli, except Stokefly, 

 bilhop of London. This laudable dcfi^n of the archbifhop 

 f.iilcd ; but the bufinefs was executed by other perfo;;s, 

 wlium he countenanced and encouraged, as we have already 

 ftfted in the preceding articles. In April 1539, (5raftun 

 and Whitchurch printed the Bible (called the " Grent 

 Bible"^ in large folio, " cum privilegio ad imprimendum 

 folum." A beautiful frontifpiecc, defigned by Holbcn, 

 and particularly dtfcribed-and exhibited in an engraving by 

 I^ewis, p. 122, &:c. was prefixed to it: and in the text, 

 thofe parts of the Latin verlion, which are not fo-nid in the 

 Hebrew or Greek, areinferttd in a fmaller letter ; fueh, for 

 inilance, as the throe veifes of the 14th pfalm, which are 

 the 5th, 6tl), and 7th, in the tranflation of the Englidi 

 lituigy, and the controverted words, i John v. 7, 8. ; and 

 a mark is ufcd to denote a difference of reading between the 

 Hebrew and Chaldee, afterwards explained in a fcparate 

 treatife. In this edition Matthewe's Bible was revifed, and 

 feveral alterations and corrections were made in the tranfla- 

 tion, efpecially in tlie book of Pfalms. Tindal's prologues 

 and notes, and the notes added by others, in the edition of 

 1537, were wholly omitted. Pointing hands, placed in the 

 margin and in the text, fliew the paffages on which Uufe notes 

 were to have been written. Johnfon (i;bi fupra, p. 76.) 

 calls this third edition of the Scriptures the Bible in the 

 laige or great vclumc, afcribes it to the year 1539, and 

 f'lppofes it to have been the fame which Grafton obtained 

 leave to print at Paris. He fays, that Miles Coverdale 

 compared the tranflation with the Hebrew, mended it in 

 many places, and was the chief direftor of the work. 

 Agreeably to this, Coverdale, in a fermon at Paul's crofs, 

 defended his tranflation frt)m fome flanderous reports which 

 were then raifcd againil it, confeffing " that he himfelf now 

 faw fome faults, which, if he might review the book once 

 again, as he had twice before, he doubted not he fhould 

 amend ; but for any herefv, he was fure that there was 

 none maintained in his tranflation." This is related by Dr. 

 Fulk, who was one of Coverdale's auditors. A fecond 

 edition of this Bible fecms to have been printed either this 

 or the next year, by Edward Whitchurch ; but the copy 

 is imperfeft, and has no date. 



In the courfe of the year 1539, another Bible was printed 

 by John Byddell, called " Taveiner's Bible," from the name 

 of its conductor, Richard Taverner, who was educated at 

 Chrillchurch, Oxford, patronifed by lord Cromwell, and 

 p'-obably encouraged by him to undertake the work, on ac- 

 count of his i\6]\ in the Greek tongue. This is neither a 

 bare revifal of the E;igli(h Bible jull defcribed, nor a new 

 vcrGon ; but a kind of intermediate work, being a correc- 

 tion of what is called " Matthews's Bible," many of whofe 

 marginal notes are adopted, and many omitted, and others 

 inferted by the editors. It is dedicated to the kir.g. After 

 bis patron's death, Taverner was imprifoned in the Tower 

 for this wo k ; but he had the addrefs to reinflate himfelf in 

 the king's favour. Wood ( Hill, et Ant. Univ. Oxon. fol. 

 [674, 1. ii. p, 264.) gives a particular account of Taverner; 

 attribute.; his imprifonmcnt to the influence of thofe bifliops 

 who were addiiSed to the Romilh rebgion ; ar.d informs us, 

 that his verfion was read in churches by royal aithority. In 

 November 1539, the king, at the inteictfJion of Cranmcr, 

 appointed lord Cromwell to take fpecial care that no pcrfnn, 

 within the realm, fliould attempt to print any Englifh Bible 



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for five rears, but fueh as fliould be admitted by brd Crom- 

 well ; and afTigns this reafon for the prohibition, that the 

 Bible (bould be confidered and perufed in one tranflation, 

 in order to avoid the manifold inconveniences to which 

 human frailty might be fubjedl from a diverfity of tranfla- 

 tions, and the ill ufe that might be made of it. In the 

 year 1540, two privileged editio.is of the Bible, which had 

 been printed in the preceding year, iffued from the prefs of 

 Edward Whitchurch. Lewis mentions three^^othcr in-.prcf- 

 fions of the " Great Bible," which appeared in the courfe 

 of this year ; two printed by Whi'.chureh, and one by 

 Petyt and Redman. Cranmer wrote a preface for th.' edi- 

 tions of the year 1540, from which we learn the opinions 

 and praftice of thofe times. In May of this year, the cu- 

 rates and parifhioners of every paritli were required, by 

 royal proclamation, to provide thenifelves with the Bible of 

 the largell volume before the fcall of All-Saints, uv.der tlie 

 penalty of 40J. for every month during which they fliould 

 be without it. The king charged all ordinaries to enforce 

 the obfervance of this prnclarhation ; and he apprized the 

 people, that his allovv'ing them the Scriptiires in their mother- 

 tongue was not his duty, but an evidence of his goodnefs and 

 liberality to them, of wh'ich he exhorted' them' not to make 

 any ill ufe. In May 1541, one edition of Cranmer's Bible 

 was finifhed by Richard Grafton ; who, in the Ngygniher ' 

 following, completed alfo anothei' Bible of the largell vo- 

 lume, which was fuperintended, at the king's command, 

 by Tonllal, bifhop of Durham, and Heath, bifliop of 

 Rocheller. 



In confequence of the king's fettled judgment, " that 

 his fubjefts fliould be nurled in Chrill by rcadi:;g the 

 Scriptures," he again, on tV.e 7th of May, pubbflied a 

 brief, or decree, for fetting up the Bible of 'the great vo- 

 lume in every parifh church throughout England. How- 

 ever, this decree appears to have been very partially and 

 relnftantly obferved ; and the biihops were charged, by a 

 writer in 1546, with attempting "to fupprefs the Bible, un- 

 der pretence of preparing a verfion of it for publcation 

 within feven years. After the death of Croniwell in 1540, 

 the bifliops inclined to popery gained flrength ; and the 

 Englifh tranflation was reprefented to the king as very erro- 

 neous and heretical, and dellruftive of the harmony and 

 peace of the kingdom. In the convocation, afTembled in 

 Feb. 1542, the archbifliop, in the king's name, required the 

 bifhops and clergy to revile the tranflation of the New Tefla- 

 ment, which, for that purpofe, was divided into fourteen 

 parts, and portioned out to fifteen bifliops.; the Apocalypfe, 

 on account of its difficulty,'being afligned to two. Gardiner 

 clogged this bufinefs with embarrairing inllruftions ; and 

 Cranmer clearly perceiving the refolution of the bifhops to 

 defeat the propofed tranflation, procured the king's confent 

 to refer the matter to the two univerfities, again'.l which the 

 biihops protefted ; but the aichbifliop declared his purpofe 

 to adhere to the will of the king his mailer. With this 

 contell the bufinefs terminated ; and the convocation was 

 foon after diffolved. The Romifh party prevailed alfo in 

 parliament, which e::aftcd a law that condemned aiid abo- 

 lished Tindal's tranflation, and allowed other tranflations to 

 remain in force, undtrcertain reflrii^ions. After the palling 

 of this aft, Grafton, the king's printer, was imprifoned; nor 

 was he releafcd without giving a bond of 300!. neither to 

 print nor fell any more Englifli Bibles, till the king and the 

 clergy ihould agree on a tranflation. In 1544, the Penta- 

 teuch was printed by John Day and William Seres ; and in 

 1546, the king prohibited by proclamation having and read- 

 ing Wickliffe's, Tindal's, and Coverdale's tranflations, and 

 forbad the ufe of any other than what was allowed by par- 

 liament. 



