The Tyndale New Testament (Hardcover): 1526 Edition Hardcover – August 1, 2008

Amazing to hold English Bible history in my very hands! Even though the writing is from half a millennium ago, it is understandable and recognizable as (albeit very early) modern English. So much of it is familiar to readers of the KJB, as 84% of the King James Bible is taken straight from Tyndale, of those portions he translated.William Tyndale was sailing into uncharted waters, translating a Bible into English from the original tongues with little outside assistance. I encourage the reader to read more on his/her own about the history of William Tyndale and his contributions.I find it very interesting to read something printed at the end of the medieval period and beginning of the age of exploration, when the dam holding back the swelling waters of reformation were bursting asunder. The antique font and early-style Arabic numerals in the margin reveal the great antiquity of this book, and give it a fifteenth century feel, almost as if it were printed by the pioneering English printer, William Caxton. The apparently hand-tinted illustrations are beautiful! Sad that only three copies survive to the present, and not all of them complete.Tips for the modern reader: other reviewers already mentioned the macron or horizontal bar above letters indicating an m or n follows. The long s that resembles an f without the cross piece (today's short s at the end of words). The angled double hyphen at the end of a line when a word is divided. The lower case k that looks a little like a t. Finally, a strange character like a thin, wavy vertical line with a loop at the top. I'm guessing this represents "es". The plural form of nouns in the middle English era often ended with -es. You'll see this wavy thin character at the end of "things".You will have to mentally combine words to make sense, like "where" and "for" to get wherefore.The language is quite understandable once you get used to the archaic spellings and deciphering it. It's also beautiful poetry!Note some words are very archaic (wot/wit = know; ere = before). People familiar with the KJB should pick it up pretty quickly. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines early definitions of words whose meanings have changed over time -- a very valuable resource for readers of early modern English literature, including early English Bibles.Very good price, too!P.S., Amazingly, the letter J did not enter the English alphabet until the mid-17th century. An I was used instead. E.g., Iefus Chrift.At the beginning of a word, a v was always used even for a u sound (vntil for until); conversely, u was used anywhere else, even for a v sound (loue for love; vniuft for unjust).Interestingly, I don't see the old English thorn character (resembles a lower case y with a tiny e above it to represent "the"). This was commonly used as a shortcut right up through the early 17th century by early English printers. But since the Tyndale's work was published on the European continent, no such character would be present in the printer's jobcase.

William Tyndale dedicated his life to translating the Bible into English. Unfortunately for him, the court of Henry VIII, and most of the Christian world at the time, considered this a supreme heresy. Why? Most likely due to the old adage that "knowledge is power." If the masses could read and understand Biblical text, which then appeared almost exclusively in Latin, and thus only interpretable by the privileged few, then the masses could, in essence, defend themselves and possibly even bring charges against ecclesiastical authorities using that same Biblical text.Such ideas, along with the idea that people didn't need religious authorities for salvation, they only needed personal faith, fueled the Protestant Reformation that raged in the same century. In short, Tyndale's translation posed a direct challenge to Tudor and other religious-based power. Not surprisingly, Tyndale found himself a fugitive. He fled England and was eventually trapped and burned at the stake in Belgium.Many know now that Tyndale's New Testament translation from 1526, as well as his Old Testament translations, were used extensively for the 1611 King James Bible. Largely neglected since his execution, many now consider Tyndale as important a figure for the historical development of the English language as Shakespeare or Chaucer. The New Testament he published remains a landmark in religious and cultural history and arguably ranks as one of the most important books ever printed in English. Only two complete copies exist today. Though the book circulated widely at the time, largely underground, most copies were seized and destroyed. Thankfully those few survived into the age of photographic reproduction so that the modern masses could look, with no fear of retribution, at the very book that caused such a stir centuries ago.This reproduction by Hendrickson Publishers of the first Tyndale New Testament comes as close to the original book that one could probably expect, apart from the obvious differences in the cover, binding and paper stock. It is a full color photographic reproduction of the entire book housed today in the British Library. The pages and text appear as they exist with no attempts at modernization. This is the real thing. As such, the English inside reflects the English of the time, probably safely considered "early modern." Readers will definitely notice the late medieval font, beautiful and unfamiliar, which may take some getting used to, and the sometimes startling variations in spelling. For example, the title page reads "The Newe Testamente" and the first lines of Matthew read: "Tysis the boke off the generacion off Jhesus christ the sonne of David..." Also keep in mind that throughout the letter "s" more resembles a modern "f" and that other letters, such as "r" and "k" look almost nothing like their modern equivalents. And the text, along with the book itself, is small. Given the contraband nature of this book, readers needed to easily hide it away from suspicious authorities. Being found with a copy could have led to torture and death. Hence its diminutive size. Regardless, the book remains fully readable and comprehensible throughout for those willing to make a modest effort. This effort more than pays off for those seeking a historical reading experience.Today, Tyndale's accomplishment has grown in stature given the now acknowledged influence his work obviously had. He has probably remained obscure because, for obvious reasons, his name never appeared on his Biblical translations. Now that centuries separate us from the prejudices, politics and norms of his time can his accomplishment come fully to light. This amazing reproduction shows it clearly.