The Matthew Bible

William Tyndale’s assistant, John Rogers published an English Bible in 1537 under the pseudonym Thomas Matthew. The text includes a previously unpublished section of the Old Testament, translated by Tyndale. The gaps were filled with Coverdale’s translation, except the opening chapters of Job and the Prayer of Manasseh, which Rogers translated. The 1549 edition was edited by Edmund Becke and contains a footnote in 1 Peter 3 which is rendered “and if she be not obedient and healpeful unto him, endevoureth to beat the fear of God into her head.” This copy does not contain the Book of Psalms through Malachi.

Printed in 1549 by John Daye in London. Possibly acquired by Rev. Thomas Clarke (1752–1797), Vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Hull, England.[1] Acquired in 1798 by John Todd (–1811), bookseller in York; Acquired in 1799 by Thomas Payne (1752–1831), bookseller in London; Acquired by 1805 by Emerson Charnley (1781–1845), bookseller in Newcastle;[2] Purchased in 1810 by Rev. John Brewster (1753–1842), Rector of Egglescliffe, England.[3] Purchased by 1911 by Newcastle-upon-Tyne Public Libraries, England.[4] Deaccessioned by the 1990s by Newcastle-upon-Tyne Public Libraries, England.[5] Acquired by Dr. John R. Kelly, private collector in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Privately purchased in 2010 by the Green Collection, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Donated in 2017 to National Christian Foundation (later The Signatry), under the curatorial care of Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.

Notes: [1] Thomas Clarke was a noted bibliophile and, for a time, president of the Hull Subscription Library. It is likely this book was part of his collection, which was auctioned upon his death in 1797 and purchased by the subsequent owner. [2] John Brewster, who purchased this item in 1810, provided a handwritten list of these booksellers and their catalogue descriptions on the front flyleaf of the book. See John Todd, J. Todd’s Catalogue for 1798 (London: Baldwin, 1798), 196, no. 6557 and Thomas Payne, A Catalogue of Valuable Books (London: Thomas Payne, 1799), 36, no. 933. [3] Rev. Brewster’s book plate is on the front flyleaf of the book. In addition to information regarding the text’s previous owners, he also provides a handwritten short essay on its publication history. [4] The library refers to the text in its Thirteenth Report of the Public Libraries Committee, 1910–1911 (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Doig Bros. & Co., 1911), 3. [5] Sarah Mulligan (Newcastle Library Information Officer), email to D.A. Schmidt (MOTB), November 29, 2017.