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[The new Testamente of our sauyoure christ set forth by Willyam Tyndale, with ye annatacion of Thomas Mathew]
Description
Title page supplied twice in facsimile. The first signed by Francis Fry (“From the British Museum”) and possibly done by John Harris, the second rubricated in pen and ink. Text in single column black letter with 38 lines to the full column. The first two missing text leaves are supplied in detailed manuscript carefully following the font and woodcut initials in the original. The text follows the 1534 edition of William Tyndale. Prologues before each book, notes after each chapter, with cross references in the margins all by Tyndale. Each chapter begins with a large initial, occasionally a woodcut. New Testament text ends on Dd4. Two leaves of the start of the Epistles, and the final colophon leaf are provided in manuscript following the end of the NT.
Collation
[pi]^8 (-[pi]^8), B-Y^8 (-B^8,C1-2,7-8), Aa-Yy^8, Aa-Ee^8 (-Dd5-8, Ee^8). Lacks all before C3 and all after Dd4, but only four leaves of Bible text (C1-2 and 7-8, Matthew 1:1-2:8 and 5:30-6:24) which are supplied in neat facsimile. 368 of 400 ff.
Binding
Rebound to period style in black calf. Covers with double paneled and blind-rolled border. Spine with four raised bands and blind stamps to compartments. Endpapers renewed. All edges red.
Condition
Ii-Yy a small light upper corner damp stain; trimmed, infrequently impacting headlines; E4 closed tear without loss; A well preserved copy of a rare Tyndale New Testament.
Scarcity
ESTC records three institutional copies; RBH shows no copies at auction.
Provenance
Armorial bookplate of A[ndrew] Gifford DD [of the Baptist College, Bristol], Particular Baptist minister, antiquarian book collector, and librarian at the British Museum to front pastedown; bookplate of the Baptist College Library, Bristol to front endpaper, both with shelfmark x.9.24 and identification 87f. Two leaves of notes regarding the missing preliminary leaves precede the facsimile title, likely in Fry’s hand. The facsimile title page is signed by Francis Fry, Bible collector, and bibliographer of Tyndale New Testaments.
Note
A rare and early Tyndale octavo New Testament. Most of the copies from the forty editions of Tyndale’s New Testament are from the final three printed editions. This is one of only four surviving copies of this smaller octavo edition, heavily suppressed by Mary and produced from much smaller print runs. The other three copies are institutional, with two also imperfect and the only perfect copy located in the British Library.
References
Herbert 83; ESTC S90919; Fry’s No. 22.