Bagster’s Bibles: for Norwich and the world

Open copy of the New Testament with Greek text at the head of the page and six columns of English beneath (three to each page).

Last weekend, I happened upon a melancholy Twitter thread that captured the closing of a two-hundred-year-old church in Norwich: Princes Street United Reformed Church. The author, Jay Hulme (@JayHulmePoet), had gone to photograph the building as a record for posterity, a day before the pews and fittings were due to be stripped out. (You can read and see Jay’s account here.)

One of the outcomes of this visit is that a small collection of books, mostly bibles, found piled on a windowsill has now gone to the Norfolk Heritage Centre for safe-keeping. Looking carefully, with input from friends and the local church minister, Jay had identified several books belonging to the Colman family—famed for their mustard. One of these was a copy of Samuel Bagster’s “English Version of the Polyglot Bible”, heavily annotated by its owner—Ethel Mary Colman Continue reading “Bagster’s Bibles: for Norwich and the world”

Hine’s Cassirer

Snapshot from Cassirer website ("Work-in-progress")

As of autumn 2019, I am postdoctoral research associate for the Sheffield Cassirer project, leading the digitisation and republication of the works of Heinrich Walter (“Heinz”) Cassirer.

Born in Starnberg in 1903, Heinz Cassirer completed a PhD in classical philology at Heidelberg University before being forced into economic exile: As a Jewish academic, he was ruled out of employment Continue reading “Hine’s Cassirer”

Modeled on Zürich: a fresh study of Miles Coverdale’s 1535 Bible

The publisher addresses his customers: a detail from the opening of Froschauer's remarks on the differences between the 1534 Zurich Bible and its antecedent.

Developed from the appendices to my doctoral thesis, this article in the journal Reformation was published as part of a special issue, in memory of the great Tyndale scholar David Daniell (1929-2016). Scholars have often assumed that the 1534 Zurich Bible was simply a reprint of the 1531 edition. This is a false assumption. Indeed, the differences are sufficient to prove that the first English bible in print had a manifest dependency on the later version, demonstrable in spite of the fact that Coverdale used other sources. The argument is necessarily forensic, the careful groundwork enabling subsequent illustration of Coverdale’s own agency as a translator.

Continue reading “Modeled on Zürich: a fresh study of Miles Coverdale’s 1535 Bible”

Luther’s bibles: a question of church?

Detail from Das Allte Testament deutsch (title page) via wikimedia

I have previously written about Germanic bibles before Luther. But we might as well ask “before what Luther?”

As I’ve written previouslyMartin Luther began translating the Bible programmatically in 1522, with two versions of the New Testament appearing in quick succession. Another portion appeared in 1523, covering what Luther referred to as the “Five Books of Moses”. A complete Luther bible did not arrive until 1534 (or 1533 if we include the Low German bible prepared by Luther’s associate Joannes Bugenhagen which carried Luther’s endorsement).1 In the meantime, Luther had already begun to revise his work, and he would continue making changes until his death in 1546.

I often frame my explanations with reference to the book of Ruth.2 In this case though, prompted by an enquiry, I’m going to illustrate some of the steps in tracing Luther’s translation (and, allied with that, his thinking) with attention to Genesis. Continue reading “Luther’s bibles: a question of church?”

The best translation?

What’s the best bible translation? I recall being asked this question a couple of years ago, following a talk on Luther’s language. I’m not sure exactly how I answered. I know I probably said to read more than one version. (There is no such thing as a perfect translation.) I may have also acknowledged that for those studying academically, the NRSV tends to be the recommended port of call. I have a suspicion I also recommended a volume Athalya Brenner put together, that presents insights into contemporary biblical scholarship through the voices of biblical women. It turns the notion of translation upside down, and sometimes we need that level of freshness.

Continue reading “The best translation?”

Luther & Language (video)

The opening of Ruth in the Complutensian Polyglot.

The past few weeks have been busy with preparations for the launch of 500 Reformations. This week, I received links to videos of two of the three public talks I gave earlier in the year. I’ve just found the necessary ten minutes to watch myself back. Ignoring the note of mild stress in the voice (I have to get through all this in 10 minutes!) I was pleased to find I could watch it through without cringing. Continue reading “Luther & Language (video)”

Before Luther: Germanic Bibles on the net

The top of an initial 'I' from the start of Ruth, with characters resembling those of Zainer's bible.

German(ic) bibles before Luther

Anyone who has heard me speak about Luther’s bible translation will know that he was not the first person to translate the Bible into German. Bringing together Germanic languages, including the variants found in the territories we now know as Switzerland, Austria, and the Low Countries, we might count as many as 18 different bible texts in circulation before Luther’s first complete Bible (and this is without counting variant editions of Luther’s own interim work). The following discussion highlights some significant printed bibles whose translations pre-date Luther’s first published version of the book of Ruth (published in Der Ander Teyl, 1524). Continue reading “Before Luther: Germanic Bibles on the net”