HISTORY OF PRINTING.
366
either in Latin or English, but rather comfort, exhort, and admonish every man to read the same as the very word of God and the spiritual foode of manne's soul, virhereby they may the better knowe their duties to God, to their sone- raigne lord the king, and their neighbour; ever gentilly and charitably exhorting them, that, using a sober and modest behavioure in the reading and inquisition of the true sense of the same, they doo in no wise stifly or eagerly con- tend to stryve one with another about the same, but referre the declaration of those places that be in controversie to the judgemente of them that be better learned. This seems a confirmation of Coverdale's Bible being licensed by the king, since by this injunction it is ordered to be had in churches, and there read by any that would, there being no other Bible in English at this time than Coverdale's.
Whether the archbishop had a mind to have Tindall's prologues and notes reprinted, or the printers thought such an edition would sell well we find the next year (1537) published another noted edition of the English Bible in folio, and is usually called Matthewe's Bible,* from the name affixed to it, as the editor. It was printed abroad, at the expense of Grafton and Whit- church ; and was " set forth with the king's most CTaeions licence." It bears the following title : — The Byble, which is all the Holy Scripture, in which are contaytied the Olde and Newe Testa- ment, truly and purely translated into Englysh. By Thomas Matthewe."t
At the beginning of the propheta are printed on the top of the page the initial letters R. G. ». e. Richard Grafton, and at the bottom E. W. i. e. Edward Whitchurch, who were both the printers and publishers, and at whose expense this impression was made ; and was " set forth vrith the king's most gracious licence."
Richard Gmfton, sent mx copies of this edition to Cromwell, at his lordship's request, accom- panying them with a letter, in which he com- plained, that after having printed 1500 copies at an expense of not less than £500 he was apprehen- sive of being undersold by the Dutch booksellers.
- The Bihie, Vith marginal notes, black letter, with
cats. isao. This U the Bible, In which, by an artful counterfeit, described by Mr. Wanley, St. Paul is called the knmt, &C. ^e rasure of the true word tenant, and tbe insertion of the false reading:, though discoverable by an exact observer, are so well executed, that the Bible m* sold to the dolce of Lauderdale, for seventeen gnioeaa, by one Thornton, who, indeed, first eUkced Matthew's preface, all the dates except one, of which he erased XVII., and added a note that this Bible, «rhich was the edition of 1537, was printed in 1520, a date earlier than that of any English Bible. It does not appear that this reading was ever really printed. There is no other copy in the world that has this alteration.
t The name of Thomas Matthewe is affixed to tliis bible as the editor ; bat this, it is said, was flctitioas ; and that the real editor was John Rogers ; a native of Lan. casliire, who was educated at Cunbildge, and became acquainted with 'Hndall at Antwerp ; but in queen Mary's reign, 0>eing then in England) he became the first martyr of hw reign, being burnt at Smithfield, February i, 1 555, on account of printing this bible. Nicholls, in his Cowtmentttry on (Ae Book «/ Common Prayer, however, states that Thomas Matthewe was prebendary of St. Paul's.
who, observing how acceptable the English bible was to the common people, were designing to print it in a smaller volume ; and though he be- lieved the editions which they would print would be very inferior in paper, type, and correctness, yet without his lordship's interposition, they would probably ruin him and his friends. He therefore entreated his lordship to obtain for him, from the king," that none should print the bible for three years but himself;" and ur^ed the ad- vantage that would result from enjomiug every cle^yman to have one, and placing six copies in every abbey. By this it would seem, that Giafton intended another impression, since the number already printed, namely, 1600, was no wise sufficient to answer so large a demand.
A resolution was soon after taken to revise this edition of Matthew's, and to print it again without the prologues or annotations, at which great ofience was pretended to be taken, as con- taining matters heretical, and very scandalous and defamatory. From the following circum- stance, it is supposed that Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch, executed this edition at Paris, because at that time there were in France better printers and paper than could be had here in England. Cromwell, earl of Essex, procured a letter to be written from Henry VIII. to the king of France, that some of his subjects might be licensed to print an English bible at the uni- versity of Paris ; and at the same time another letter was sent to Bonner, Henry's ambassador at the French court, to afford this request all the assistance in his power. Francis complied, and Bonner appeared so zealous in the cause, that Cromwell first procured him the bishopric of Hereford, and immediately afterwards that of London. The work advanced and was even on the verge of its conclusion, when the printer was summoned before the inquisitors* of the faith, who charged him with certain articles of heresy, whilst GradTton and Whitchurch, the proprietor, of the book, and Coverdale the corrector of the press, escaped only by suddenly leaving^ the country. Four dry vats filled with the copies of the bibles which they left behind, were sold by the lieutenant criminal, to whom they were delivered to be burned in Maulbert place, to a haberdasher to wrap his wares in, and these upon a second visit which Grafton and Whit- church made to Paris, were bought up by them, together with the presses and types which they had formerly used, and the servants of their first printer engaged to go with them to England, where they resumed the work, and finished it the middle of April, in the following year. It is in large folio, and has obtained the name of the bible of the largest volume, or the great hible,\ a
- Copies of the royal license by Frands I., and of the
instrument of the inquisition for inhibiting the blUea. may be seen in Strype's MemoriaU of ArckbisMop Cranmer, v. 1., c. xxi., b. 1., p. U9i and vol. II., appendix. No. XXX., Fox.
t Vellum copies of this edition are in the Brituh museum, and In the library of St. John's college, Cam- bridge.
VjOOQ IC
