The New Testament translated by William Tyndale: The Text of the Worms Edition of 1526 in Original Spelling

Citation

James, S. (2001), "The New Testament translated by William Tyndale: The Text of the Worms Edition of 1526 in Original Spelling", Library Review, Vol. 50 No. 4, pp. 207-208. https://doi.org/10.1108/lr.2001.50.4.207.8

It looks innocuous enough: a rather modest, unassuming, if pleasantly elegant little volume. But this is a book that turned the world on its head: in its own terms it brought the word of the gospels directly to the people in their own language in a mass‐produced volume most working people could afford to own. For this was the first translation of the Bible into English to be printed for general circulation, a major milestone in the history of the Reformation, especially in England of course. But, more than that, it played a leading part in establishing English as a major language, for much of our familiar King James Bible of 1611 used directly the 1526 language and expressions of Tyndale. It is in his words translated from St Luke that we hear in English that most familiar of stories: “And there were in the same region shepherdes abydinge in the fielde, and watching their flocke by nyght. And loo: the angell of the lorde stode harde by them, and the brightnes of the lorde shone rounde aboute them, and they were soore afrayed … ” Then throughout, stories, words, expressions, all familiar to us today prove to have been derived from this translation.

The combination of a dangerous publication, hunted down and destroyed by its powerful enemies in Church and State, with a book whose possession and reading men and women were prepared to die for, means that copies did not survive. Only two textually complete examples are extant: one in Stuttgart and the other purchased only in the last few years by the British Library, which previously had only a fragmentary copy.

The text is here transcribed and edited, retaining the original spelling and silently correcting only obvious printing errors. Tyndale intended his translation in its small unpretentious volume to be sold at the cheapest price possible; that aim is repeated in this first reprinted edition since 1526, an elegantly printed pocket‐sized hardback volume. For good measure we are also given a preface by David Daniell, setting Tyndale’s achievement in context, and an introduction by W.R. Cooper giving the history of the book and of its surviving copies. A coloured frontispiece reproduces an image of the opening of the first chapter of John’s Gospel.

This new edition is a most fitting and worthwhile enterprise, both in its content and in its production. The scholarship behind the transcription is considerable but transparent: the text is allowed to speak (sing almost) for itself, so that Tyndale’s literary as well as religious achievement shines through. The true origins of so many beautiful expressions which have pervaded the English language and literature ever since are made obvious, all within a deceptively elegant little volume. Modest and unassuming it appears, but the power and the beauty of its contents, combined with their historical significance, make this a hugely significant book out of all proportion to its size.