Puritan History
Rheims–Bishops’ Parallel New Testament, Second Edition
Rheims–Bishops’ Parallel New Testament, Second Edition
BIB.003273
Bible - Printed Book
1601
England
English
Printed on paper
13.2 × 9.1 × 2.7 in. (33.6 × 23 × 6.8 cm)
Not on View
William Fulke created the Rheims–Bishops’ Parallel New Testament in an effort to refute Catholic scholars, but inadvertently aided their cause. In 1582, Gregory Martin and other exiled scholars at the English College in Douay, France, had produced the Rheims New Testament, an English translation of the Latin Vulgate. Martin accused Protestant scholars of purposefully introducing errors in their Bible translations. Fulke, a Puritan minister and theologian, responded with this parallel New Testament in 1589, which placed the Rheims translation side by side with the text of the Protestant Bishops’ Bible. The format allowed him to refute the Rheims text line by line. In publishing his work, however, Fulke unintentionally made the Rheims New Testament more widely available for Catholics in England. This copy is a second edition printed in 1601.
Printed in 1601 by Robert Barker, London, England. Acquired by the 1830s by the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.[1] Acquired after the 1830s by Thomas Clennell, unknown location.[2] Acquired by Christopher Reed, unknown location.[3] Acquired by 2010 by John R. Kelly, private collector, Pennsylvania; Purchased in 2010 by Green Collection, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Donated in 2016 to National Christian Foundation (later The Signatry), under the curatorial care of Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.
Notes: [1] An inscription on the front pastedown, dated January 1831, states that this text was part of the library of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, which has been renamed Newcastle Cathedral. [2] Thomas Clennell’s signature is located at the top of the title page. It is unclear if he owned this book before or after Christopher Reed. [3] Christopher Reed’s bookplate is located on the front pastedown.
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