The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1911-06-03
HREE hundred years ago this
spring the Authorized or King
James Version of the Bible
was published in England, and
the momentous. event has jus

the momentcus. event has just
British Isles by a series of celebra-
| tons lasting an entire week.
The inauguration of the Authorized
Version is due to James |. of England
and vi. Of Scotland, i'll so far as he
summoned by royal proclamation the
conference at Hampton court in 1904
for determining things amiss in the
church., and ultimately appointed
certain learned men, to the number
OF four-and-ffty, for the translation
of the Bible" Hence the laudatory
dedicatory epistle drawn up by the
translaters, representing him as "prin-
cipal mover and author Of the work"
But the man who should more justly
be entitled mover" was Dr. John
Rainolds, dean of Lincoln and after
wards president of Corpus Christi col
lege, Oxford. 1t was he who intro
duced the question of the Bible at the
conference, and urged its retransla-
ton by quoting several mis-transla-
tons. My lord of London bancroft,
says the historian) added that if every
mans humor should be followed
there would be no end Of translating,"
thereby discounting Rainolds' motion.
Fortunately, the idea appealed to the
king, and so he became patron" of
the work, although he did not contrib
ute any money towards the expenses
Of the undertaking.
Rainolds was one of the ripest schol-
airs OF his day, and had very remark
able memory. Hakewill called him "a
living library or third university" His
company of translators, of whom he
was the most eminent, styled him
their foreman"
A good three years elapsed between
the conference and the getting to
work, and by that time King James
four-and-fifty men" had dwindled to
forty sound scholars in
Hebrew, Greek and Theology The
work was apportioned to six commit
tees, two sitting at Westminster, two
at Oxford and two at Cambridge, and |
Bancroft drew up Is rules strictly de- |
filming their respective duties. The |
title-page of the Authorized Version |
(first edition. 161D includes all the |
translators names.
This majestic book was imprinted I
at London by Robert Barker, printer |
to the Kings Most Excellent Males |
tie." and at Robert Barker's expense |
William Tyndale is, of course, the |
outstanding figure in the story of the |
English printed Bible, and his pioneer
work, heroic life, voluntary exile, and
martyrdom form a weli-known page
Of Reformation history. Tyndale's
chief gift to his countrymen was the
New Testament done into English
rom the original Greek and Hebrew.
This appeared in 1925, having been
secretly printed in Cologne. Its spe-
,ial chara cteristic was strength and
and 1t was embodied, or
very largely drawn upon, by all the
who followed him His
work went forth without his name and
without dedication. His English YER
sion Of the Pentateuch was printed at
in 1881. and in the same year
lie published the Book of Jonah In
manuscript he is said to have left
7ersion OF from Joshua to Chron-
cles
To Miles Coverdale. a Yorkshire
nan. we owe the first complete print
d Bible In English t1535). This, too,
vas printed abroad. probably at Zu-