[TYNDALE, William.] [FRITH, John.] [BARNES, Robert.] The Whole/ workes of W. Tyndall, Iohn/ Frith, and Doct. Barnes, three/ worthy Martyrs, and principall/ teachers of this Churche of England,/ collected and compiled in one Tome to-/ gither, beyng before scattered, & now in/ Print here exhibited to the Church./ To the prayse of God, and/ profite of all good Chri-/ stian Readers. London: Printed by Iohn Daye, and are to be sold at his shop under Aldersgate, 1573. (colophon, 1572)

First edition. Small folio signed in fours and sixes. Black letter; some roman and italic. Foxe’s cut of Tyndale’s martyrdom at [A4]. Collation: engraved title-page [A.i.], A4, B3, C-Y4, Aa-Yy6, AA-EE6, FF-GG4 (GG.ii. is finis of Tyndale, dated 1572, [GG3] is engraved fly-title to the works of Frith); HH6, II4 – three text leaves missing ([II5, 6, and KK.i.) pagination jumps 20-27 (i.e., lacking 21-26)– KK.ii-[6] LL-XX6, YY4 (finis of Frith at [YY4] recto; fly-title to Barnes [*AAa.i*] with half-page woodcut of the 1540 martyrdom of Barnes, Thomas Garret, and William Hierome (Vicar of Stepney) on verso (after Foxe); lacks AAa.i., AAa.ii. – [6], BBb-QQq6, RRr4, colophon [RRr4]recto and woodcut (after Foxe) on verso: “A lively picture describyng the authoritie and substance of God’s most blessed word, weyghing agaynst Popish traditions.”

Tyndale’s work dominates the publication and the Tyndale section includes: “A Preface to the Chistian Reader” by John Foxe; “The Life of Wylliam Tyndall” by John Foxe; (by Tyndale:) “A protestation of the state of soules departed”; Tyndale’s prefaces or prologues to the Books of Moses, the Gospels, the Epistles (including the seminal “Prologue to Romans”; “A Prologue shewing the use of Scripture”; “Parable of the Wicked Mammon”; “Obedience of a Christian Man”; “Practice of Popish Prelates”; “Answer to Syr Thomas More’s dialogues”; “Pathway into Holy Scripture”; “A Fruitfull treatise upon signes & Sacraments”; “Two Notable Letters to John Frith;” etc.

The works of John Frith include: “His Booke of Purgatory”; “An Answer to Rastal’s Dialogue”; “An answer to Syr Thomas More”; “An answer to Fisher”; “A Bulwark against Rastall”; “A Mirrour of Glasse”; “Treatise upon Baptisme”; “An antithesis between Christ and the Pope”; “A book of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ”; etc.

The works of Barnes include: “His Life and Martyrdom”; “Fayth Onely justifieth before God”; “What the keyes of the Church bee, and to whom they were geeuen”; “Free will of man…”; “Of the Original of the Masse…”; etc.

Obviously, a hugely important publication in early Elizabethan society.

17th-Century full calf, paneled in blind and gilt, gilt central lozenge to boards with (unidentified) initials M and B. Old red morocco lettering piece. Paper shelfmarks (V) and (d16) in top and bottom compartments; GIFFORD in gilt at foot of spine. Joint repairs; some splitting but still sound. Remains of perished clasps. Worn at extremities. Very few minor internal flaws: occasional marginal tears; occasional ink notations. [RRr4] with short tear into woodcut; QQq.i. with closed tear into text about 3”. Crisp, clean, luxuriously margined.

An exceptionally appealing Provenance: From the Library of Andrew Gifford – Minister of the Baptist Chapel in Eagle Street, London, and a co-founder and librarian of the British Museum – with his armorial bookplate reading “of the museum” and his shelf numbers; and the Bristol Baptist College Library with their bookplate and shelf numbers.

Andrew Gifford’s will stipulated the donation of his extensive personal library to the Society of Baptists of Bristol (i.e., Bristol Baptist College).

STC 24436.

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The Works of that Eminent Servant of Christ, Mr. John Bunyan… With a Recommendatory Preface by the Reverend George Whitefield. London: W. Johnston and E. and C. Dilly, 1767-68. Two volumes.

Third edition, with engraved frontispiece portrait, five full-page etchings (with four images on each) illustrating The Pilgrim’s Progress, two other full-page plates, two engraved headpieces, and 49 woodcut emblems.

“Bunyan’s genius enabled him, like every great artist, to transcend the time and locale in which he wrote” (Magill, 533). In addition to his classic allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress, this exceptional two-volume folio production also features Bunyan’s Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680), a companion to The Pilgrim’s Progress in which “Mr. Badman is the narrative of another common man who traveled ‘along the primrose path to the everlasting bonfire.’ It, therefore, provides a picture of the life of the English country town in the time of Charles II which is rivaled only by the pictures Defoe has drawn” (Pforzheimer 117). Also contains the highly autobiographical Grace Abounding (1666), “a spiritual exercise, in many ways comparable to the Confessions of St. Augustine… a great work of art” (Magill, 506-10) and other major writings such as: Holy War (1682), Defence of the Doctrine of Justification (1672), Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded (1659) and more. This edition also contains a brief Preface by open-air Methodist evangelist George Whitefield, considered one of the most influential preachers of all time and prime mover of the Great Awakening in America. First published in 1692. Lowndes, 312.

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HUGE PRICE DROP JUST ANNOUNCED. 

ORIGINALLY $299,000 … NOW LIQUIDATION PRICED AT ONLY $195,000!

The First Edition of the Matthew-Tyndale Bible, 1537

[Bible in English.] [The Byble,/ which is all the holy Scrip-/ ture: In whych are contayned the/ Olde and Newe Testament truly and purely translated into Englysh by Thomas Matthew.][Printed for R. Grafton and R. Whitchurch of London: Antwerp?, 1537.][per Herbert]

The first edition, the first printing of the Bible called the “Matthew’s Bible” – that is, the William Tyndale Bible (as much as he had completed) seen through the press by John Rogers. “Thomas Matthew” is a pseudonym, not of John Rogers, but of William Tyndale (or perhaps a purely fictional misdirection, since Tyndale’s name, was still outlawed). (For his work on this Bible, John Rogers became the first martyr of the Marian persecutions, being executed in 1555.)

[Per Herbert:] Place of printing is unknown, but evidence points to Antwerp, perhaps the press of Matthew Crom. The Kinges most gracyous lyce[n]ce was obtained by Cromwell at Cranmer’s request despite the translation being predominantly Tyndale’s.

A scan of the professional third-party collation and descriptive write-up is available immediately via email upon request.

Overall, a nice copy, mostly clean and respectably tall.

Modern full calf to style by Starr Bookworks of Arizona.

Herbert asserts that this edition “is generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible” (p. 18).

Herbert 34. DM 17. STC 2066.

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To the casual observer, that claim may seem impossible… even absurd… because this book was printed as late as 1731.  Considering that Wycliffe did his English translations of the Bible in the 1300’s, and Tyndale did his first printed English New Testaments in the 1520’s, how can this 1731 printing possibly be the first printed edition of the first English translation of the New Testament?  It is because Wycliffe’s original circa 1378 productions were all hand-written manuscript copies, as Gutenberg did not invent the printing press until 1455. Tyndale did his own translation and printing work in the 1520’s.  Indeed, it seems almost unimaginable that nobody bothered to print Wycliffe’s first manuscript English New Testaments as a printed book until the shocking late date of 1731… but it is true. Furthermore, nobody bothered to print Wycliffe’s complete Bible until 1850. This 1731 edition is extremely rare, with fewer than ten copies known to exist today, yet it is liquidation priced at less than half of its appraisal value. 

1731 Wycliffe New Testament
First printing in book form of Wycliffe’s translation of the New Testament.

The New Testament Of Our Lord And Saviour Jesus Christ Translated Out of the Latin Vulgat by John Wiclif, S T P Prebendary Of Aust In The Collegiate Church Of Westbury, And Rector Of Lutterworth, About 1378 To Which Is Prfixt A History Of The Several Translations Of The H Bible And N Testament, &C Into English, Both In Ms And Print, And Of The Most Remarkable Editions Of Them Since The Invention Of Printing

London: Sold by Thomas Page and William Mount …, 1731. First printing in book form of Wycliffe’s translation of the New Testament. Two fine engraved portraits, one folding plate. [2], iv, [4], 108, [2], [3]-156, viii pp. 1 vols. Folio. Old calf, rebacked and recornered in the 20th century to style in brown calf, raised bands, lettered in gilt. Three bookplates on front pastedown, modest tanning, some very tiny worm tracks in extreme edges of the portrait of Wycliffe, divisional title and first leaf of the text of the NT nearly detached at gutter and a bit creased, light occasional foxing, a few short tears at the fore-edge of the folding plate, otherwise a very good copy. First printing in book form of Wycliffe’s translation of the New Testament. Two fine engraved portraits, one folding plate. [2], iv, [4], 108, [2], [3]-156, viii pp. 1 vols. Folio. Accompanied by the extensive prefatory “History …” by John Lewis. At Wycliffe’s instigation, a group of scholars prepared this translation into Middle English of the New Testament from the Latin Vulgate in 1380, and though popular, it circulated only in manuscript until this edition. Over two hundred manuscript versions are known, many of them of the revised version prepared by John Purvey. In 1409 the Wycliffe version was condemned as heretical and outlawed in Britain. This edition was published by subscription, and the edition, including some copies on large paper, is reported to have consisted of only 160 copies.

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