I got chills holding this book.
Last month, I was in Salt Lake City for a work trip. On the last day of the trip, I made arrangements to visit Moon’s Rare Books in Provo, UT (about a 40-minute drive from where we were).
I discovered the bookstore’s owner, Reid Moon, on social media earlier this year and have been a fan ever since. One of his specialities is old and rare Bibles. In his personal collection he has a leaf from a Gutenberg Bible (1450-55), a first edition of the King James Bible (1611), and this book, a Tyndale Bible (1549).
William Tyndale was the first person to translate the New Testament into English from the original languages (1526). He also translated much of the Old Testament, before being captured and executed in 1536.
Tyndale’s work was later completed by John Rogers and Myles Coverdale. The first completed edition was published in 1537. The second edition (the book I’m holding) was published in 1549.
This completed English Bible was also published under the pseudonym, “Thomas Matthew.” Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as “The Matthew/Tyndale Bible” or “Matthew’s Bible.” One of the reasons for using a pseudonym was that Rogers and Coverdale wanted to avoid having the same fate as Tyndale. The latter did, the former did not.
Books like this are an important reminder that having a Bible in our language is not something to be taken for granted.
Nick Chellsen 