Puritan History
Rheims-Bishops’ Parallel New Testament, First Edition
Rheims-Bishops’ Parallel New Testament, First Edition
- Collection ID
- BIB.005043
- Type
- Bible - Printed Book
- Date
- 1589
- Geography
- England
- Language
- English
- Medium
- Printed on Paper
- Dimensions
- 11.4 × 8.1 × 2.8 in. (29 × 20.7 × 7.2 cm)
- Exhibit Location
- 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 to Catholics in England. This copy is a first edition printed in 1589.
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 to Catholics in England. This copy is a first edition printed in 1589.
Printed in 1589 by Christopher Barker, printer, London, England. Purchased in 1992 by Sidney Ohlhausen, private collector, Houston, Texas;[1] Purchased in 2015 by Tenny Family Bible Collection, private collection, Krum, Texas; Donated in 2020 to Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.
Notes: [1] A catalog description is pasted to the front pastedown, with the handwritten note, “Bloomsbury 8-92.” While faint handwriting at the top of the title page could provide clues about the book’s previous owners, the note is illegible. Information from Sidney Ohlhausen via email, December 2020.
Printed in 1589 by Christopher Barker, printer, London, England. Purchased in 1992 by Sidney Ohlhausen, private collector, Houston, Texas;[1] Purchased in 2015 by Tenny Family Bible Collection, private collection, Krum, Texas; Donated in 2020 to Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.
Notes: [1] A catalog description is pasted to the front pastedown, with the handwritten note, “Bloomsbury 8-92.” While faint handwriting at the top of the title page could provide clues about the book’s previous owners, the note is illegible. Information from Sidney Ohlhausen via email, December 2020.
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