The New Testament: A Facsimile of the 1526 Edition

I now love it. Initially I had a few reservations because it doesn't have the feel of a replica. This is due to the fact that they have reproduced images of all the original pages of the 1526 New Testament, yet left a narrow margin around each image. I feared that would be distracting, but once I started to read it I soon forgot about the margin and now it seems irrelevant. Once your eyes are focused on the text you have no eyes for anything else. The original sight of the pages also made me wonder if it would be rather heavy-going. The text was small and dark and heavy and close together and looked like it might be a strain to read. But again, once I started reading I found it perfectly comfortable.For anyone familiar with the King James Version, the text reads pretty much the same, so readers should find little difficulty in reading it beyond any struggles with the style of lettering. Familiarity with the language of the King James Version should quickly enable people to accustom their eyes to reading this Tyndale facsimile. I came to it after having already grown familiar with a 1599 Geneva Bible facsimile which had a Roman typeface, but irregular spellings and various ways of abbreviating the words which are no longer in use. So the spellings and abbreviations came as no shock to me here. With odd spellings then one generally just has to try to read the word phonetically, and their meaning should become clear. The most common abbreviation is a small horizontal line above a vowel, which means that an 'n' or an 'm'' comes after the vowel. So for example, 'ad' with a line over the 'a', should be read 'and'. It's straightforward enough once you are used to it. If you are having difficulty adjusting, perhaps try reading a chapter in a more modern translation or typeface first- KJV or NASB for example - and then go back and read the same passage in Tyndale when you have a sense of what it is trying to say. Or have another Bible on hand - KJV preferably as the language will be closest - and compare the texts as you come across a word which isn't easy to decipher.It doesn't have verse numbers (which weren't introduced until the Geneva Bible, but it is laid out in paragraphs, which many modern translations aren't. It is rather nice not to be distracted by verse numbers breaking up the flow of the sentences and dividing sentences in all sorts of odd ways.There was a facsimile produced in 1976 by David Parradine which is superior in some respects, which has the feel of a more true replica, with the appearance and feel of how Tyndale's New Testament must have felt when it was fresh off the press back in 1526, but it is also now scarce and costly. This Hendrickson version is nicely presented and the quality of the images is very good, very clear. And it is affordable, and very good value for money. I heartily recommend it and I only hope that all people who own it do actually read it and make use of it as a very readable translation, and don't just have it as a collector's item. It would make a lovely present for any Christian who enjoys reading old books. It was intended to promote faith, and is not for mere academic study.[Note added on 1st January 2016: Nearly a year after my original review I can still just as warmly recommend it. I used it throughout 2015 for my daily Bible-reading, in conjunction with my usual Bible, reading a chapter in my usual Bible first, and then in this version. Often when no thoughts struck me in the usual version, I would find something in Tyndale's wording which grabbed my attention and got me thinking. Sometimes the wording in my usual Bible translation seemed awkward, or its meaning ambiguous, while Tyndale constructed his sentences much better, and used wording which gave a more precise meaning. It was a joy to read this translation.]

Tyndale wanted anyone, rich or poor and especially the poor man, to have access to the unmediated word of God. Since Wyclif in the 14th century, the Lollards had been walking the country preaching the Gospel at great personal risk, but the English Bible they used was firstly manuscript (and very expensive) and secondly little more than a transliteration into poor English from the Latin (Vulgate) Bible. The 1408 Constitutions of Oxford made it effectively a capital offence to translate the Scriptures into English, and thus Tyndale had to effect his translation and its printing in hiding on the Continent.At this time the English language was undergoing the "great vowel shift", effectively becoming intelligible to us. But the literate classes considered it a crude language, incapable of higher thought, which needed Latin, or some such proper language for expression. There was no literature in the new modern language. Then Tyndale's inflammatory text appeared, and spread like wildfire underground.Tyndale was an exceptionally able scholar, fluent in all the European languages, and Greek too. He could even hear the Aramaic under the Greek text of Matthew. And we hear his translation today as beautiful English: this is because it is the underlying text of the New Testament of the King James bible of 1611. But at the time he was using the structure of the speech of the ordinary man, and turning this speech to unprecedented use. He claimed that the English of the ordinary man was very well matched to the ordinary Greek used by the New Testament writers, and his English is of the utmost clarity and immediacy. We still use it today! When we say things are "for the best" we are using Tyndale's text of Romans chapter 8 verse 28, one of very many places where King James does not improve Tyndale.Thus, Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 is the first modern English book. And it has had enormous influence directly on us, since it has moulded the language, and moulded our thought with it right up to very modern times. When we hear and respond to the "Nine Lessons and Carols" from Kings College Cambridge, we are responding to Tyndale's text. And without Tyndale there would have been no Shakespeare! This is an important book!The facsimile is an absolute delight. It is beautifully laid out and printed. The medium is certainly not the message, pace Marshall McLuhan, but it makes the book compelling to read. The popularity of this inflammatory text must have been boosted by the sheer pleasure of looking at the physical pages. This is a world changing book presented in a form of the very highest quality.

What immediately impressed me was the feel of the paper, which is similar to that of the period. The white border, too, disappears to the eye and seems essential given the smaller size of each page, the slim central margin of the original and wear at the edges of the leaves. This book is a delight to handle and read. I agree with another reviewer here that the wording can cause you to ponder passages in new lights. Quite literally this facsimile is divine.

I find myself dipping into this book more often than I had expected to. I could simply read a passage from a modern bible I suppose but reading it from this gives the feeling that you are discovering something more. I feel that I am able to capture just a little of what it must have been like to finally be able to read the word of God and in so doing experiencing the wonder of the written word. It is beautifully produced and something I will treasure.

So pleased to receive this - although the price has gone up rather dramatically. An amazing facsimile. I feel honoured to be able to hold and read this historic document that has changed the world.

What better book could you read, this was the route that brought God's true message to the mass population, telling the truth about the doctrines of the established church, and showing what God really wanted mankind to do.

Good, what I wanted

Love this Saint. Love his amazing work.