Customer Reviews

Tyndale New Testament-OE-1526

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A great facsimile. I collect Bible facsimiles, and this is the very best. It is also wonderful that by far, it is the lest expensive. The reprodution is one of the very, very best that I have ever seen. Far better than ones costing hundreds of dollars. The fact that it is still one of the very best English translations ever done makes it all the much better. The above reviewer's statement that it is not clear is not correct, it is perfectly clear. Perhaps that reviewer is not use to old style Gothic type? This is the most important Bible that was ever translated and printed, and it is a miracle that we can still read and enjoy the very first early modern English Translation from the original Greek.
This Bible was originaly printed almost 5 hundred years ago, and it is still perfectly readable today. It is actualy in more modern English than the later King James Version. Indeed the KJV copied straight from this Bible into theirs.

I have been seeking the 1976 Paradine facsimile for years, having seen copies offered for 2-3 thousand USD. And then this comes along: wonderful full color (Bristol handcolored copy)photographic facsimile in very nice leather binding with gilted pages.
Why cannot somebody do this for the 1535 Coverdale Bible as well? The one and only facsimile was made in 1972 by Dawson press - and very hard to get.
Update: Do yourself a favour, do not let the negative reviewer stop you from aquiring this gem. Trust the advice from us that are Bible collectors and now a superb facsimile when we see one. (The Tyndale NT was printed in black letter ("gothic")- as was the first King James Version).

This is a superb product exceeding the David Paradine edition of 1976. It has full color images of each page including the hand-written marginal comments. Well worth the price. The publishers are to be commended for making this most important New Testament available in its original form to everyone who loves the Bible.

All I can say is that this Bible facsimile is amazing! It is small like a normal New Testament would be but a bit thicker.

I love my Geneva 1560 facsimile but it is really big. I bought the Tyndale facsimile because of it's smaller size. It will be easier to take with me to Iraq.

The facsimile is in full color! Prefect photo copies of the original.The only bad thing is that they could have blown up the copies to the size of the page so that there is not all the white around the sides. This is the only negative statement I could make. The writing is Gothic and looks amazing.

It is hard to read at first but after a little practice you will be on your way reading and enjoying this. Some of the letters look odd and it is smaller print. This is easily solved with practice. My eyes sight is good so if you need glasses I would assume you really will need them when reading this book.

William Tyndale died for what he believed in. This was his purpose, to get the Bible out to the common people. He was a master at eight languages! He was the first to go back to the original Hebrew and Greek to translate a Bible into English. This is history at it's best.

Anyway, as you can see I am a fan. I recommend this Bible to anyone who loves the Bible and history.

William Tyndale was a martyr; this Bible that you are considering to purchase was the "crime" that he was put to death for. William Tyndale translated the Bible from it's original languages into English because he believed that everyone should be able to read the scriptures for themselves, which was what got him into trouble with the established church at the time.

This new facsimile of his New Testament is produced from one of three known copies which survived the original persecution and the almost 500 years since it was printed. In a "miracle" of modern technology, we have it faithfully reproduced page by page, just as it came off of the press in the year 1526. It is printed in beautiful gothic type, and is hand-colored. Not only is it a superb Bible, it is a work of art, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more asthetically pleasing rendering of the scriptures.

Today, Tyndale's original New Testament is again accessible to all thanks to The British Library and Hendrickson Bibles, because of this edition's wide distribution and relatively inexpensive price. Everyone who appreciates the history of our Bible will enjoy owning a copy of the very first English New Testament. Tyndale was executed by religious authorities in 1536 for having the audacity to publish a Bible that could be read and understood by the common man; the fact that his Bible has survived and is now available to almost anybody who wants it is the perfect tribute to Tyndale and his desire for everybody to be able to read the Word of God for themselves.

One comment I have to add is that I agree with the people who note that this is a very hard copy of the scriptures to read. This is due mainly to the use of archaic spellings of common words, and the fact that most of us are not used to the gothic style of type. Also, the English language has changed a lot in 500 years, and some of the words that Tyndale used are no longer a part of our everyday language. But I have found that the challenge of reading ancient copies of the English scriptures can be exciting and rewarding; ironically enough, I do so in part to keep my interest and understanding of the Bible fresh and new. This is not an "easy read", but it will be much more rewarding for you to read Tyndale's Bible as it was printed, and the experience of doing so is far superior to reading his translation in our own modernized spelling and typeface.

This is a treasure! It is a facsimile of the original in almost exactly the same size. If one thinks about the significance of this little volume, it is very pleasing to hold it in one's hand (as there are only 3 copies of the original still in existence today!)

It's not very readable, because the Black letter font of the original wasn't very readable. But you can see and feel just what an early merchant or plough-boy of the new Reformed persuasion would have seen and felt as he read this forbidden work by candlelight c. 1526 AD.

There is another edition - of almost identical size - which uses Roman Font. Get that if you need to work closely with the content.

But as a little piece of the history of the English Bible, this is a gem!

In the realm of English Bible translation, one name stands supreme. William Tyndale is the man most responsible for the English Bibles we use today. The King James Version owes a great debt to William Tyndale, very often borrowing Tyndale's expressions, phrasing and insight into how to use short, concise English words to convey the meaning of the original Greek New Testament. Some say upwards of 85 percent of the words in the King James Bible originate from Tyndale's work. Later English Bibles owe an indirect debt to Tyndale through their continued dependence on the King James Version's phrasing, often borrowed from Tyndale.

In England perhaps more than any other area in Europe, the Reformation was birthed from the presence of the vernacular Bible. John Wycliffe's Bible, various translations from the Latin under his name, had a wide impact on England. But a mere ten years after Erasmus offered the first printed Greek New Testament, William Tyndale gave his English New Testament to the English people. While Tyndale himself was strangled and burned in 1536, only 4 years later his prayer for England was answered. Tyndale's last words are reported to have been: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." In 1538, Thomas Cromwell under the authority of the King called for a publicly available translation and by 1539 the first authorized English Bible, the Great Bible, was made available to Tyndale's beloved England.

Of Tyndale's original 1526 New Testament, only three copies survive today. One of those three is in beautiful condition and was purchased by the British Library for more than one million pounds in 1994. Hendrickson Publishers has a beautiful hardback edition with a full color fascimile reproduction of this 1526 Tyndale treasure. The original size of the Tyndale edition was a small octavo size made for the pocket and the Hendrickson reprint is 6.6 x 4.9 x 1.6 inches and matches that smaller feel. The copied pages are very clear, the colorful first letters of chapters and paragraph breaks come through as brilliant as the original with gold lettering and all. Several full color pictures of the various NT authors appear at the beginning of the various books in the New testament, and these miniature portraits are vivid and clear. What's striking is how high the quality is of this 16th Century printing. The lack of verses is also interesting to a modern eye, as they didn't exist until 1550.

The book includes a helpful introduction by David Daniell, author of "William Tyndale: A Biography (Nota Bene)" (Yale University Press, 2001). Daniell illustrates Tyndale's masterful command of English and contrasts his work with the Wycliffe Bibles that we still possess today. After the ten page introduction, which helpfully offers a few pointers in making sense of the block, Black Letter print type and out-dated orthography, the fascimile reproduction is given. There are no long treatises explaining Scripture nor any marginal explanations. A small intro of a few lines exists on the only surviving title page of the 1526 edition. And a brief two page "To the Reader" colophon concludes the text.

Tyndale is reported to have once remarked to a "learned man", "I defy the Pope and all his laws... if God spare my life ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough, shall know more of scripture than thou dost." God saw fit to bless Tyndale's desire and bring it to pass. Today we are incredibly blessed in large part due to his sacrifice. This edition of Tyndale's work brings this wonderful history closer to home and allows one to examine the very first English New Testament translated from the original Greek language. I will close this review with the concluding paragraph from Tyndale's "To the Reader," but I am cheating and using someone else's interpretation of Tyndale's English. I took the following from this source: [...].

"Them that are learned Christianly, I beseech: forasmuch as I am sure, and my conscience beareth me record, that of a pure intent, singly and faithfully I have interpreted it, as far forth as God gave me the gift of knowledge and understanding that the rudeness of the work now at the first time offend them not, but that they consider how that I had no man to counterfeit, neither was helped {holp} with English of any that had interpreted the same or such like things in the Scripture beforetime. Moreover, even very necessity and cumbrance (God is record) above strength which I will not rehearse, lest we should seem to boast ourselves, caused that many things are lacking which necessarily are required. Count it as a thing not having his full shape, but as it were born before his time, even as a thing begun rather than finished. In time to come (if God have appointed us thereunto) we will give it his full shape, and put out if ought be added superfluously, and add to if ought be overseen thorow negligence, and will enforce to bring to compendiousness that which is now translated at the length, and to give light where it is required, and to seek in certain places more proper English, and with a table to expound the words which are not commonly used and shew how the Scripture useth many words which are wother wise understood of the common people, and to help with a declaration where one tongue taketh not another; and will endeavor ourselves, as it were, to seeth [[meaning, boil or cook]] it better, and to make it more apt for the weak stomachs; desiring them that are learned and able, to remember their duty, and to help thereunto, and to bestow unto the edifying of Christ's body (which is the congregation of them that believe) those gifts which they have received of God for the same purpose. The grace that cometh of Christ be with them that love him."

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Hendrickson Publishers for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

This is a masterpiece of English Bible History. When I taught History of the English Bible, I wish I had access to it. It is a marvelous feeling to examine the beautiful text that has so remarkably been reprioduced here. One can read the actual words of Tyndales Monumental work for which he ultimaely paid with his life. It is a highwater mark as the first English translation made from the Greek. Prior to this, Wycliffe had made a translation from the Vulgate but Tyndale goes back to the original fountain head and translates it into English for all of England to examine and read. One has the feeling of many people from the past looking over his or her shoulder as one reads the text and examines the marginal notes made in an unknown hand. I go to it anew each time to drink from this fountain. One can see how influencial it was on the KJV almost 100 years later. It is a must have for anyone interested in how we came to have our current English translations and how influencial Tyndale still is on English Translations.

This facsimile is wonderful, and an incredible value for the price.
As another reviewer also pointed out, there are only two or three known original 1526 Tyndale New Testament bibles left, and this is made from the one located in the British library.

The Tyndale bible was a small book, 'pocket size' for the time, as is this facsimile. The text of Tyndale's bible is what is known as 'black-letter'--the black gothic style "old english"-looking font which was common at the time. The 1526 bibles were printed on an early press, however this particular bible was illuminated by someone afterwards, and as a result is quite beautiful. At the beginning of many of the New Testament books is a small painted picture of the book's author (at least as the illuminator imagined, or as traditionally depicted), such as St. Matthew or St. Paul. These small pictures are known as miniatures. Throughout the book, capital letters in various places have been illuminated or painted as well, so the book is quite colorful, though not overly done. It is not as ornate as some of the sprawling lush 'creeping ivy' manuscripts that I've seen such as Wycliffe's, but this is quite beautiful nonetheless. Even the black printed text is well done--much better than the later Geneva Bible of 1560, in my opinion.

The hard-cover binding is very good. There is a leather-bound version (which is the more expensive of the two, naturally) and a hardcover version. I have the hardcover, so I cannot vouch for the leather version. There is a small ribbon marker made into the book. The hard cover underneath the paper dust cover is black with rather handsome gold gilded lettering on the spine. The paper is of good quality and much thicker than the crinkly 'see-through' paper in modern-published bibles. This facsimile is about 1.5 - 2 inches thick.

A modern scholarly introduction to the Tyndale Bible is included in the beginning, which is nice.

If you like bible facsimiles or simply want see how such a book looked to those who originally read it, you can't go wrong with this. Also, unlike many book markets, facsimiles of very rare books sometimes become collectible and can gain significant value when they go out of print. This price for such a nice facsimile is amazing as good bible facsimiles can be quite expensive in some cases. And if you like illuminated books, this is worth the price just for the painted miniatures and so forth.

Being someone who knows from little to nothing of faith or dogma, I can only say that I find this facsimile reprint a joy to work through. The effort reminds me very much of learning to read foreign language handwriting after being accustomed to only typeset texts. The extra pause it takes to dig out each word somehow seems to give the text more time to sink in.

The ten-page introduction by David Daniel is a wonderfully crafted and concise history of the document and also provides invaluable clues to diciphering the Black Letter script.

Unfortunately, I ordered the hardcover edition without realizing that the leather-bound edition was available at such an affordable price.