The Library
1780 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
1501–1600
10 works
1526, revised 1534
English
William Tyndale · c. 1494–1536
The first English New Testament translated from Greek and printed, smuggled into England in bales of cloth and publicly burned by the bishop of London.
1528
English
William Tyndale · c. 1494–1536
An argument that scripture should be read in the plain literal sense, that kings are answerable to God alone, and that the clergy have usurped both.
1529
English
Thomas More · 1478–1535
A defence of images, pilgrimage, and the unwritten tradition against Tyndale, arguing that the church precedes and authenticates the scripture.
1534
English
Thomas More · 1478–1535
Written in the Tower awaiting execution, framed as Hungarians discussing the Turkish threat, and really about how to face the loss of everything including one's nerve.
1535
English
Miles Coverdale · 1488–1569
The first complete printed English Bible, made from Latin and German rather than the original tongues by a translator who admitted he knew neither well.
1539
English
Miles Coverdale · 1488–1569
A revision produced under royal authority and chained in every parish church by order of the crown, with a title page showing the king distributing the word.
c. 1548–1552
English
Hugh Latimer · c. 1487–1555
Plain, funny, furious preaching before the king and at Paul's Cross about enclosures, bribery, absentee clergy, and the poverty of English farmers.
1560
English
The English exiles at Geneva
A scholarly translation with verse numbers, roman type, maps, and extensive marginal notes — some of which told readers when a king might be disobeyed.
1563, expanded to 1583
English
John Foxe · 1516/17–1587
A vast history of Christian persecution culminating in the Marian burnings, built from trial records, letters, and eyewitness interviews, and heavily illustrated.
1582; Old Testament at Douai 1609–1610
English
Gregory Martin and the English College
An English Catholic translation from the Vulgate, made by exiles and deliberately literal, with notes answering Protestant readings verse by verse.
1601–1700
1 work
1611
English
The forty-seven translators
A revision by six companies of scholars working to fifteen rules, told to follow the Bishops' Bible where they could and to avoid marginal notes on doctrine.
11 of 1780 works