Puritan History

Rheims–Bishops’ Parallel New Testament, Fourth Edition

Collection ID

BIB.003615

Type

Bible - Printed Book

Date

1633

Geography

England

Language

English

Medium

Printed on paper

Dimensions

13 × 9.4 × 3.3 in. (33 × 24 × 8.4 cm)

Exhibit Location

Not on View

The Rheims–Bishops’ Parallel New Testament was the work of a Puritan theologian, but ended up aiding perhaps the most important Bible translation in the history of English Catholicism. In 1582, English Catholics working in exile in France published the Rheims New Testament, an English translation of the Vulgate with notes and commentary aimed at refuting Protestant doctrine. William Fulke, a Puritan minister and theologian, responded in 1589 with this parallel New Testament, 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 fourth edition printed in 1633.

Printed in 1633 by Augustine Mathewes, London, England. Acquired after 1802 by Richard and Alice Alsop, Manchester, England.[1] Acquired before 1934 by Montagu Egerton Loftus, England.[2] Acquired before 2011 by David C. Lachman, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Privately purchased in 2011 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] Richard and Alice Alsop inscribed their names and those of their children on the front flyleaf. [2] Montagu Egerton Loftus’s (1860–1934) bookplate is located on the front pastedown.

Questions about our Collections?

Visit Contact Us Page

(866) 430-MOTB

To acquire permission to use this image, please visit our Rights and Reproduction page .

More From The Collections

Carey Bible, First Edition

Bible - Printed Book
1790
United States

Great Bible Portion with Carved Wooden Cover

Bible - Printed Book
Likely 1569
London, (England)

Captured Civil War New Testament

Bible - Printed Book
1862
Oxford, (England)
© Museum of the Bible 2024
Designed by PlainJoe